India’s Ambition

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that making India a developed country by 2047 is the ambition of every Indian. Setting 2047 as the target is in itself very significant. In 2047, India will complete 100 years of its independence, and there can be no ambition that can be as amazing as this. According to Prime Minister Modi, it is not just every individual citizen who has to contribute towards achieving this goal; every state has to play an active role. Becoming a developed nation implies that India’s economy has to undergo phenomenal growth. The country is already on track to become the world’s third-largest economy and is poised to be a USD 30 trillion economy by 2047. While Modi made this statement while addressing the Ninth Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog, on an earlier occasion, the Prime Minister had very emphatically said that history gives every country a period when it advances its development journey manifold. While the country, on completion of 75 years of independence, has entered ‘Amritkaal’ or the golden age, this is indeed the period in India’s history when the country is fully geared up to take a quantum leap. India is not heading towards achieving something that is impossible. In fact, there are several examples of many such countries developing and transforming themselves by taking a similar quantum leap within a given time. It is a fact that India is passing through one of the most exciting phases in its history. Independent projections have shown that India has every possibility to become the world’s third-biggest economy as early as 2030 and have a GDP exceeding that of the US by 2060. Economists closely monitoring India have said that the country has already emerged as an economic powerhouse by way of achieving one of the world’s highest growth rates in the past two decades and quintupling its per capita income since 2000. In this context, it is pertinent to note what a recent PwC report pointed out. It said that in order to achieve the goal of ViksitBharat@2047, India will have to transit from a largely agrarian, informal economy to a services-oriented, advanced manufacturing, and knowledge-led hub, positioning itself to take full advantage of the world’s increasing technological sophistication and drive for sustainability. The biggest challenge facing the country, however, is to harness more of its people’s creative energies and ensure they have the skills and opportunities to propel the transformation. In the words of the Prime Minister himself, India needs to prepare a generation in the coming years that will be the backbone of the country, providing leadership and direction. India needs to prepare a young generation for a country that prioritises the welfare of the nation and places its duties above all. The younger generation cannot afford to limit itself to just education and skills. While this is a collective target, it has to be achieved through the collective effort of citizens.