Road To Viksit Bharat: Long Term Policy Planning To Woo Pvt Investors With Focus On Exports, Jobs

New Delhi [India], February 23: India, with an aim to boost its growth rate from the current level of about 6.5%, needs long term policy planning in a bid to woo private sector investments amid rising geopolitical risks, experts said at a recently held seminar in the capital.

Given the macroeconomic stability that India enjoys at this point, investors need to be given the required reassurance of policy certainty as well. That apart it is crucial to ensure the artificial intelligence must be channelled positively and it must protect the jobs market.

The seminar—India’s Growth Beyond Budget: Navigating Mission 2047—organised by The Secretariat in association with Chintan Research Foundation underlined the need for structural reform along with political consensus. The growth story also must touch the lives of every citizen and inequality must be reduced.

Speaking on the occasion, Davinder Sandhu, Chairman, Primus Partners said AI and other technology must improve productivity, but steps are key to rule out any impact on employment in a labour-surplus economy. He also highlighted that India’s growth story is squarely dependent on the micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector which is the second largest employer only after the agriculture sector.

Rahul Ahluwalia, Founder Director, Foundation for Economic Development, who was also present at the seminar said that the government must take steps in promoting exports.

“We are a big market only because we have 1.4 billion people. On a per capita basis, we are one of the smallest markets in the world,” Ahluwalia said, adding that every fast-growing story has been export-led.

Bala Bhaskar, former Ambassador and an Economist highlighted the significance of carefully carving free trade agreements, so that these help the Indian exporters. “Signing FTAs is insufficient without building standards, intellectual property, technological capability, and supply chain depth,” he said.

Meanwhile Prabir De, Professor, Research and Information System for Developing Countries, said that it is imperative to have a plan on “Viksit Rajyas” or “Viksit” states for India to transform into Viksit Bharat by 2047.

“Numbers are very optimistic, but challenges are equally very high,” De said.

Vaibhav Dange, CEO, Build India Foundation noted the importance of quality infrastructure development to support growth. “The domestic strength of India’s economy has been the greatest advantage India has. Both in terms of consumption and capital expenditure on various aspects of the economy, infrastructure in particular,” Dange said.

Interestingly, Sanjeev Ahluwalia, Distinguished Fellow at CRF also said that the common citizens too need to play a role in pushing India’s growth story.