NEW DELHI: India needs to grow at 8 percent for up to two decades to become a developed nation by 2047, the Economic Survey said on Friday, pitching for a slew of reforms, including land and labour, to achieve the ambitious target.
It further said that to achieve this growth, the investment rate must rise to 35 percent of GDP, up from the current 31 percent, and develop the manufacturing sector further and invest in emerging technologies such as AI, robotics, and biotechnology.
India will also need to create 78.5 lakh new non-farm jobs annually till 2030-32, achieve 100 percent literacy, develop the quality of our education institutions, and develop high-quality, future-ready infrastructure at scale and speed.
"...the faster economic growth that India needs is only possible if the union and state governments continue to implement reforms that allow small and medium enterprises to operate efficiently and compete cost-effectively...The focus of reforms and economic policy must now be on systematic deregulation," the Economic Survey 2024-25 said.
The survey also said there should be minimum regulations as small and medium enterprises have limited managerial and other resources at their disposal. The list of areas in which systematic reforms are needed includes land, labour, building, utilities and public service delivery.
"Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) 2.0 should be a state government-led initiative focused on fixing the root causes behind the unease of doing business," the survey said.
It said where the union government sets the primary law, states also have the option to deregulate by amending subordinate regulations. States should consider these options while identifying opportunities for deregulation.
"To realise its economic aspirations of becoming Viksit Bharat by the time of the centenary of independence, India needs to achieve a growth rate of around 8 per cent at constant prices, on average, for about a decade or two," the survey said.