पुस्तक “ज़ीरो” का एक महत्त्वपूर्ण पक्ष यह है कि यह भारतीय ज्ञान परंपरा को केवल अतीत के गौरव के रूप में देखने के बजाय उसके योगदानों पर विचार करने का अवसर देती है। लेखक डॉ. पवन विजय, विज़न विकसित भारत पॉलिसी एंड रिसर्च सेंटर के भारतीय ज्ञान परंपरा केंद्र के निदेशक हैं।

भारत की सभ्यता केवल अपने प्राचीन इतिहास, आध्यात्मिक चिंतन और सांस्कृतिक विविधता के लिए ही विशिष्ट नहीं है, बल्कि उसने मानव सभ्यता के बौद्धिक विकास, वैज्ञानिक दृष्टि और ज्ञान-विज्ञान की विभिन्न धाराओं को भी गहराई से प्रभावित किया है। दुर्भाग्यवश, औपनिवेशिक शासन के लंबे दौर और स्वतंत्रता के बाद भी भारतीय ज्ञान परंपरा के अनेक महत्त्वपूर्ण पक्षों को वह स्थान नहीं मिल पाया, जिसके वे अधिकारी थे। ऐसे में डॉ. पवन विजय की पुस्तक ‘शून्य’ भारतीय ज्ञान परंपरा के विविध आयामों को पुनः सामने लाने का एक महत्त्वपूर्ण और सराहनीय प्रयास है।

पुस्तक का केंद्रीय विचार भारतीय सभ्यता के उन योगदानों को रेखांकित करना है, जिन्होंने मानवता की बौद्धिक यात्रा को दिशा दी। शून्य की अवधारणा से लेकर गणित, खगोल विज्ञान, भाषा, व्याकरण, योग, संगीत, शतरंज, वस्त्र निर्माण, कृषि, चिकित्सा और विभिन्न तकनीकी क्षेत्रों तक भारतीय प्रतिभा की उपस्थिति को समझने का प्रयास इस पुस्तक को एक व्यापक परिप्रेक्ष्य प्रदान करता है। इसकी विषयवस्तु का विस्तार यह संकेत देता है कि भारतीय ज्ञान परंपरा को किसी एक विषय, कालखंड अथवा विचारधारा तक सीमित करके नहीं समझा जा सकता। यह जीवन, प्रकृति, समाज और ब्रह्मांड को देखने की एक बहुआयामी दृष्टि है।

पुस्तक का शीर्षक ‘शून्य’ अपने आप में अत्यंत अर्थपूर्ण है। गणित में शून्य केवल एक अंक नहीं, बल्कि संख्याओं की अभिव्यक्ति और आधुनिक गणितीय व्यवस्था के विकास में निर्णायक भूमिका निभाने वाली अवधारणा है। भारतीय गणितीय परंपरा में शून्य और स्थानमान पद्धति के विकास ने गणना की संभावनाओं को व्यापक बनाया। आज कंप्यूटर विज्ञान, डिजिटल तकनीक, वित्तीय प्रणालियों और आधुनिक वैज्ञानिक अनुसंधान की दुनिया में संख्यात्मक प्रणालियों का जो महत्त्व है, उसकी ऐतिहासिक पृष्ठभूमि में भारतीय गणित का योगदान अत्यंत उल्लेखनीय है। इस दृष्टि से शून्य को भारतीय बौद्धिक परंपरा की रचनात्मक शक्ति के प्रतीक के रूप में प्रस्तुत करना पुस्तक की विषयवस्तु को एक व्यापक सभ्यतागत अर्थ प्रदान करता है।

