India's middle class is on the rise. If India's economy continues to grow as predicted, by 2025 the Indian middle class will number 583 million people, or 41 percent of India's projected population, almost twice the current population of the United States. These educated and predominantly urban wage earners, whose income ranges from roughly US$24,000 to $118,000 on a purchasing-power-parity basis, have fueled India's recent consumer growth and represent the country's future. With the ongoing rise of the Indian middle class comes an increasing appetite for goods and services: the housing market is booming, the financial-services sector is expanding, telecommunications is undergoing a "revolution" and retail is moving upscale. And this is just the beginning.