Viksit Bharat represents the government’s vision to transform the country into a developed nation by 2047. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has successfully weaved a popular narrative that India will achieve a developed country status over the next 22 years. But the question is, can India become a developed economy by the mid-century? And how, given its limited public resources and a large section of the population still living in poverty? The government’s infrastructure push has been at the centre of its Viksit Bharat story, but the question is whether building highways, bridges, ports, railways, and airports alone will deliver equitable and sustainable growth in the long run.

Over the past 10 years, the government has confidently projected a bullish outlook for the economy with repeated claims of India emerging as an economic giant. Recently, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, at an event in Samastipur district in Bihar, asserted that the country has witnessed “unparalleled” growth in the last decade, causing people’s aspirations to soar. “Viksit Bharat is not a pipedream; it is a goal. It will be realised by 2047 or even before that,” Dhankhar said. Lately, the Prime Minister, too, confidently projected that India’s economy will surpass $10 trillion mark in a decade. Realistic or illusionary?

With many structural problems plaguing the economy, like high unemployment, low wages, lack of skilled workforce, abysmal standards of education and healthcare systems, the rupee collapsing against the dollar, and economic gains disproportionately concentrated amongst a privileged few while vast sections of the population grapple with deepening inequality and limited opportunities, the Modi government’s........

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