GK and monthly revision

Independence Day 2026: How Sensex skyrocketed 8,500% in less than 35 years since 1991 liberalisation reforms

Since the 1991 economic liberalisation reforms, India's benchmark Sensex has surged approximately 8,500%, delivering a compounded annual growth rate of around 14% over less than 35 years. This remarkable long-term wealth creation occurred despite major setbacks including the Harshad Mehta scam (1992), Ketan Parekh scam (2001), 2008 global financial crisis, COVID-19 pandemic, and geopolitical tensions. The trajectory underscores the transformative impact of structural reforms — delicensing, FDI liberalisation, tax rationalisation, and capital market modernisation — on investor confidence and corporate earnings growth. For competitive exams, this serves as a key case study linking 1991 reforms to tangible financial market outcomes and India's emergence as a resilient emerging market.

Source: Economic Times. This summary and analysis are AI-written from that report and are not individually fact-checked — confirm names, dates and figures with the source before you rely on them.