The vision document will outline the institutional and structural changes/reforms that will be needed for the country to become a developed nation by 2047.
India will aim to become a ‘developed nation’ by 2047, with an economy of $30 trillion in its 100th year of independence, which will be propelled by radical policy changes and reforms in governance by 2030, said Niti Aayog chief executive officer B.V.R. Subrahmanyam.
The ‘Viksit Bharat @2047’ document is in the final lap of completion after Prime Minister Narendra Modi envisaged it in December 2021. Ten sectoral groups of secretaries (SGoSs), which were tasked to prepare sectoral visions, are almost finalised and Niti Aayog will merge these into a consolidated vision document by December after consultation with SGoSs and thought leaders, including industry captains. PM Modi will unveil the vision document in December-January.
The ten SGoS were: rural & agriculture, infrastructure, resources, social vision, welfare, finance & economy, commerce & industry, technology, governance, and security & foreign affairs.
The finance ministry prepared a template of where the economy will be over the next 25 years. “It is roughly talking about $30 trillion economy size by 2047, population of around 1.5 billion and per capita income between $18,000 to $20,000,” Subrahmanyam said. All the sectoral groups used the template to prepare their vision documents.
India’s economy was $3.5 trillion in FY23, while the country’s per capita income was estimated at around $2,500 in FY23. Nations with per capita income beyond a threshold of $17,000 are considered as developed.
“The biggest thing we are all worried about is what is called the middle-income trap where we will reach $5,000-$6,000 per capita income and then not move fast. The whole purpose of a vision is to avoid that and take the country to the next level,” Subrahmanyam said, adding that India can’t afford such a trap like what happened to Argentina.
The Niti Aayog CEO said there would be two halting points in the roadmap: medium-term interventions or actions now for 2030 and structural reforms or actions by 2030 for 2047.
The Vision document would say where India will be in 2047 in various socio-economic indicators, what sectors/technologies India should be leading in, what areas India would have global champions and other institutional capabilities.
Subrahmanyam said one SGoS have delved into the requirement of radical government restructuring horizontally and vertically given that senior officials spend most of their time firefighting instead of focusing on strategizing for the future. “We need to recast government so that decisions are taken at the lower level, the upper level spends time thinking about the future,” he added.
India’s growth is closely interlinked with the growth of states. This will be the guiding spirit of India’s inclusive and sustainable vision for the next quarter century. Besides the Centre, states such as Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Goa are also preparing their own vision documents.
Source:financialexpress.com