The vision that India aspires to become a global power by 2047, as outlined under the heading "Viksit Bharat," is a very crucial phase in its journey toward growth and development. It enunciates that there is an urgent requirement for an all-round combined effort by all the elements-government, industry, and society-toward unleashing the true potential of India and an assured position on the world platform. FICCI has recognized four major imperatives, which if pursued with vigor by the government and other players, will help implement this vision: ushering in a manufacturing revolution, spurring innovation, empowering women, and ensuring farm prosperity. Here's how India can do these jobs and set up a global benchmark for growth.
Manufacturing Transformation: From Local to Global
It is a radical transformation that is called for if India is to realize its dream of becoming a global manufacturing hub. India currently accounts for just 3.1% of world manufacturing, and the country needs to increase that percentage to 12%, which would imply a 16-fold increase in GDP from manufacturing. Following are the ways in which this transformation can be effected:
- Quality and Scale: The Indian manufacturer must be positioned globally as a producer of quality and scale. This needs to be done through better quality testing infrastructure and scaling of operations to international standards. Top industries have an important role to play in such cases, where they would guide MSMEs through training programs that lead them to exposure with new technologies and methods of production. For example, this is done under the Make in India initiative, so as to enhance local manufacturing and global competitiveness.
- Leadership on Industry 4.0: Adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies is very important in the context of attainment of leadership by India. It involves state-of-the-art technology in automation, AI, and IoT. An integrated approach in the entire value chain-from design to manufacturing-is necessary, especially in high technology sectors such as defense, electronics, semiconductors, etc. The concept of Industry 4.0 gives an idea about how these technologies will help in the industrial growth.
- R&D Investments: In order to establish India as an innovation hub, the scaling up of R&D investments has to be significant. Companies will have to strengthen their R&D functions in order to create, deliver, and scale up new products, services, processes, and business models. The private sector should adopt and upgrade more industrial training institutes and their curricula according to the needs of the industry. All this can be supported and facilitated with resources available at Invest India.
Empowering Women: A Pillar of Inclusive Development
Gender equality is an essential dimension of inclusive development. Growing women's participation in the workforce is a critical tool of growth for India. Aspirations are to attain a labour force participation rate of 45-50%. To accomplish this task, following initiatives have to be under taken:
- Employability: Improvement in women's employability requires collaboration with ITIs and adoption of digital modes for imparting skill development. To be able to do that, it would be needed to ensure equal pay for equal work and a safe, socially desirable work environment. Gender-friendly corporate policies and a well-developed care economy are central to this. Programs like NITI Aayog's Women Entrepreneurship Platform have been implemented based on the greater need to support women's economic empowerment.
- Creating Enabling Environment: It is very important to create an enabling and safe work environment for women. This would include providing equal opportunity policies and workplace harassment policies. In this respect, the The Gender Equality Index has proven very enlightening in terms of insights with respect to progress toward gender equality on a global scale.
Engineering Prosperity of Farms: Reimagining Agriculture
Agriculture is an important part of India's growth, whose productivity and sustainability must be remade through structural reforms. The focus areas:
- More Productivity: Farm productivity has to be improved while the wastage of food is reduced in order to keep food inflation in check as well as make agriculture viable. An integrated farm-to-fork ecosystem is necessary for self-sufficiency. Agricultural growth is linked to collaborative effort processes and public-private partnership engagements. The National Agriculture Market (eNAM) portal integrates national agricultural markets for reasonable marketing of agricultural produce and ensures better value realization for farmers.
- Mechanisation and Export Growth: There is dire need to increase mechanization from 40% to 60%, develop more than 100 horticulture clusters, and doubling agricultural exports in the next five to six years. Digital and AI solutions provide greater leverage and optimization for increased productivity. Some great solutions are provided by Agri-Tech Startups.
- Generation of Rural Employment: The creation of 3 million farm technicians across the country can employ people into the rural sector. Many such training programs involving soil testing, micro-irrigation, and so on can be done to increase agricultural output. There are also other initiatives like Krish-e that are working in this direction by developing digital solutions for renting farm equipment.
- R&D Partnerships: Collaboration with agricultural institutes in developing climate-resilient and water-efficient seeds will bring a revolution in this segment. Review of agricultural research and funding in the Budget is a step in this direction, which is very welcome. Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) plays a very important role in promoting agricultural research and innovation.
Championing Sustainability: A Green Future
It is also a priority area wherein India has set a target for net zero by 2070. To accomplish that, the country would need to do the following:
- Reduce CO2 Emissions: Target reduction in CO2-emission intensity of around 80-90% in 2047 from the current levels. In this respect, all industries and the government need to come up with pathways to green transition in all sectors. Initiatives like the global programs at [The Climate Group ] support such efforts to reduce the emissions and further propagate sustainability.
- De-carbonization Strategies to Be Executed: Advance decarbonisation strategies, CCU projects, and circular businesses. Development of green alternatives such as sustainable packaging and green-waste management technologies should be done. The Circular Economy Coalition provides resources and case studies of best practices.
- Supporting MSMEs: Large companies, on their part, need to support MSMEs in their supply chains to adopt green practices. This includes sharing resources and providing guiding principles for deploying sustainable solutions. Sustainable MSME Development initiatives cover environmental responsibility among small and medium enterprises.
Role and Initiatives of FICCI
FICCI is engaged in effectively promoting these priorities through various initiatives:
- The 'Go and See' programme for SMEs covers more than 100 companies, thereby enhancing quality standards and best industry practices.
- Partnership with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to upgrade ITI curriculum and training courses
- Vocational training to 500,000 women in areas considered unconventional, agricultural training to be scaled via platforms such as Krish-e.
- Development of a playbook on Sustainability and gathering Case studies of best practices of circular economy.
Conclusion
The Indian dream for 2047 is an ambitious dream of turning into a globally competitive and prosperous nation. By means of ensuring transformation in manufacturing, creating an atmosphere for innovation, empowering women, and ensuring the prosperity of farmers, India will be able to set newer standards for growth and development. The vision needs proper planning, appropriate implementation, and full participation from every element of society. Indeed, with a common effort, India can achieve the goal of turning itself into a globally competitive and prosperous nation by the year 2047.
For further information and the latest updates on India's development project, please visit: Website of FICCI and Invest India.