 "Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivers the Inaugural Address at the 3rd edition of Kautilya Economic Conclave in New Delhi | Photo: X/ @nsitharamanoffc")
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivers the Inaugural Address at the 3rd edition of Kautilya Economic Conclave in New Delhi | Photo: X/ @nsitharamanoffc
The upcoming decades will see the steepest rise in living standards for the common man, making it a period-defining era for an Indian to live in, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday. Speaking at the Kautilya Economic Conclave, Sitharaman said India’s youth, rise in consumption, and innovation will be among the forces that shape the India era.
The finance minister said that the effects of the last ten years of economic and structural reforms would manifest more thoroughly in the coming years, as the Covid shock fades from the economy.
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“It took us 75 years to reach a per capita income of $2,730. As per International Monetary Fund (IMF) projections, it will take only five years to add another $2,000,” Sitharaman said in her inaugural address.
Talking about the theme of the summit, ‘The Indian Era,’ the finance minister said that consumption in India will organically rise over the coming decade as 43 per cent of Indians who are younger than 24 years old are yet to explore their consumption behaviour fully. She said that ensuring that India’s youth are cognitively equipped, emotionally strong, and physically fit is a core policy priority.
Among factors that should shape India’s era, the finance minister highlighted India’s rising middle class, which will pave the way for strong consumption, inflow of foreign investment, and a vibrant marketplace.
“India’s youthful population provides a large base for total factor productivity improvements, savings, and investment,” Sitharaman said.
She said India’s innovation ability will mature and improve over the coming decades.
Praising India’s financial systems, the finance minister said that India’s financial market has evolved into a competent system whose crisis management, regulatory, and governance standards are at par with those of developed financial markets.
Sitharaman said that the global geopolitical repositioning could act as a structural force to India’s advantage by creating robust supply chains with countries with strategic congruence. “India benefits from the new international order, which is reshaping better to reflect the power distribution of today’s world,” she said.
The finance minister said that India’s economic rise in the coming decades will be unique since the global backdrop is no longer the same. She said that India seeks to double its per capita income in a matter of a few years for its 1.4 billion population — 18 per cent of the global population — in a fragmented and fractured world where several persistent conflicts may worsen, posing a threat to global peace, which is the bedrock of prosperity.
“In the early 2000s, emerging markets like China grew relatively more easily due to a favourable global trade and investment climate. This poses a potential challenge and an opportunity for India,” the finance minister said.
She said that by 2047, as India crosses the 100-year mark of independence, the new Indian era will have core characteristics similar to developed countries. “Viksit Bharat will usher prosperity not just to Indians but to the rest of the world by becoming central to a vibrant exchange of ideas, technology, and culture,” the finance minister said.
First Published: Oct 04 2024 | 5:15 PM IST
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