Davos has become a ritual theatre for India’s political and media elite and a destination where Indian television channels in January beam back breathless coverage from the Swiss Alps, celebrating “historic” MoUs and declaring, once again, that India is the fastest growing major economy poised to overtake China, even as underlying investment trends tell a far more sobering story. However, the sheen is wearing off as revealed at the World Economic Forumat Davos 2026. On the first day, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced MoUs worth 14.5 lakh crore, projecting around 15–35 lakh jobs and spotlighting a1 lakh crore–plus deal with Mumbai based Lodha Developers to build data centres in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The head of Lodha, Abhishek Lodha, is the son of the state’s skill development minister, a fact that instantly turned what was being marketed as a global coup into a domestic controversy about cronyism and optics. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh asked the obvious question: if a state government signs a deal with a company owned by a cabinet colleague’s family, did that MoU really have to be inked in Switzerland rather than in Mumbai or Mantralaya? The point is why should domestic companies who wish to invest in Indian states do their negotiation and formalization in India itself, without the cost and symbolism of flying ministers, bureaucrats and media entourages to the Alps?.Even as the macro picture undermines the triumphant tone of TV anchors parroting government talking points, the Reserve Bank of India data of 2024–25 tells a tale. The RBI noted that, gross FDI inflows did touch around 81 billion dollars, as claimed by the government , but repatriation and disinvestment by foreign investors, combined with a surge in outward FDI by Indian companies, nearly wiped out the net gains. This left net FDI to collapse by more than 95 per cent to roughly 0.35–0.38 billion dollars- its lowest level in at least two decades-meaning that after exits and outward investments were accounted for, very little of the headline inflow actually stayed in the country. The government can tout big gross numbers, yet for jobs and capacity on the ground, net flows are what matter, and those have simply not matched the hype. This is where the conduct of much of India’s television journalism becomes part of the problem rather than a corrective. Instead of interrogating the logic of signing domestic deals abroad, or probing why net FDI has collapsed despite endless claims of India being the world’s most attractive destination, and media has chosen to recycle official slogans. Panels from Davos are dominated by self congratulatory talk about “India’s story” and “fastest growing economy” while uncomfortable questions about capital flight, jobless growth or agrarian distress hardly receive comparable airtime. The performance of intellectualism-buzzword laden studio discussions from mountain resorts-replaces genuine scrutiny of who benefits and who is left out. None of this is an argument against attracting investment or engaging global forums. The real indictment lies in using Davos as a stage to manufacture an illusion of arrival while neglecting the less glamorous work of fixing regulatory uncertainty, strengthening institutions, and investing in health, agriculture, and basic research at home. Economies are built not on photo ops but on predictable rules, credible data, and sectoral policies shaped by evidence rather than political vanity. Ultimately, the measure of any economic policy is not the size of the MoUs signed in Switzerland but the lived reality of the aam aadmi.
Friday, January 23, 2026