‘India should aim to be high-income country by 2047’

NITI AAYOG CEO SAID THAT INDIA WILL GROW IF THE COUNTRY CAN USE THE POWER OF ITS PRIVATE SECTOR

NEW DELHI: India should aspire to become a high-income country by 2047 and this would need sustained economic growth year after year, Niti Aayog chief executive officer (CEO) Amitabh Kant said on Wednesday.

India will grow if the country can use power of its private sector, Kant said. “Our per capita income is approximately $2,000. India is a lower middle income country. Our aspiration should be to become a high-income country by 2047 and this would need sustained growth year after year,” he said at an event here.

Kant pointed out that in 1947 the per capita income of South Korea, China and India were more or less equal. “Seventy-five years later South Korea’s per capita income is 7 times that of India’s,” he said.

China and South Korea recorded 10% growth year after year, Kant pointed out. “If India won’t grow at higher rate it will be caught in the low income growth scenario,” he said.

The Niti Aayog CEO lamented that bureaucrats have made it difficult for businesses to grow.

“We have established rules and regulations that have killed entrepreneurship,” he said. Bureaucrats should learn the art of restructuring public-private partnership projects, de-risking projects and ensuring far more participation from the private sector.

Kant on Thursday will chair a session on One District One Product scheme, while Rajiv Kumar, V-C of Niti Aayog, will chair a session on Aspirational District Program on the occassion of 15th Civil Services Day.