Former diplomat Mohan Kumar emphasises that India must expand to at least $10 trillion by 2047 through inclusive growth, structural reforms, and a focus on productivity to truly realise its Viksit Bharat vision.
India will need far more than fast growth if it is to give real meaning to its Viksit Bharat 2047 ambition. In an opinion piece in The Jerusalem Post, former diplomat Mohan Kumar argued that the economy would need to expand to at least $10 trillion for the goal to be credible on a scale that matches India’s population and development needs. He said the country’s current size, though enough to make it the world’s fourth-largest economy, still falls short of what is required for a nation of nearly 1.5 billion people.
Kumar said the route to that target would have to include a bigger role in world trade, more foreign direct investment and deeper structural reform. But he also stressed that output alone would not be enough. Growth, he argued, must be broad-based and reach households at the bottom of the income ladder if Viksit Bharat is to mean more than headline GDP numbers.
His comments fit into a wider policy debate over how India can turn scale into productivity. KPMG in India recently said the country needs to move from growth at scale towards higher productivity, setting out ten priorities for the next phase of expansion, including a future-ready workforce, stronger manufacturing, better infrastructure, trade competitiveness, regulatory reform and more effective public finance. Other strategic assessments have gone further, with some industry groups and policy blueprints projecting a much larger economy by 2047, but all point to the same core challenge: execution.
Kumar also highlighted the need to turn India’s young population into a source of enterprise rather than only employment demand. That would require stronger skilling and reskilling, especially in artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, in an education system still heavily shaped by rote learning. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already tied AI training to the Viksit Bharat agenda, announcing plans on Independence Day to train one crore young people in the technology over the next year.
Healthcare was another area Kumar said would need sustained reform. While acknowledging schemes such as Ayushman Bharat, he argued that public health infrastructure still requires major expansion if development is to be felt more evenly. He said the broader mission would demand urgency, coordination across ministries and what he described as a whole-of-government approach to ensure no part of the agenda is left behind.
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