The outcome of the Indian election and the rise of Narendra Modi has featured on the cover of this week’s issue of Nikkei Asian Review , a weekly English language business news magazine that reports stories from across Asia to the world.

The report delivers incisive analysis of Modi’s mandate, achieved on the promise of extending the `Gujarat miracle' to the entire country. Four articles and an infographic explains how the election has ushered in optimism for the future of business in India, which has seen a slowdown in growth in recent years.

Modi’s performance as Chief Minister in Gujarat has been assessed, where reforms saw the western state emerge as an economic powerhouse, including a 430 per cent increase in net value added in the factory sector between 2005 and 2011.

Commenting on the five economic challenges `for India’s new boss', the report has argued whether the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Modi government would open India to foreign retailers.

In a country where more than 90 per cent of the retail sector consists of kirana and small shops that sell a range of goods and daily necessities, keen interest by Walmart and 7-Eleven in directly selling to India’s more than 1.2 billion consumers faces stiff opposition from small and medium business owners.

Another key challenge would be whether the Government can address operational efficiency issues and other complex problems which impact India’s capacity to generate and distribute electricity to meet continually growing demand.

The report highlights that breaking into the Indian consumer market requires vision, resolve and a local touch and that India’s large, and rapidly growing population makes it an attractive market for many international companies and that surviving and thriving in India requires corporate strategy that is infused with local intelligence, often gained only after years in the market.

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