NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam announced on Wednesday that a vision document is in the works, envisioning India as a developed economy of approximately $30 trillion by 2047. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to release the draft document, titled “Vision India @2047,” in January next year. The document will delineate the necessary institutional and structural changes and reforms for India to achieve developed nation status by 2047.
Addressing an event organized by industry body FICCI, Mr. Subrahmanyam revealed that NITI Aayog, in 2023, was assigned the task of consolidating the 10 sectoral thematic visions into an overarching vision for “Viksit Bharat @2047.”
He highlighted the government’s aim to increase college enrollment in India from 27 percent to 50-60 percent, indicating significant investments in higher education. The CEO emphasized the need to revamp the education sector, suggesting that the college-going population would double from 4 crores to 8-9 crores, requiring the establishment of numerous new universities.
Given the fiscal stress on states, Mr. Subrahmanyam stressed that funds for new universities should come from the private sector. He proposed the creation of education cities akin to Boston and San Francisco to foster research and innovation.
Noting that half of India’s population has a median age below 29 years, he emphasized the importance of exploiting India’s demographic potential over the next 25 years. With India poised to be the largest workforce provider globally, Subrahmanyam underscored the need to attract more students to India, considering that 13 lakh Indian students go abroad for higher education annually.