पुस्तक का एक महत्त्वपूर्ण पक्ष यह है कि यह भारतीय ज्ञान परंपरा को केवल अतीत के गौरवगान के रूप में देखने के बजाय उसके योगदानों पर विचार करने का अवसर देती है। ऋग्वेद के नासदीय सूक्त में सृष्टि की उत्पत्ति से जुड़े प्रश्नों पर किया गया चिंतन भारतीय मनीषा की प्रश्नाकुलता, दार्शनिक गहराई और बौद्धिक विनम्रता का परिचायक है। सृष्टि के आरंभ, अस्तित्व और अनस्तित्व जैसे प्रश्नों पर विचार करना इस बात का संकेत है कि भारतीय चिंतन परंपरा में जिज्ञासा और विमर्श की समृद्ध परंपरा रही है। ऐसी परंपरा का पुनर्पाठ आज भी प्रासंगिक है, क्योंकि वैज्ञानिक प्रगति की आधारशिला भी प्रश्न पूछने, प्रमाण खोजने और स्थापित धारणाओं की समीक्षा करने की क्षमता में निहित है।

इस पुस्तक का महत्त्व इसलिए भी बढ़ जाता है कि यह पाठकों का ध्यान भारतीय ज्ञान के उन पक्षों की ओर आकर्षित करती है, जिनका सामान्य जनमानस में पर्याप्त परिचय नहीं है। भारत के गणितज्ञों, दार्शनिकों, चिकित्सकों, खगोलविदों, भाषाविदों और तकनीकी प्रतिभाओं के योगदान को व्यापक सामाजिक विमर्श का हिस्सा बनाना आवश्यक है। भारतीय ज्ञान परंपरा के अध्ययन को केवल धार्मिक या सांस्कृतिक चर्चा तक सीमित कर देना उसके वास्तविक विस्तार को कम करके देखने जैसा होगा। इसमें तर्क, गणना, अवलोकन, प्रयोग, भाषिक विश्लेषण, प्रकृति की समझ और जीवनोपयोगी कौशलों की विविध धाराएँ सम्मिलित हैं।

भारतीय ज्ञान परंपरा की विशिष्टता को समझने के लिए यह भी आवश्यक है कि हम उसके विभिन्न क्षेत्रों के ऐतिहासिक विकास को प्रमाणों और संदर्भों के साथ प्रस्तुत करें। ज्ञान का इतिहास किसी एक सभ्यता की उपलब्धियों की सूची भर नहीं होता, बल्कि वह विचारों के विकास, विभिन्न समाजों के बीच आदान-प्रदान और मानवीय प्रतिभा की निरंतर यात्रा का इतिहास होता है। इस दृष्टि से डॉ. पवन विजय का प्रयास पाठकों में अपनी बौद्धिक विरासत के प्रति रुचि जगाने और उसे नए सिरे से समझने की प्रेरणा देने वाला है। ऐसी पुस्तकों का अगला महत्त्वपूर्ण चरण यह होना चाहिए कि वे ऐतिहासिक स्रोतों, प्रामाणिक शोध और समकालीन वैज्ञानिक व्याख्याओं के माध्यम से भारतीय उपलब्धियों को और अधिक गहराई से स्थापित करें।

भारतीय ज्ञान परंपरा के पुनर्स्मरण का उद्देश्य किसी अन्य सभ्यता के योगदान को कम करके आंकना नहीं, बल्कि भारत के वास्तविक योगदान को उसके उचित ऐतिहासिक और वैश्विक परिप्रेक्ष्य में प्रतिष्ठित करना होना चाहिए। सभ्यतागत आत्मविश्वास तभी स्थायी बनता है, जब वह प्रमाण, अध्ययन और विवेक पर आधारित हो। जब हम अपने अतीत का गंभीर अध्ययन करते हैं, तब हमें न केवल अपनी उपलब्धियों का बोध होता है, बल्कि उन परिस्थितियों की भी समझ विकसित होती है, जिनमें ज्ञान का विकास हुआ, उसका संरक्षण हुआ अथवा उसकी निरंतरता बाधित हुई। यह दृष्टि गौरव के साथ-साथ आत्ममंथन की क्षमता भी प्रदान करती है।

