India and ‘European’ evolutionary political economy

Abstract Evolutionary political economy (EPE) deals with populations and economic change over time but has not been systematised beyond European industrial history. The world’s largest democracy India, despite challenges from COVID-19, is now the fastest growing and 5 th largest economy in the world, transitioning into a distinct period of industrial deepening, with export expansion in engineering products and services, huge outlays on airports, highways and rail systems, new domestic defence initiatives to boost indigenous R&D, yet retains a global diplomatic stance as a responsible nation–state from vaccine sharing to Asian security. This commentary explores the Indian case to argue that EPE’s combinatorial approach to technological capabilities and industrial development can be considerably strengthened from the study of non-European cases.