So they lifted almost twice my home country's population out of poverty in 15 years? That's impressive. Also, how did India got to have so many people?
India has always had so many people relative to the rest of the world. I don't think there is any point in history since the bronze age where India and China weren't the most populous places in the world.
It's sad to see how many people don't know this simple fact. India and China actually have a smaller share of the world population now (around 1/3). In most of human history it was bigger [1]
It would've been even smaller if it wasn't for the devastating consequences of European imperialism. These countries were left in a piss poor state, lack of education and healthcare etc, resulting in a long period of high birth rates with exponential growth.
Check the graph below [2] you can clearly where most damage happened, during the main occupation period (1850s to 1950s). Britain had falling birth rates (prosperity) but they were constantly high in India (poverty). Birth rates have been on a steep decline only after independence. Yet empire apologists somehow claim that it was a net good for India :)
It's an interesting question how Europe would look if all the white Americans and Australians and so on had stayed in Europe. But the answer is not obvious.
The average fertility rate in India is 2.2 now I think. It is below 2 in Southern states and still relatively high in BIMARU states which are the biggest problems.
Weather is an underrated reason. India perhaps has the best suited weather conditions for humans to thrive. 80% or more of the land have non-extreme weather
