Exclusive: What 10 things need to be done in 10 years to become a ‘developed India’? Finance Commission Chairman Arvind Panagariya said

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing from the Red Fort on August 15, 2022, on the 77th anniversary of independence, had mentioned a big dream for the country. He had said- “My dream is that when we celebrate the 100th anniversary of independence, India will be a developed country.” India will complete 100 years of independence in 2047. Therefore, Modi Government has set the target of developed India by 2047. Whereas the target is to make India’s economy the third largest economy in the world by 2030-31. India has a long way to go to achieve both these dreams.

What should be the blueprint to achieve ‘Vision 2047’? What things should be focused on? What kind of reforms are needed in which areas? To know the answers to all these questions, NDTV Editor in Chief Sanjay Puglia has had an exclusive conversation with the current Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission, Dr. Arvind Panagariya and former Chairman NK Singh.

The tenure of Dr. Arvind Panagariya as Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission is till 31 October 2025. His book ‘The Nehru Development Model’ written on Indian economy has been released recently. In an interview with NDTV, Panagariya explained what should be the criteria to become a ‘developed India’. To achieve this goal, which 10 reforms does the government need to do in the next 10 years?

1. Labor laws passed, implement now
Arvind Panagariya said, “The first reform that needs to be done is in the Labor Law. This law was passed in 2019-2020. Implementing it will be a big reform. Its difficult task has been completed. This bill should be passed by the Parliament. So there should be no problem in implementing it.”

2. It is necessary to simplify GST further
Panagariya said, “The government needs to simplify GST. There is also a need to reform personal income tax.” Let us tell you that the government had brought Goods and Services Tax (GST) in place of the old indirect tax system Value Added Tax (VAT). It was implemented on 1 July 2017.

3. Exports will increase, India will develop
According to Panagariya, it is also necessary to increase exports. He said that currently there is an export market of 32 trillion dollars in the global economy. India’s share in this merchandise export is about 2%. This can be reduced to 4%. Whereas our share in Service Export is 4%. India has good momentum in this. Therefore your stake in it can be increased.

4. Privatization agenda will have to be adopted
According to the Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission, the government will have to speed up privatization to move towards achieving the goal of ‘Developed India’. Companies like Air India, Nilanchal Steel were privatized by the Modi government in its second term. There is a need to speed up the pace of privatization.

5. Boosting Public Enterprise Policy
Panagariya says, “To achieve the target of developed India, the public enterprise policy will have to be boosted. In the second term, the Modi government had issued the public enterprise policy. It has to be taken forward in the third term.”

6. Reform in Higher Education
He said, “There is a great need for reform in the existing structure of higher education. Till now the mechanism of higher education is being run by the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act of 1956. However, the government has changed the 1956 law of Medical Education to the National Medical Reforms were done through the Commission Act. Now the same reforms have to be brought in other sections of higher education as well.”

7. Need for reform in land acquisition law
According to Arvind Panagariya, major reforms will have to be done regarding land area. Due to the Land Acquisition Act that we passed, the price of land has increased significantly. It causes problems in public projects. Private enterprises face problems for industrialization. Because they do not get land on a large scale. Therefore, there is a need for reform in the land area also.”

8. Per capita income will have to be increased
He said, “To become a developed India, our per capita income should be around 12 thousand 800 or 12 thousand 900 US dollars. If we go by the per capita income figures of 2022-2023, then this It took us around 2500 dollars to get it to 13 thousand and above. 8.2% GDP growth rate is needed. We have achieved GDP growth of 7.9% in the last 20 years. Therefore this target can be achieved.”

9. Change the crop, farmers’ income will increase
At the same time, NK Singh, who was the chairman of the 15th Finance Commission, said that there is a need to change the cropping pattern. PM Modi had taken initiative regarding millets i.e. ‘Shrianna’. In the agricultural sector, there is a great need for improvement regarding other crops also. There has been very limited change in this sector so far. We need such a pattern, which increases the income of farmers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also talks about increasing the income of farmers.

10. Holding all elections simultaneously will improve the government structure.
Panagariya says, “One Nation One Election is very important. Its benefits are in the long term. If seen from the perspective of economic reforms, when elections will be held once in 5 years, then governments will have a bigger window and more time to reform. It is very difficult for the government to do such reform now.”

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