India released some cracking growth figures late last week, with gross domestic product rising 7.4 per cent in the three months to June. This was not only well above expectations; it points to an ongoing, but little-noted, transformation of the Indian economy.

It is well known that the services sector, which contributes just over half of GDP and is driven by outsourcing and cheap labour, is the country's principal growth engine. And it did indeed expand by 9.5 per cent in the latest quarter.