Rising economic tide doesn't lift all boats, Indian market veteran cautions

While India's market value has nearly doubled over the past five years, to $2.3 trillion, there aren't many companies with significantly sized earnings

Sustained 7 per cent-plus economic growth may sound like a great recipe for stock-market returns, but investors looking at a country like India still need to do their homework.

A quick look at the automobile industry shows why. While India’s vehicle production has climbed about 25-fold over the past quarter century, the two major players in the market as of the mid-1990s -- Hindustan Motors Ltd. and Premier Ltd. -- barely register today. It’s a cautionary tale that a rising economic tide doesn’t necessarily lift all boats, highlighted by local-market veteran Prateek Agrawal.

“Growth doesn’t mean that every stock you