Vision India @2047: NITI Aayog Prepares Development Plan

New Delhi, Nov 29 (PTI) NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam on Wednesday said a vision document is being prepared for India to become a developed economy of about USD 30 trillion by 2047, and it will be released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January next year.

The draft 'Vision India @2047' document will outline the institutional and structural changes/ reforms that will be needed for the country to become a developed nation by 2047.

"A vision plan is being prepared for India to become a developed economy... the prime minister will release the document in January," Subrahmanyam said while addressing an event organised by industry body FICCI.

In 2023, NITI Aayog was entrusted with the task of consolidating the 10 sectoral thematic visions into a combined vision for Viksit Bharat @2047.

Subrahmanyam said the government wants the college enrolment rate in India to increase from 27 per cent to 50-60 per cent.

He said the government is spending huge money on higher education and now there is also a need to revamp India's education sector.

"So, the college going population would go up from 4 crore to 8-9 crore. So we need a thousand more universities, in addition to the thousand universities we have today," he said.

Subrahmanyam highlighted that since states are fiscally stressed, funds for opening new universities will have to come from the private sector.

He noted that there is a need to create education cities like Boston and San Francisco where R&D and innovation can happen.

Observing that the median age of half of India's population is below 29 years, the NITI Aayog CEO said," We have a window of 25 years to exploit the demographic potential of India."

While noting that India is going to be the provider of the largest workforce in the world, Subrahmanyam said every year, 13 lakh Indian students go out of India to complete their higher education.

He emphasised that steps should be taken to attract more and more students to India.

Highlighting the importance of newer technology impacting the higher education sector in India, Subrahmanyam said, "Technology is going to blow up the higher education sector."

The universities have to embrace AI in a big way to stay relevant and competitive, he added.