NITI Aayog sets $30 tn economy, $18,000 per capita income target for 2047 

India needs to strive to be a $30 trillion economy with a per capita income of $18,000 per annum to become a developed nation by 2047, government think tank NITI Aayog said in a paper. 

Titled ‘Vision for Viksit Bharat @ 2047: An Approach Paper,’ the document said that ‘Viksit Bharat’ (developed India) will have all the attributes of a developed country with a per capita income that is comparable to the high-income countries of the world today.

“It is a Bharat whose social, cultural, technological, and institutional features will mark it out as a developed nation with a rich heritage and one that is capable of functioning at the frontiers of knowledge,” the paper said in its definition of the concept of ‘Viksit Bharat’. 

As per the World Bank’s 2023 definition of high-income countries, they are those whose per capita income is more than $14,005. India aims to be a high-income country, or a developed country, by the centenary of its independence in 2047.

India is at a “turning point in its history”, and the 21st century can be India’s century, the paper, which was discussed during NITI Aayog’s ninth Governing Council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 27 July, said.

Recognizing that the gross domestic product (GDP) would have to grow nine times from today’s $3.36 trillion and the per capita income would need to rise eight times from today’s $2,392 to achieve the target of developed India, the paper noted that India requires sustained growth in the range of 7-10% for 20-30 years. 

Upgrading capabilities in manufacturing and logistics and bridging the gap between rural and urban incomes are some of the structural challenges that India needs to address, it said.

The country needs to achieve a balance between energy, security, access, affordability and sustainability. Improving the competitiveness of industry is equally necessary for the transformation of the country’s agricultural workforce into an industrial workforce and making India a global manufacturing and service hub, it added. 

“A vision for India cannot be the work of a few individuals or of one government” and it has to be the result of the “collective efforts of the entire nation”, the document said.