पुस्तक के विषयों का विस्तार एक और महत्त्वपूर्ण प्रश्न उठाता है। यदि भारतीय ज्ञान परंपरा ने गणित, भाषा, चिकित्सा, दर्शन, संगीत, कृषि और अनेक व्यावहारिक क्षेत्रों में उल्लेखनीय योगदान दिया है, तो आधुनिक भारत में इन परंपराओं का व्यवस्थित अध्ययन, दस्तावेजीकरण और समकालीन उपयोग किस प्रकार किया जाना चाहिए? इस प्रश्न का उत्तर केवल पुस्तकों के प्रकाशन से नहीं मिलेगा। इसके लिए विश्वविद्यालयों, शोध संस्थानों, विद्यालयों, नीति निर्माताओं, वैज्ञानिकों, उद्यमियों और समाज के बीच व्यापक सहयोग की आवश्यकता है। प्राचीन ज्ञान का वैज्ञानिक परीक्षण, उपयोगी अवधारणाओं का आधुनिक तकनीक के साथ समन्वय और ऐतिहासिक दावों की निष्पक्ष समीक्षा इस दिशा में आवश्यक कदम हैं।

यही वह बिंदु है, जहाँ ‘शून्य’ जैसी पुस्तकों का महत्त्व एक पुस्तक तक सीमित नहीं रहता। वे समाज में एक व्यापक बौद्धिक आंदोलन की आवश्यकता की ओर संकेत करती हैं। भारत को अपनी ज्ञान परंपरा के प्रत्येक क्षेत्र में गंभीर और संगठित कार्य करने की आवश्यकता है। आयुर्वेद और पारंपरिक चिकित्सा के ऐतिहासिक अध्ययन से लेकर गणित और खगोल विज्ञान, कृषि और जल प्रबंधन, स्थापत्य और नगर नियोजन, धातुकर्म और वस्त्र तकनीक, भाषा विज्ञान और दर्शन, संगीत और कलाओं तक प्रत्येक क्षेत्र में अनुसंधान की अपार संभावनाएँ हैं।

इन प्रयासों में तीन स्तरों पर विशेष ध्यान दिया जाना चाहिए। पहला, भारतीय ज्ञान परंपरा के मूल ग्रंथों, पांडुलिपियों, ऐतिहासिक दस्तावेजों और मौखिक परंपराओं का व्यवस्थित संरक्षण एवं डिजिटलीकरण। दूसरा, इन स्रोतों का आधुनिक शोध पद्धतियों, तुलनात्मक अध्ययन और वैज्ञानिक परीक्षण के आधार पर विश्लेषण। तीसरा, प्रामाणिक निष्कर्षों को सरल भाषा में विद्यार्थियों, युवाओं, शिक्षकों और सामान्य पाठकों तक पहुँचाना। जब ज्ञान शोध संस्थानों की सीमाओं से निकलकर समाज की चेतना का हिस्सा बनता है, तभी वह राष्ट्रीय बौद्धिक शक्ति में परिवर्तित होता है।

आज जब भारत विकसित राष्ट्र बनने की दिशा में आगे बढ़ रहा है, तब आर्थिक प्रगति और तकनीकी आत्मनिर्भरता के साथ ज्ञान के क्षेत्र में आत्मनिर्भरता भी आवश्यक है। विकसित भारत का निर्माण केवल आधुनिक अवसंरचना, उद्योग, डिजिटल तकनीक और आर्थिक विकास से नहीं होगा। इसके लिए एक ऐसे समाज की आवश्यकता है, जो अपनी बौद्धिक विरासत से परिचित हो, वर्तमान की चुनौतियों को समझता हो और भविष्य के लिए मौलिक विचार प्रस्तुत करने की क्षमता रखता हो। अपनी परंपरा से प्रेरणा लेना और आधुनिक विज्ञान के माध्यम से नए समाधान विकसित करना परस्पर विरोधी प्रक्रियाएँ नहीं हैं। वास्तव में, इनका विवेकपूर्ण समन्वय भारत को विशिष्ट दिशा दे सकता है।

