India’s vision to emerge as a $30 trillion economy by 2047 presents one of themost ambitious economic development agendas in modern history. As the country marks its centenary year of independence, this goal transcends a mere numeric target to symbolize national progress, inclusive prosperity, technological advancement, and global economic leadership. Achieving this vision will require sustained and high growth over the next two decades, underpinned by transformative reforms and strategic investments across the economic spectrum.

Get Moving on Labor Reforms

The linchpin of India’s economic future is its demographic dividend, widely regarded as a once-in-a-generation opportunity. The labour force participation rate (LFPR) climbed markedly from 49.8% in 2017-18 to 60.1% in 2023-24, exposing a pool of latent productive potential. Particularly encouraging is the near doubling of female labour force participation, increasing from 23.3% to 41.7% during the same period. These shifts embody social progress with substantial economic implications. Against this backdrop, India’s remarkable job creation record is staggering - more than 12 crore new positions were added between 2017 and 2023, including 4.67 crore in the latest fiscal year alone. Formal employment continues to strengthen, with the number of EPFO subscribers doubling to reach 1.3 crore new entrants in FY24. Youth, comprising over 67% of the population below the age of 35, are primed to drive India’s productivity leap, but the demographic dividend is both an asset and a challenge. Globally recognized skill mismatches per the International Labour Organization (ILO) Global Skills Report 2023 show nearly half the workforce in roles incongruent with their potential. More than 83% of the unemployed are young, underscoring urgent demands for vocational training, education scaling, and industrial skill absorption. Projected to reach a workforce of roughly one billion by 2047, India’s demographic window obliges a holistic approach to harness youth potential sustainably.

Reimagine, Reform Land Acquisition Norms

Land has always occupied a central role in India’s growth discourse. Whether it is the construction of highways, industrial corridors, special economic zones (SEZs), or smart cities, land acquisition forms the bedrock of progress. However, India’s land acquisition framework remains one of the most contested and litigated areas in development policy. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), over ₹1.8 lakh crore worth of infrastructure projects are currently stalled due to land acquisition disputes.

Challenges in Land Acquisition: Several challenges slow down the process. Legal hurdles are abundant, with states following different land ceiling acts, often leading to inconsistencies. Special protections under the Fifth Schedule and the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act of 1996 safeguard tribal interests but add further complexity. Administrative inefficiencies compound the problem: poor digitization of records, lack of coordination between departments, and delays in rehabilitation and resettlement schemes create widespread discontent. For example, the Delhi–Mumbai Industrial Corridor, envisioned as one of India’s largest infrastructure projects, faced delays of nearly 5–7 years, inflating costs by ₹12,000 crore due to unresolved land acquisition disputes. In Maharashtra alone, 17 metro and highway projects worth nearly ₹30,000 crore are delayed because of compensation claims and rehabilitation challenges.

Socioeconomic Implications: The social costs are equally significant. Acquisition of fertile agricultural land threatens food security and the livelihoods of farmers. Resistance movements in states like Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand have shown how neglecting community consultation can derail multi-billion-rupee projects. These conflicts highlight the need for transparent, participatory planning.

Pathways for Reform: Reforms must focus on digitizing land records to reduce disputes, using blockchain technology for tamper-proof registries, and creating accessible land bank portals to attract investors. Legal reforms should enforce fair and timely rehabilitation while administrative reforms can include fast-track courts and single-window clearances. Models such as land pooling in Gujarat and Delhi, and leasing instead of outright acquisition, can ensure that communities share in the benefits of development. In sum, unless India builds a transparent and inclusive land acquisition framework, its infrastructure ambitions will continue to face both delays and cost overruns.

