As I travel across India today, I am witnessing a country that is transforming at a remarkable pace, socially, digitally, and economically.

The India I see in 2025 is confident, tech-driven, and fast-moving, with innovation grounded firmly in everyday life. Comparing this with my experience of the UK, several contrasts emerge. These comparisons are not criticisms, rather, they highlight areas where the UK could adopt some of India’s agility, efficiency, and digital-forward thinking.

1. Education

One of the first differences I noticed is the intensity and immediacy of parental engagement in children’s education.

Parents actively track academic progress daily through WhatsApp groups, school apps, and frequent updates from tuition centres; schools offer real-time monitoring systems for homework, attendance, and class performance; after-school learning has become a major sector – with many parents spending hundreds of pounds per month for tuition – with many students attending multiple extra classes every week.

The UK could adopt more real-time communication tools between schools and parents, ensuring that academic support is proactive rather than reactive. Stronger home–school engagement could lead to improved academic outcomes and early detection of learning challenges.

What hasn’t changed over the years between the nations is the contrast in primary and secondary education. In India I believe the primary school education is far more streamlined and targeted but the UK has a better secondary education system.

2. Public Transport

India’s urban public transport systems have scaled dramatically.

Expanding metro networks – especially in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Pune – have made commuting more efficient; the Delhi Metro alone transports 5–6 million passengers daily.

Last-mile connectivity is secured through e-rickshaws while shared autos, and app-based rides are accessible within minutes. Ola, Uber, Rapido and similar services often cost far less than taxis in the UK.

The UK could benefit from better-integrated, last-mile solutions and more affordable app-based transport options, particularly outside major cities. India’s multi-layered transport ecosystem shows how small, flexible mobility options can complement larger networks.

3. Agriculture

Agriculture has undergone a quiet but meaningful revolution and now contributes just 14% to India’s GDP, down from over 25% two decades ago, reflecting economic diversification.

Technology adoption is visible everywhere: drones spray pesticides, sensors guide irrigation, and mechanised harvesters are common even in smaller towns.

While UK farming is advanced, India demonstrates how low-cost Agri-tech solutions can be deployed at scale. The UK could explore more efficient digital tools for small and medium farms and take cues from India’s farmer-centric innovations.

4. Healthcare

The contrast with NHS waiting times is striking. Digital consultation apps like Practo, Tata 1mg, and Apollo 24/7 offer instant appointments, often within 30–60 minutes.

Diagnostic centres across even tier-2 cities provide walk-in MRIs and CT scans, often on the same day, while high-quality treatment remains affordable, drawing patients from abroad and making India a global healthcare hub.

For the UK, hybrid system combining public oversight with efficient private-sector delivery, along with wider adoption of rapid digital consultations, could significantly reduce waiting times and ease NHS pressure.

5. Technology

India has embraced digital systems with remarkable speed.

UPI now handles over 12 billion transactions per month, making India the global leader in digital payments, while Aadhaar-linked services allow instant KYC, bank account openings, and SIM activation.

Micro-learning and online education tools are widely used across all income levels, with Government services, from passports to GST filings increasingly paperless.

The UK’s digital infrastructure could be streamlined further. India’s model shows how simple, unified, mobile-first systems can dramatically reduce bureaucracy and speed up citizen services.

6. Entrepreneurship

India’s entrepreneurial boom is visible everywhere. Over 1 lakh startups and 110+ unicorns place India among the world’s fastest-growing ecosystems. Successful founders have emerged not only from the major cities but also from tier-2 and tier-3 cities.

Shows like Shark Tank India (India’s equivalent of Dragon’s Den) have made entrepreneurship aspirational, while affordable co-working spaces, digital payments, and schemes like Startup India have lowered entry barriers.

The UK, it seems to me, could foster entrepreneurship more widely by supporting regional startup clusters, encouraging youth-focused entrepreneurial programming, and simplifying digital compliance and business registration processes. India’s example shows that innovation flourishes when opportunities reach beyond traditional centres.

Right now India is dynamic, ambitious, and digitally empowered. Its rapid improvements in education, healthcare, technology, and urban mobility reflect a nation keen to reinvent itself.

While both the UK and India have distinct strengths, there is much the UK can learn from India’s speed of execution, digital simplicity, and grassroots innovation.

As I continue my visit, I am encouraged by the potential for deeper collaboration between the two countries, combining the UK’s institutional depth with India’s agility and technological momentum. Together, they have the capacity to learn from one another and build a stronger, more prosperous and more connected future.