इस संदर्भ में लेखकों और शोधकर्ताओं की भूमिका अत्यंत महत्त्वपूर्ण हो जाती है। वे इतिहास और वर्तमान के बीच संवाद स्थापित करते हैं, जटिल विषयों को जनसुलभ बनाते हैं और समाज को अपनी विरासत पर नए प्रश्न पूछने के लिए प्रेरित करते हैं। डॉ. पवन विजय ने ‘शून्य’ के माध्यम से भारतीय ज्ञान परंपरा के विविध आयामों को एक व्यापक पाठकीय विमर्श का विषय बनाने का प्रयास किया है। यह प्रयास इसलिए प्रशंसनीय है कि यह पाठकों को अपने अतीत की उपलब्धियों पर विचार करने के साथ-साथ भारतीय प्रतिभा और ज्ञान के वैश्विक प्रभाव को समझने की दिशा में प्रेरित करता है।

निस्संदेह, किसी भी पुस्तक का वास्तविक मूल्य इस बात से भी निर्धारित होता है कि वह पाठक के भीतर कैसी जिज्ञासा उत्पन्न करती है और समाज में किस प्रकार के बौद्धिक संवाद को जन्म देती है। ‘शून्य’ इस दृष्टि से भारतीय ज्ञान परंपरा पर अधिक गंभीर अध्ययन, शोध और लेखन की आवश्यकता को रेखांकित करने वाली कृति के रूप में देखी जा सकती है। इसकी विषयवस्तु उन अनेक क्षेत्रों की ओर संकेत करती है, जिन पर स्वतंत्र शोध, प्रामाणिक लेखन और व्यापक जनजागरण की आवश्यकता है।

अंततः ‘शून्य’ हमें यह स्मरण कराती है कि भारत की ज्ञान यात्रा को समझना केवल अतीत को जानना नहीं, बल्कि भविष्य के निर्माण की संभावनाओं को पहचानना भी है। डॉ. पवन विजय का यह प्रयास भारतीय बौद्धिक विरासत के प्रति रुचि जगाने और उसके विविध आयामों को जनचर्चा में लाने की दिशा में सराहनीय है। आवश्यकता इस बात की है कि ऐसी पहलें एक पुस्तक तक सीमित न रहें, बल्कि देश के प्रत्येक ज्ञान क्षेत्र में व्यापक शोध और लेखन अभियान का आधार बनें।

भारतीय ज्ञान परंपरा का सम्मान तभी सार्थक होगा, जब हम उसे पढ़ेंगे, समझेंगे, प्रमाणों के आधार पर परखेंगे, उसका संरक्षण करेंगे और उसकी उपयोगी अंतर्दृष्टियों को वर्तमान की आवश्यकताओं से जोड़ेंगे। शून्य से लेकर अंतरिक्ष विज्ञान तक, व्याकरण से लेकर कृत्रिम बुद्धिमत्ता तक, पारंपरिक कृषि ज्ञान से लेकर आधुनिक जैव प्रौद्योगिकी तक भारत के सामने अपनी ज्ञान विरासत और समकालीन वैज्ञानिक क्षमता के बीच सार्थक संवाद स्थापित करने का विशाल अवसर है।

‘शून्य’ इसी व्यापक दिशा में एक प्रेरक प्रयास है। यह हमें अपने अतीत को जानने, अपनी बौद्धिक विरासत को पहचानने और भविष्य के भारत के लिए ज्ञान, अनुसंधान तथा नवाचार की नई संभावनाएँ तलाशने का संदेश देती है। भारतीय ज्ञान परंपरा के पुनर्जागरण की यात्रा में ऐसे लेखकों, शोधकर्ताओं और विचारकों के प्रयास निश्चित रूप से महत्त्वपूर्ण हैं।

