India's economic condition is expected to improve by 2022 though the gap between the rich and the poor would widen, said C K Prahalad, management consultant and author of corporate strategy, including The Core Competence of the Corporation, said on the sidelines of the CII press conference.

Economic inequalities would widen owing to rapid economic development and the companies now need to focus on the bottom of the pyramid, he said. Referring to the Tata Motors' [Get Quote] low cost car Nano and the cellphone boom, he said that there was a need for all sections of the society to have access to technology.

The current economic slowdown was just a momentary phase as every economy had its share of ups and downs, he said. The present economic scenario would not affect India in the long-run owing to the resilience of the Indian economy.

Pointing to the economic crisis of the early 1990s when the Indian economy was on the brink of bankruptcy and reforms brought about a phenomenal change, Prahalad said the present situation was far better compared to the pre-liberalization in spite of the fact that abject poverty would cease to exist.