How boldly is India ready to embrace economic reform? The photographs on these pages—commissioned to accompany a 16-month study by the McKinsey Global Institute¹—depict an economy under pressure to raise productivity in construction, retail, agriculture, apparel, and other key sectors. In some industries, raising productivity and boosting growth requires relatively simple remedies, like substituting wheelbarrows for loads carried atop constructions workers’ heads. In other industries, boosting performance will require product, land, and labor markets reforms. These photos portray the Indian workforce as it continues its transformation from an agricultural to a more modern economy.