विकसित भारत का स्वप्न तभी पूर्णता प्राप्त करेगा, जब भारत आर्थिक और तकनीकी शक्ति बनने के साथ-साथ अपने ज्ञान, विचार और मौलिक अनुसंधान के बल पर विश्व को नई दिशा देने में भी सक्षम होगा। ‘शून्य’ इसी लक्ष्य की ओर ध्यान आकर्षित करने वाली एक सराहनीय कृति है।

Order Book on Amazon: ज़ीरो 

The post ज़ीरो: भारतीय ज्ञान परंपरा के गौरव, वैज्ञानिक चेतना और सांस्कृतिक आत्मविश्वास का पुनर्स्मरण appeared first on VisionViksitBharat.

The announcement of the first cohort of 19 Second-Level Fund Managers, comprising 14 Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) and five Focused Research Organisations (FROs), represents an important step in translating this ambitious policy vision into an operational financing framework. With ₹7,131 crore committed to these entities, the initiative creates a pathway for capital to reach technology developers through specialised investment and research institutions. The announcement was made on 12 October 2026, following approval by the Empowered Group of Secretaries on 8 October 2026.

This development deserves appreciation for its strategic ambition. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is increasingly recognising that economic power in the twenty-first century will depend not merely on the ability to consume advanced technologies, but also on the capacity to design, develop, manufacture, own and export them.

The RDI Fund has the potential to strengthen precisely these capabilities.

A strategic shift in India’s innovation policy

For decades, India’s development journey has benefited from scientific institutions, engineering talent, a strong information technology sector and a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem. Indian professionals have made substantial contributions to global technology companies, while domestic startups have transformed sectors such as digital payments, e-commerce, financial services and logistics.

However, success in digital services and technology adoption does not automatically translate into leadership in deep technology.

Deep-tech innovation involves advanced scientific and engineering capabilities, including artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, semiconductors, biotechnology, robotics, advanced materials, space systems, clean energy and next-generation medical devices. Developing these technologies frequently requires years of research, specialised infrastructure, intellectual property creation, expensive testing and extensive product validation before commercial revenues become possible.

Consequently, deep-tech enterprises face a fundamentally different financing challenge from conventional startups. A software company may begin generating revenue relatively quickly, whereas a semiconductor technology developer, advanced battery manufacturer or biotechnology enterprise may need sustained investment before its product becomes commercially competitive.

The Government of India’s decision to establish a ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation Scheme recognises this structural difference. Approved by the Union Cabinet on 1 July 2025 and launched by the Prime Minister on 3 November 2025, the scheme is designed to catalyse private-sector investment in research and development through long-term, affordable financing and appropriate risk-sharing mechanisms.

The importance of this intervention lies in its ability to connect scientific research with industrial development. Rather than treating innovation solely as a matter of academic research or startup creation, the scheme seeks to strengthen the entire pathway from technological development to commercial deployment.

This is a necessary evolution in India’s development strategy.

Understanding the first cohort of 19 fund managers

The announcement of 14 AIFs and five FROs is significant because it establishes an institutional mechanism for distributing capital to projects with substantial technological and economic potential.

Under the scheme’s two-tier structure, the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) houses the Special Purpose Fund that manages the programme at the first level. Second-Level Fund Managers then help deploy the financing to eligible technology enterprises and research initiatives.

The two principal categories serve complementary purposes.

Alternative Investment Funds can help channel investment towards promising deep-tech enterprises and startups, bringing specialised investment expertise, portfolio assessment and commercial discipline to the funding process.

Focused Research Organisations can leverage existing research and innovation infrastructure, including research parks, technology innovation hubs and incubators, to accelerate the development and application of advanced technologies.

The distinction is important. India needs both capital to support high-potential enterprises and research institutions capable of solving complex technological problems.

