<P> India is not a permanent member of the UNSC, although currently it is one of the four - nations group actively seeking a permanent seat in the council . Thus India lacks the ability to extend its influence or ideas on international events in the way superpowers do . </P> <P> As of 2011, approximately 21.9% of India's population lived below poverty line . Poverty also begets child labour . Various reforms, including mass employment schemes have been undertaken by the government to tackle this problem, and India has been quite successful in reducing its share of poverty . The number of people living on $1 a day is expected to fall in South Asia from 41.5 per cent in 1990 to 16.4 per cent until 2015 . However, the issue of poverty in India is not fully resolved . There is consensus among economists that overall poverty in India has declined, the extent of poverty reduction is often debated . The economic reforms of the early 1990s were followed by rates of high economic growth . Its effect on poverty remain controversial, and the official numbers published by the Government of India, showing a reduction of poverty from 36% (1993--94) to 26% (1999--00), to 22% (2004--05), have been challenged both for allegedly showing too little and too much poverty reduction . While there is a consensus on the fact that liberalization has led to a reduction of income poverty, the picture is not so clear if one considers other non-pecuniary dimensions (such as health, education, crime and access to infrastructure). With the rapid economic growth that India is experiencing, it is likely that a significant fraction of the rural population will continue to migrate toward cities, making the issue of urban poverty more significant in the long run . Economist Pravin Visaria has defended the validity of many of the statistics that demonstrated the reduction in overall poverty in India . He insisted that the 1999 - 2000 survey was well designed and supervised, and he further defended that just because the numbers did not appear to fit preconceived notions about poverty in India, they should not be dismissed outright . Nicholas Stern, vice president of the World Bank, has published defenses of the poverty reduction statistics . He argues that increasing globalization and investment opportunities have contributed significantly to the reduction of poverty in the country . India, has shown one of the clearest co-relation trends of globalization with the accelerated rise in per - capita income . </P> <P> The social infrastructure in India such as roads, power grid, water, communications infrastructure, housing and education are often below standards, and not catching up with the tune of its economic progress . Continued poor infrastructure might serve as a bottleneck to further economic development . The 2012 India blackouts, which affected millions, was a result of such problems . The government is, however, improving the infrastructure, such as expanding the freeway and highway system and bringing it up to global standards . As of 2005, India only had 4,885 km of central - divided expressways, while the U.S. and China have 90,000 km and 41,000 km of expressways, respectively . </P> <P> India's continual economic prosperity is also hindered by bad governance and ubiquitous red tape (' Bureaucratic Raj'). Retrogressive government regulations affect many areas . For example, in some states, black outs and power rationing are common due to underinvestment, differing state and local regulations, etc . </P>

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