India needs to maintain a growth pace of 7-10 per cent for the next 20 to 30 years to come out of the middle-income trap and achieve the status of a developed country, the NITI Aayog said on Saturday. The comments came during the 9th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog in the national capital. 

The body in an approach paper summarised its vision for ‘Viksit Bharat’ and said that India needs to maintain a growth rate of 7-10 per cent in the coming years to become a developed country with a per capita income of $18,000 per annum and an economy of $30 trillion by 2047, reported Business Standard. 

The official think tank issued comments after the meeting and said, “The GDP would have to grow 9 times from today’s $3.36 trillion and the per capita income would need to rise 8 times from today’s $2,392 per annum. Notably, the meeting was attended by PM Narendra Modi, along with chief ministers and lieutenant governors.

The body defined ‘Viksit Bharat’ as a ‘Bharat whose social, cultural, technological, and institutional features will mark it out as a developed nation with a rich heritage and one that is capable of functioning at the frontiers of knowledge’. 

It noted that the country will have all the qualities possessed by the high-income nations in the world today. “The World Bank defines high-income countries as those whose annual per capita income is more than $14,005 (in 2023),” the think tank stated.

The approach paper from the Aayog mentioned that about half of the Indian population belongs to the less than 25 years age group and contributes to almost 20 per cent of the overall young population in the world. The body said that if this opportunity is utilised well, it can help the Indian economy achieve further growth and prosperity.

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