India’s ambition to become a developed nation by 2047 hinges on sustained high economic growth, inclusive development and institutional reforms. With an execution-driven vision, India can achieve its aspiration of becoming a USD 30 trillion economy by the 100th year of its independence.
However, in a challenging global environment, when every country is putting its interest first rather than pushing for shared prosperity, India’s task is cut out. This is evident from India-US negotiations, which are on the verge of collapse with the US unilaterally imposing a 25 per cent reciprocal tariff on Indian goods and threatening of penalty for buying cheap Russian crude.
So, India’s path to becoming a developed nation by 2047 depends on sustained, inclusive, and innovation-led growth. This requires a holistic reform agenda across regulation, judiciary, labour markets, R&D, trade, climate, and fiscal management. With a clear vision, execution focus, and cooperative federalism, India can not only uplift its 1.4 billion citizens but also emerge as a model of democratic and sustainable development on the global stage.
Simplifying Regulatory Frameworks
India’s current regulatory environment is plagued by overlapping rules, complex procedures, and excessive compliance burdens. This creates friction for businesses, discourages innovation, and increases costs. So, the government must adopt a streamlined, digital-first, and outcome-oriented regulatory architecture.
Key reforms should include further rationalising outdated laws, decriminalising minor offences, and promoting single-window clearances to improve ease of doing business. Harmonising regulations across central and state governments is critical for consistency and investor confidence. Sector-specific regulators should focus on enabling innovation and protecting public interest, rather than micro-control. By leveraging digital tools for real-time compliance and reducing bureaucratic layers, India can unlock entrepreneurship and attract global capital.
Judicial Reforms
India’s overburdened judiciary—with over 5 crore pending cases—poses a major obstacle to timely justice and economic efficiency. Delayed dispute resolution erodes trust, hampers contracts, and deters investments. Reforms must focus on digitisation of court procedures through e-filing, virtual hearings, and AI-based case management systems.
The expansion of judicial capacity, especially fast-track courts and the appointment of more judges, is vital. Alternative dispute resolution mechanisms like arbitration, mediation, and Lok Adalats should be institutionalised. Procedural reforms to reduce adjournments and complexity, along with performance metrics to track judicial productivity, will ensure faster justice delivery—an essential condition for a developed economy.
Labour Reforms
India’s young workforce is a key asset, but the current labour ecosystem suffers from rigid hiring norms, high informality, and low female participation. The move to consolidate labour laws into four simplified codes is a step forward. But it should be implemented by the states. These reforms aim to improve labour market flexibility, social security portability, and compliance ease, particularly for MSMEs.
Skill development must be central to India’s growth model. Vocational training, digital education infrastructure, and partnerships between industry and academia are essential to align workforce capabilities with emerging sectors like AI, robotics, renewable energy, and healthcare. Increasing female labour force participation through safe workspaces, childcare support, and flexible policies will further boost inclusive growth.
Research and Development and Innovation
To move beyond low-cost services and manufacturing, India must invest in knowledge-based, innovation-driven growth. Despite having a strong talent base, India’s R&D spending is less than 0.7 per cent of GDP, much lower than developed countries. The government’s initiatives, like the Rs 1 lakh crore Research and Development Innovation fund and the Atal Innovation Mission are promising steps.
Public R&D investment must be complemented by private sector incentives and academia-industry partnerships. Focus areas should include deep tech, green energy, agri-tech, biotech, and AI. Strengthening IP protection and improving access to global innovation ecosystems will enable Indian firms to compete globally, create quality jobs, and drive productivity.
Climate Finance
The release of India’s draft Climate Finance Taxonomy in 2025 is a crucial step in channelling finance into clean sectors while preventing greenwashing. The taxonomy will guide investments in sectors like energy, mobility, buildings, agriculture, and hard-to-abate industries (e.g., steel, cement), aligning them with national mitigation and adaptation goals.
India requires USD 2.5 trillion by 2030 for its green transition. While it has already exceeded several Nationally Determined Contributions targets ahead of schedule—such as achieving 47.4 per cent non-fossil fuel energy capacity—significant international finance and technology transfer are needed to sustain this progress. A robust taxonomy helps investors, regulators, and businesses align their actions with India’s net-zero ambitions by 2070.
Beneficial Trade Agreements
Strategic trade agreements and modernised bilateral investment treaties (BITs) can act as engines of growth. Free Trade Agreements similar to the one signed recently with the UK, with key other economies, will enhance market access, technology transfer, and supply chain integration. Modern BITs with most favoured nation (MFN) clauses and investor protection will improve investor confidence.
These agreements can also serve as catalysts for domestic reforms, such as improved intellectual property protection, labour standards, and transparency. With geopolitical shifts reshaping trade flows, India must adopt a proactive trade strategy to enhance resilience and global positioning.
Fiscal Consolidation
Strong public finances are a prerequisite for sustainable development. Fiscal consolidation—through rationalised subsidies, broader tax base, and capital expenditure prioritisation—ensures macroeconomic stability. A lower fiscal deficit reduces inflation and borrowing costs, while creating fiscal space for essential investments in health, education, and infrastructure.
Efficient debt management will improve India’s sovereign credit rating profile and reduce long-term interest obligations. With state-level debt rising, reforms in federal fiscal discipline are also necessary. By maintaining debt sustainability and improving the quality of public spending, India can safeguard inter-generational equity and build investor confidence.
A beginning has been made in this regard. To rebuild buffers and provide requisite space for growth-enhancing expenditures, the Central government has unveiled a new medium-term fiscal consolidation plan centred around debt-to-GDP ratio reduction to 50% with a tolerance band of +/- 1 percentage points by FY31, with fiscal deficit pegged accordingly each year from FY27.
Sectoral champions
By 2047, India should be leading in some sectors or technologies and have global champions comparable to its standing. Sectors where India should aim to have global champions include semiconductors, EVs, green energy, agri-tech and food processing, deep tech and AI, pharma and biotech, defence and aerospace, banking and insurance, among others.