India’s Vision for Viksit Bharat by 2047 is a Shared National Mission: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
India’s ambitious journey toward becoming a Viksit Bharat (Developed India) by 2047 is not merely aspirational—it is a collective national mission driven by inclusive, sustainable, and innovation-led growth, said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Delivering a keynote address titled “Laying the Foundations for a Developed India #ViksitBharat by 2047” at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, the Finance Minister highlighted India’s transformation from the world’s tenth-largest economy to the fifth-largest.
“Despite the pandemic shock and global financial uncertainties, India’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals and steady reform trajectory over the last decade provide both direction and confidence for the road ahead,” she told the audience.
Digital Public Infrastructure: A Global Benchmark
One of the cornerstone achievements showcased in her speech was India’s success with Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). “Over a billion digital identities have been created. Using these, bank accounts were opened, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, funds were transferred directly with a click. DPI also enabled mass vaccination efforts,” Sitharaman noted.
This population-scale success, she said, is consistently praised in global forums including the G20, World Bank, and IMF.
Growth Strategy: Reforms, Resilience, and Inclusion
Looking ahead, Sitharaman said India’s sustained growth will rely on bold reforms, enhanced domestic capacities, agile institutional partnerships, and strategic adaptation to global trends. The last two Union Budgets, she added, have already laid a multi-sectoral policy foundation for this transformation.
“The vision of Viksit Bharat calls for collective effort—not only from the government but from every citizen. It is a call to act inclusively, think boldly, and remain resilient,” she said.
MSMEs and Startups: Engines of Inclusive Growth
The Finance Minister underscored the critical role of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in driving domestic manufacturing. She detailed initiatives supporting the sector, including streamlined credit access, redefined thresholds, faster payments, and reduced compliance burdens.
Highlighting innovation, she noted that the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), launched in 2022, has already onboarded over 7.6 lakh vendors across 616 cities.
“India’s next focus is on regulatory simplification, digitising approvals, and integrating MSMEs into global value chains—particularly supporting women-led and rural enterprises,” she said.
Infrastructure and Ease of Doing Business
Sitharaman also pointed to the massive increase in capital expenditure over the past decade—quadrupling since 2017-18—as a key driver for infrastructure-led growth and investor confidence.
Reforms such as decriminalising business laws, digitising public services, and rationalising over 20,000 compliance rules have significantly eased doing business, she said.
India-US Ties and Startup Synergies
Reflecting on India-US cooperation, Sitharaman cited a report showing Indian immigrants founded 72 unicorns between 2018 and 2023, with a combined valuation of $195 billion.
Moreover, over 65% of Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in India are headquartered in the US, offering high-value services in R&D, management, and consulting.
“India’s startup ecosystem, though relatively young, is rapidly evolving. Our aim over the past decade has been to reduce the cost and risk of entrepreneurship through regulatory reforms and infrastructure support,” Sitharaman concluded.
