Either this or that.

India's total fertility rate (TFR) is at 1.9 which is below the replacement level of 2.1 but, if Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (UP) are removed, the TFR drops to 1.6. Worse, Andhra Pradesh and Maharastra are at 1.4, Telangana and Karnataka at 1.5, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal at 1.3, Delhi at 1.2 and Sikkim is at 1.0, noted a working paper by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM). China realized its mistake of encouraging one child per family, but it is too late. The paper said that India should end its sterilization-linked incentive payments and end "family-planning awards and campaigns framed around population control, as well as removing two-child norm disqualifications across states." ET. As of 2025, China's TFR was "below 1.0, one of the lowest in the world alongside South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore." wikipedia. China's birth rate fell to 5.63 per 1000 while its death rate rose to 8.04 per 1000 people. "In 2016, it scrapped its longstanding one-child policy and replaced it with a two-child limit." In 2021, it allowed up to three children. When that did not work, "More recently, China has offered parents 3,600 yuan ($500) per each of their children under the age of three. Certain provinces are also dishing out their own baby bonuses, including additional payouts and extended maternity leave." BBC. Now, "People in China will pay 13%  sales tax on contraceptives from 1 January, while childcare services will be exempt," and "It also exempts marriage-related services and elderly care from value added tax (VAT)." BBC. "In 2021, China's official report showed a sex ratio of 112 male to 100 female births, compared to a global average of 105 to 106 male to 100 female births. This is down from a high of 118 male to 100 female births from 2002 to 2008." wikipedia. China had a GDP at current prices, nominal GDP, of $19.5 trillion in 2025, while that of India was around $4 trillion in the same year. World Bank. The mortality rate of infants per 1,000 live births in India was 23 in 2024, while that of China was just 4 in the same year. World Bank. India counts the number of girls per 1,000 boys at birth. If the normal sex ratio at birth is 105-106 boys per 100 girls then the ratio in India should be 943-952 girls per 1,000 boys at birth. However, the ratio at birth for all of India was 929 in the National Family Health Survey (NFHS 5) 2019-21. The ratio is normal for 15 states till Nagaland at 945, and starts dropping from UP at 941 to a low of 838 in Goa. wikipedia. This is because of abortion of female fetuses despite a ban of gender detection by ultrasound. "Research by Pew Research Center based on Union government data indicates foeticide of at least 9 million females in the years 2000-2019." And 86.7% of these were by Hindus (80% of the population). wikipedia. The higher infant mortality in India compared to China could partly be because of intentional killing of baby girls. Comparing female literacy rates of states (wikipedia) with TFR shows that high literacy among women results in lower birth rates but, shockingly, Goa with a very high female literacy rate of 90% has the worst sex ratio at birth. "India is letting go between $700 and $1.4 trillion in economic output because millions of women remain outside the workforce, according to a study by Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP)." The Print. The government must work on educating and increasing their employment opportunities if India is to become a developed country. And, if successful, the TFR will fall further and the population will shrink. All this means that you can either become a wealthy country or you can have more babies. You can't have both. As China has found.