A GST for Viksit Bharat

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) enactment stands as a pioneering fiscal reform that revolutionized India’s tax ecosystem. Revenue collections soared from ₹7.19 lakh crore in FY2017-18 to ₹19.8 lakh crore in FY2023-24, supported by record collections of ₹2.36 lakh crore in April 2025 alone. Simplification from multiple slabs to two broad rates enhanced compliance and facilitated a formal economy expansion. GST consolidation improved interstate commerce and inventory management, empowering businesses to expand scale and operations more confidently. Effective GST implementation underpins government capacity to fund expansive infrastructure investments and social safety nets, undergirding sustainable growth. Ongoing efforts to broaden the tax base, strengthen enforcement, streamline compliance, and digitize returns will continue to build fiscal space necessary for India’s economic escalation. Achieving and sustaining a revenue-to-GDP ratio near 18% aligns India with advanced economy benchmarks, forming the bedrock of financial stability during rapid development phases.

Expedite Disinvestment and Strategic Sales

The Role of Public Sector Enterprises: Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) have historically played a vital role in nation-building, particularly in energy, banking, and infrastructure. However, many today suffer from inefficiency, lack of competitiveness, and persistent financial losses. In FY 2023, 12 loss-making PSEs collectively reported losses of over ₹10,000 crore annually, locking up precious capital that could otherwise be invested in education, healthcare, or green energy.

Disinvestment: The Missed Targets: Disinvestment has been a cornerstone of India’s fiscal strategy, yet execution has often fallen short. The government’s disinvestment target for FY 2023–24 was ₹51,000 crore, but only ₹31,100 crore (61%) was realized. This persistent underperformance reflects bureaucratic delays, valuation disputes, and employee resistance. The Air India privatization, sold to Tata Group for ₹18,000 crore, illustrates both the potential and the challenges of disinvestment. While the deal relieved the government of an annual burden of ₹7,500 crore in losses, the delayed sale meant billions were wasted in bailout packages over decades. Similarly, the stalled strategic sale of BPCL, expected to fetch ₹52,000 crore, has deprived the exchequer of much-needed fiscal support.

Risks and Concerns Critics caution that poorly managed disinvestment could lead to monopolistic behavior, undervaluation of public assets, or job losses. Sensitive sectors such as defense and railways require careful calibration to avoid compromising national security.

Recommendations for Reform: To expedite disinvestment, India must adopt transparent valuation mechanisms, employ IPOs and public offers, and implement phased dilution strategies to maximize returns. Social safety nets for employees such as retraining programs and pension assurances are essential to reduce resistance. Bureaucratic hurdles must be streamlined through single-window systems. Done well, disinvestment can unlock efficiency, attract foreign capital, and reduce the fiscal burden. 

Recast Inflation Targeting

Macroeconomic stability underpins any sustained growth trajectory. Since adopting an inflation targeting framework in 2016, India has become among the rare economies with over 94% monthly inflation readings within the 4% ± 2% band. This success has replaced previously high and volatile inflation averages around 6.8%, quelling uncertainty for businesses and households alike. Low inflation supports monetary policy transmission, facilitates investment into fixed capital assets such as factories and highways, and protects the purchasing power necessary for consumer spending the engine of growth. Continued commitment to transparent, credible monetary policy frameworks will maintain India’s fiscal credibility, encourage foreign direct investment, and enable the large public and private infrastructure investments essential for economic expansion.

Foster a Research-Nibhar India

Current State of Research and Development: India’s ambition to become a developed economy cannot rely solely on services or low-cost manufacturing. Instead, an innovation-driven economy is essential. However, India spends only 0.7% of its GDP (about ₹1.6 lakh crore) on Research and Development (R&D), compared to 2.4% by China (~₹25 lakh crore) and over 4% by Israel. Private sector participation in R&D remains low just 36% in India compared to over 75% in developed economies. Weak industry–academia linkages, inadequate funding, and outdated infrastructure further limit India’s potential. The Global Innovation Index 2022 ranked India 40th, highlighting progress but also pointing to a large gap with global leaders.

Consequences of Underinvestment: The impact is visible in the brain drain. Nearly 23,000 Indian students pursue PhDs abroad every year, representing a loss of over ₹50,000 crore annually in talent and investment. Patent filings tell a similar story: India filed 46,500 patents in 2022, compared to 1.5 million by China and 5.9 lakh by the United States. Without adequate research funding, India risks remaining a consumer rather than a producer of global technologies.

