

PV Narasimha Rao Creates a New India
The story of India’s tenth Prime Minister, PV Narasimha Rao and how he shaped India’s history by liberalizing India’s economy.
In 1927, a young Jawaharlal Nehru, awestruck by Soviet Russia’s socialist utopia, sowed the seeds of India’s destiny. Decades later, as India’s first Prime Minister, he forged a nation in the USSR’s image. After decades of slow growth and worsening state control by his successors, India faced a do-or-die economic crisis in 1991. Then, fate thrust P.V. Narasimha Rao, a seasoned socialist turned accidental Prime Minister, into power. Narasimha Rao, who was ready to retire from a successful political career, jumped back into the arena and took the biggest risk of his life. At stake was India’s future. Defying his party, his past, and fierce opposition, Rao unleashed radical reforms that ignited a generational transformation in the world’s largest democracy.
Sources and Acknowledgements:
- Vinay Sitapati’s “Half-Lion: How P V Narasimha Rao Transformed India” (https://amzn.in/d/g1AkGMV)
- Sanjaya Baru’s “1991: How P. V. Narasimha Rao Made History” (https://amzn.in/d/9KCYawg)
- Gurcharan Das’s “India Unbound: from Independence to the Global Information age (https://amzn.in/d/eoDtiNj)
JRD Tata’s interview on Nehru/Patel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er8dOor4wCM&t=5s
PV Narasimha Rao’s interview with Shekhar Gupta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUQU1vw12_o
Manmohan Singh narrating the story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9dMUkXM2dA
This podcast is Produced by COZM Entertainment Private Limited.
-Original Music composed by Mehul Fadnavis
-Sound Mixing and Mastering by Ankit Thakur