India Must Focus On Manufacturing, Education To Achieve Developed Status By 2047: CEA

New Delhi, Jun 18 (KNN) Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India, Dr. V Anantha Nageswaran, has emphasised the need for India to focus on key sectors such as manufacturing, education, and employment generation in order to achieve its vision of becoming a developed country by 2047.

Speaking at a lecture titled ‘Global Economic Trends: India’s Challenges and Prospects’ held at the Raj Bhavan, he stressed that India must aim to become as indispensable to the world as China has.

In his address, Dr. Nageswaran noted that the coming decades would be marked by geopolitical volatility and economic uncertainty. Against this backdrop, he outlined a set of national priorities to be pursued over the next 20 to 25 years.

These include enhancing education and skilling, ensuring physical and mental well-being, enabling affordable and sustainable energy transitions, strengthening manufacturing, ensuring food security, improving agricultural productivity, generating employment, and increasing the rate of investments.

Dr. Nageswaran cited India’s recent achievement in employment generation, noting that the country has doubled its initial goal of creating 8 million jobs annually over the past two years.

However, he also raised concerns about rising health issues, including obesity and mental distress, particularly among the youth. He called for collective responsibility to address these issues through better lifestyle choices such as healthier diets, reduced screen time, outdoor activities, and stronger family engagement.

“Ensuring the demographic dividend is realised is not solely the job of governments; it requires individual effort too,” he said.

On the energy front, he pointed out the challenges of balancing the global push towards renewable energy with the realities of development needs.

While developed nations built their economies on fossil fuels, they now urge developing countries to transition to cleaner alternatives. However, renewable sources like solar and wind are intermittent, and India’s power grids are not yet equipped to handle such variability.

Dr. Nageswaran also cautioned that India’s increasing reliance on solar panels and electric vehicles could inadvertently deepen its dependence on China, a major supplier of components in these sectors.

He asserted that India must strive, like China, to become indispensable in the global value chain.

Despite a global decline in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), the CEA said India remains an attractive destination.

He advocated for policy changes at the state level to encourage industrial decentralisation, highlighting the need to spread manufacturing beyond urban centres.

“Deregulation is the key to MSME growth and employment generation. Studies clearly show its positive impact on industrial activity,” he added.

To boost agricultural productivity, he recommended increased irrigation coverage and land consolidation.

Concluding his remarks, Dr. Nageswaran underscored that meeting these multifaceted challenges requires coordinated efforts not only from policymakers but also from citizens committed to the nation’s long-term progress.

(KNN Bureau)