Strategies for Reform: India must raise public R&D spending to at least 1–2% of GDP by 2030. The private sector can be incentivized through tax holidays, grants, and reduced corporate tax rates on revenues generated from patented products. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds should be channeled into innovation and research hubs. Institutional mechanisms must encourage industry academia partnerships to ensure research translates into commercial products. Localized innovation ecosystems at the block and district levels can create grassroots solutions. Foreign collaborations, such as India’s space cooperation with NASA and ISRO, demonstrate how partnerships can accelerate technology transfer. If executed well, these measures could transform India into a hub of innovation, reversing brain drain and making the country a global leader in emerging technologies.

Overhaul the IBC

Insolvency and bankruptcy reform has revived Indian credit markets. Since establishing the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), ₹3.89 lakh crore has been resolved, with a 32.8% success rate in the recovery arena, representing 48% of total bank recovery in FY24. These outcomes have facilitated a sharp decline in Non-Performing Assets (NPAs), from over 11% in 2018 to below 3% in 2024. The pragmatic institutional framework underpins banking sector health, encourages prudent lending, and reduces systemic financial instability risks. For India to fund trillions of dollars in infrastructure and industrial expansion, accelerating legal and institutional mechanisms for quicker asset resolution will remain essential to unlock capital trapped in stressed assets.

Decriminalise to Catalyse 

The Burden of Over-Criminalization: India’s regulatory framework often criminalizes minor economic infractions, creating fear among entrepreneurs. This has discouraged risk-taking and added to litigation backlogs. As of 2022, 26,134 cases of economic offences were pending in Indian courts, many involving minor compliance issues.

The Jan Vishwas Act and Its Impact: The Jan Vishwas Act 1.0 (2023) marked progress by amending 42 laws and decriminalizing 183 provisions, replacing imprisonment with monetary penalties in several areas. This move is estimated to save businesses ₹5,000–7,000 crore annually in compliance and legal costs. However, a second wave Jan Vishwas 2.0 is required to expand reforms across additional sectors.

International Comparisons: Globally, business environments thrive when minor infractions are addressed through administrative fines or civil remedies rather than criminal proceedings. For example, in Singapore, regulatory breaches in corporate law are largely met with financial penalties rather than imprisonment. India must learn from such models to foster entrepreneurship.

Future Directions: Reforms should expand alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, including mediation and arbitration, to reduce litigation. Proportional punishment should be introduced so that minor lapses do not attract severe sanctions. Simultaneously, India’s criminal justice system needs modernization, with digitized court processes and fast-track economic benches. By reducing over-criminalization, India can improve its regulatory environment, attract foreign investment, and encourage entrepreneurship.

Budling, Bigger and more efficient Banks

Addressing financing bottlenecks in India’s banking sector is crucial to achieving sustainable economic expansion. Today, only two Indian banks State Bank of India and HDFC Bank feature among the world’s top 100 by asset size. Despite public sector bank mergers aimed at enhancing scale and stability, fragmented liquidity management and restrictive regulatory frameworks constrain credit flow. Specifically, regulatory prohibition against inter-institutional borrowing between banks, NBFCs, and cooperative institutions limits capital mobilization. Reforms facilitating liquidity pooling, encouraging consolidation to create fewer and stronger banks, deepening bond markets, and creating project-specific financing institutions will diversify funding sources. These steps are necessary to finance mammoth infrastructure projects and promote industrial growth consistent with $30 trillion economic aspirations.

Improve Consumer and Investor Protection

The Importance of Trust in Markets: Sustained economic growth depends on consumer and investor confidence. In an era of digital transactions, e-commerce, and fintech innovation, the risks of fraud, mis-selling, and cyber threats have multiplied. Without robust consumer and investor protections, the foundation of trust in financial markets weakens.

