The ILD's influence has recently spread to this fast-growing emerging economy with persistent massive poverty. In November 2007, an article appeared in India’s Business Standard that opened with what the author identified as “the famous question posed by the Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto, “Why does capitalism succeed only in capitalist nations and fail in so many others?” The article noted that one of de Soto’s answers was poor land-titling, and proceeded to describe how three states in India were reforming their property systems with funds from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

Mr. de Soto was in fact in India the previous month, in New Delhi, at the invitation of McKinsey & Co, where he met with business leaders who expressed interest in the ILD's reform efforts around the world. His visit also triggered the interest of the media –both print and TV– who shared with him their experiences regarding the problems of India’s vast informality.