Hindi for business

6 years ago

Considering India's consistent year-over-year economic growth (7% per year since 2014 and not a single down-year this century), I was surprised when asking Indian colleagues (based in and outside of India) about the importance of learning Hindi in this global economy: I'm consistently told that it is not important, that English is the language for the working professional given British trade and later imperialism for hundreds of years—that for the student of medicine, engineering, or law, courses are already only taught in English. And yet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech following his election in 2014 was delivered in Hindi. From an outsider's perspective, there seems to be a growing patriotism correlating with economic maturity. While some might say Chinese is the most important language to speak besides English today, I have the impression that Hindi could next be that language. So, I am requesting from the community more particular reasons to learn Hindi. I would prefer reasons beyond the following (adapted from this list):

you will be able to speak with X million people.
you can learn more about cultures that speak ____.
you can read literature written in ____.
you can travel to places that speak ____.
you can study in places that speak ____.
you can work in or with places that speak ____.
you will understand your own language better.
These reasons are generic and apply to nearly any language. I'm concerned about more specific reasons that have direct impact in my competitiveness in the global economy. The reasons may be industry-specific, and that's fine—as long as it is unique to Hindi. Here are some sample reasons for learning other languages (adapted from this site):

If I work in the oil and gas industry, Dutch may be helpful because The Netherlands have an estimated 25% of natural gas reserves in the EU
If I work with electric vehicle technology or mining, Spanish may be helpful because Chile and Argentina have the second and third largest lithium mining production in the world
Any sources associated with your answers would be appreciated.