Current Challenges: The Sahara and PACL scams alone caused investor losses of over ₹35,000 crore in the last decade. RBI’s ombudsman scheme received over 1.5 lakh complaints in FY 2022–23, marking a 40% increase compared to FY 2019–20. Meanwhile, cyber fraud in banking rose to ₹1,100 crore in 2022, highlighting the vulnerabilities of digital platforms. Consumer disputes also remain unresolved: over 5.5 lakh cases are pending in consumer courts, with an average resolution time of 3–5 years. Such delays erode confidence in redressal mechanisms.

Reform Priorities: Strengthening consumer protection requires greater transparency in product disclosures, simpler grievance redressal mechanisms, and widespread financial literacy campaigns. Investor protection must be strengthened through strict SEBI oversight, real-time monitoring of stock markets, and investor education initiatives. Cybersecurity must be prioritized, with investment in AI-driven fraud detection systems for banks and financial institutions. Investor protection funds, designed to compensate small investors in cases of broker defaults, should be expanded.

Monitor the Progress - Viksit Bharat 2047 

Monitoring progress is a vital element in realizing the ambitious vision of Viksit Bharat 2047. Setting measurable goals in each sector ensures that development remains targeted, accountable, and aligned with national priorities such as inclusive growth, sustainability, and innovation. Regular reviews every three to five years, conducted by independent organizations, will provide an unbiased assessment of outcomes and highlight course corrections where needed. Institutions like the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), premier IITs, or the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) can play a crucial role in auditing progress, thereby ensuring transparency and credibility. Such institutionalized monitoring mechanisms will help track whether investments in infrastructure, research, governance reforms, and social sectors are translating into tangible improvements in quality of life. By embedding accountability and evidence-based policymaking into the developmental journey, India can stay on course to achieve its long-term goals and truly emerge as a developed nation by 2047.

Manufacturing sector requires attention

India’s manufacturing sector remains a cornerstone for employment growth, export expansion, and value creation but currently faces critical challenges. The sector’s GDP contribution fell from 16.7% in 2013-14 to 15.9% in 2023-24, below the 25% target envisioned by initiatives like Make in India. Despite the launch of Production Linked Incentive schemes covering 14 sectors with an outlay of nearly ₹1.97 lakh crore and manufacturing exports reaching $447 billion in FY23, foundational competitiveness issues persist. These include high input costs, complex regulations, infrastructural deficits, and limited global integration. Achieving manufacturing expansion and competitiveness entails fostering industrial clusters with world-class infrastructure, easing logistic constraints, simplifying regulatory compliance, strengthening research-to-market linkages, and scaling advanced manufacturing sub-sectors.

India’s economic transformation must also be inclusive. Equitable access to civil services and leadership roles enables more balanced governance and social equity. Avoiding entrenched privileges within scheduled category quotas and ensuring opportunities for first-generation learners through targeted policies will enrich talent pipelines and reduce socio-economic disparities. Expanding education and training for marginalized communities complements economic reforms by broadening opportunities and deepening consumption-led growth foundations.

Conclusion: Ambitious but Attainable

India’s journey towards a $30 trillion economy by 2047 is an extraordinary challenge that rests fundamentally on people’s potential, institutional reform, and investment scale. Tremendous strides in employment growth, fiscal reform, strategic disinvestment, and macroeconomic stabilization provide a solid launching pad. But critical bottlenecks remain especially around land reform, innovation funding, banking sector scale, and infrastructure investment.

Leveraging its demographic advantage means acting decisively in the next 20 years to deliver massive quality job creation, accelerate infrastructure rollout, institutionalize innovation, and radically improve ease of doing business. This requires unprecedented collaboration between government, private sector, and civil society.

Ultimately, success will be measured not solely in dollars produced but in the quality of life, equity of opportunity, and dignity afforded to India’s citizens. With focused determination, transparent governance, and collective effort, India can transform this grand vision into reality and secure its place as a leading global economy by its centennial year.