New Delhi, December 10:

Indian businessman Rajeev Sen wants to be seen in a nice car when he goes out partying. And a $150,000 price tag is no obstacle for a man who plans to make the right impression.

“You know things are changing in India. Youngsters like me are doing well so I think, ‘Why not?” Sen says, checking himself in the rear-view mirror before driving out to test his dream sports car. “If you’ve got the money and if you want to spend on something which is as good as Porsche, why not?”

The 27-year-old real estate agent may be one of the few Indians who can afford such luxuries, but he reflects the growing confidence and affluence of millions of middle-class Indians. India’s estimated 300-million-strong middle-class is not only gaining from the country’s rapidly expanding economy but is also driving the consumption boom. “Apart from businessmen, we now have lawyers and doctors wanting to buy our cars,” said Ashish Chordia, chief executive of Shreyans Motors, which has been selling Porsche cars in India since 2003.

As demand grew, the company set up the first Porsche showroom in India this month in New Delhi. Another one in financial hub Mumbai is in store. India’s economy — the second-fastest growing after China’s — grew by 9.2 per cent in the second quarter to September. The government has forecast growth of more than eight per cent for the year to March.

Hotels, transport and communication sectors posted growth of nearly 14 per cent with real estate and construction recording a more than nine per cent increase. “The growing economy has me-ant we have higher disposable incomes. So we shop more, we eat out, we have better cuisines available. We have exposure to a lot of international brands,” says management consultant Priya Sachdeva.

The 32-year-old and her husband Nitin live in Gurgaon, an industrial town bordering Delhi, where multinational offices, swanky apartments and new shopping malls have made the city a powerful symbol of the country’s future. “The disposable income of Indians multiplies if you consider that a family living under one roof may have up to five earning members,” said Arvind Singhal, economist at Technopak, a management consulting company.

Despite the impressive growth rate, India also has the largest number of poor people in the world, with some 290 million living in poverty, according to the World Bank. Experts say it will take time for any benefits to trickle down.

“From a consumption point of view, the bulk of the economic growth in India is actually driven by the middle class, the lower middle classes as well. Their numbers are very, very large,” said Singhal. “They might be consuming in small quantities. You multiply small quantities by hundreds of millions of people, it adds up to significant numbers.”