Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran attended the MMA Annual Convention in Chennai on February 10, 2024. with Balachander’s report
| Photo Credit: Bijoy Ghosh
India’s Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran mentioned a wholesome inhabitants is the basic requirement within the push in direction of the nation turning into a developed nation by 2047.
“It used to be said of China, that it may become older before it becomes richer. It should not be the case that India becomes sicker before it becomes richer,” he mentioned in his inaugural tackle on the Madras Management Association’s annual conference 2024 with the theme – India@2047-Leapfrogging to the Future.
“We all saw how our relatively unhealthy population became more vulnerable to the impact of COVID. And today when I see multinationals speak of India as the next frontier for processed food, It makes me worry,” Mr. Nageswaran mentioned.
“You see sports personalities promote and become ambassadors of unhealthy foods. And if you look at data on child obesity, child diabetes is alarming as far as India is concerned,” he identified. A bodily match and mentally wholesome inhabitants is required. Consumption of social media is antithetical to a mentally wholesome inhabitants. The well being facet is a duty of companies and people, he added.
Sustained progress
He mentioned by the tip of March 2024, India’s economic system would have grown over 7%, which makes it three consecutive years of seven% progress put up COVID.
The Reserve Bank of India estimates that for the 12 months ending March 2025, India could be rising at 7%, which might make it the fourth consecutive 12 months, Mr. Nageswaran mentioned.
India is on observe and effectively positioned for 2047. “While we need to be optimistic and confident and have pride in our abilities in our endowments, realistic assessments of the challenges, realistic assessments of our prospects and the awareness and consciousness about our own cognitive limitations are required,” he mentioned.
Note of warning
“In the past, after a few years of good growth, excess optimism takes over and we end up taking bad investment decisions, bad borrowing and lending decisions, which get into the spiral of overheating in the economy. Inflation shoots up, the current account deficit picks up and then we find ourselves going back to square one. That should not happen,” Mr. Nageswaran mentioned.
He identified that skilling and creating employment alternatives are important, particularly in an economic system that’s going to be pushed by expertise with the arrival of synthetic intelligence.
Mr. Nageswaran mentioned power transition and figuring out the proper power transition combine amid the pressures exerted by the developed nations on creating nations on local weather change, could be one other key facet.
He additionally identified that the industrial sector finds a regulator to be a nuisance. But they don’t realise that regulators are right here not to put up hurdles for progress and improvement, however to make sure that it continues uninterrupted for much longer.
India will probably be one of many main financial powers, will socially proceed to work in direction of a good, simply, egalitarian society and proceed to take heed to sustainability points, Vini Mahajan, Secretary, Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, mentioned in her keynote tackle. The Hindu Group was the media associate for the conference.
