The Indian economy would hover around 35-40 trillion-dollar by 2047 when the national celebrates 100 years of Independence, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said in Pune at the Asia Economic Dialogue.
“My own conviction about the way India is growing is that we will drive our economy probably closer to 35-40 trillion-dollar economy by 2047. The desire of every Indian is to be second to none."
The Minister shared his conviction that India would be the third largest economy in four years or so, at best five years.
“We believe India not only is the fastest growing large economy at present, we will continue to be so for many decades to come," he said.
Goyal observed that Asia has its own particular dynamics, where there are economies that are democracies as well as non-transparent and non-rule-based.
“In the last decade or so, India has been wanting to internationalise and engage with technology and modern way of working. Today, India is clearly recognised as the country of the decade, if not the country of the 21st century. We have already moved from the tenth largest to the fifth largest economy. We today have a young demographic dividend, which is being recognised as our biggest asset," he said.
According to him, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has had a greater impact on the developed nations than the developing ones.
In terms of food and energy security, consequential impact on inflation, interest rates and growth, it has had a devastating effect on both developed and developing countries, he added.
On a question on promoting green businesses, the Minister said that while the developed world is the largest contributor to climate change, they are preaching to us today about what we should be doing despite us being only 2.5 per cent of contributors to carbon emissions.
“The government has focused on addressing climate change as a responsible global citizen. We are promoting circular economies so that we recycle our waste. We are among the top five performing nations in addressing climate change goals. We are also promoting products like sustainable textiles. We are also laying a big focus on promoting organic farming, for instance, we are going to make exports of agricultural organic produce from Sikkim grow from Rs. 8 crores currently to Rs. 8000 crores by 2030," he said.
When asked about supporting MSMEs, the Minister pointed out that any effort to increase exports will have an impact on MSMEs, given the whole ecosystem around large businesses.
“While the government has schemes to kickstart businesses, ultimately, we have to have a balance between the interest of consumers and businesses. We can artificially support a sector only up to a point. MSMEs will always be very critical to the global economy. Hence, various concessions are being given to MSMEs as well as startups and women entrepreneurs.”