The initial commitment of ₹7,131 crore to the 19 entities is therefore an important implementation milestone. It is not the same as ₹7,131 crore already disbursed to startups or research projects. The impact will depend on how effectively these intermediaries select, finance and support eligible projects.

The Technology Development Board and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council have also been working as Second-Level Fund Managers through the Focused Research Organisation framework on a nomination basis.

Their involvement offers an institutional foundation for supporting technology commercialisation and biotechnology innovation, respectively.

The broader objective is to establish a financing architecture that can identify promising indigenous technologies, support their development and help them achieve commercial viability.

Addressing the financing gap in deep-tech innovation

One of the most important problems the RDI Fund seeks to solve is the financing gap between early scientific development and commercial-scale deployment.

In India, researchers may develop promising technologies in universities, laboratories, startups and industrial research facilities. However, a successful laboratory demonstration is only the beginning of the innovation process.

The technology must subsequently undergo engineering development, testing, certification, pilot production, performance validation and commercial scaling. These stages require significant capital, while revenue streams may remain uncertain.

Traditional lenders can be reluctant to finance such projects because they may lack conventional collateral, established cash flows or a sufficiently long operating history. Private investors may also hesitate when technological uncertainty is high and the period required to realise returns is extended.

The RDI Fund is designed to address this challenge by making long-term, low-cost financing available to eligible projects, including through debt instruments and, in appropriate cases, equity-based support.

This can help promising enterprises cross the difficult transition from research to market.

It can also encourage companies to undertake research that they might otherwise postpone because of financial constraints.

The economic significance is substantial. When indigenous technologies move successfully from the laboratory to commercial deployment, India can create new products, strengthen domestic supply chains, generate skilled employment and develop intellectual property that can be commercialised in domestic and international markets.

The Fund can therefore serve as a catalyst for turning scientific capability into economic value.

Reducing strategic dependence on imported technologies

Technological self-reliance is not simply a question of manufacturing more products domestically. It also requires control over critical technologies, design capabilities, intellectual property and the capacity to innovate independently.

India has made progress in electronics manufacturing, digital infrastructure, space technology, pharmaceuticals and renewable energy. Yet advanced technologies continue to create strategic vulnerabilities when essential components, specialised equipment, critical materials or intellectual property depend heavily on external sources.

Semiconductors provide a clear example. Modern economies depend on chips for telecommunications, vehicles, industrial automation, defence systems, medical equipment and artificial intelligence infrastructure. Developing competitive semiconductor capabilities requires sustained investment in research, design, manufacturing processes, testing and specialised materials.

Similarly, dependence on imported battery technologies can affect electric mobility and energy storage, while dependence on advanced industrial equipment can constrain manufacturing competitiveness.

The RDI Fund can support domestic innovators working on these technological bottlenecks. Its priority areas include energy security and transition, climate action, quantum technologies, robotics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, space and the digital economy, alongside other technologies relevant to strategic autonomy and economic security.

The objective should not be to eliminate international collaboration or imports indiscriminately. Global technology cooperation remains essential. Rather, India must ensure that it possesses sufficient domestic capabilities to negotiate partnerships from a position of strength, reduce critical vulnerabilities and develop alternatives where strategic dependence poses unacceptable risks.

A country that owns more of its technology is better positioned to protect its economic interests, respond to supply-chain disruptions and shape the rules governing emerging industries.

Strengthening India’s artificial intelligence and quantum capabilities

Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming a general-purpose technology with applications across manufacturing, healthcare, education, agriculture, financial services, logistics and public administration.

However, sustainable leadership in AI requires more than adopting existing applications. It depends on research capabilities, computing infrastructure, specialised hardware, advanced algorithms, reliable datasets, cybersecurity and the ability to develop solutions suited to domestic requirements.

India has an opportunity to develop AI applications that address its distinctive economic and social challenges, including multilingual public services, precision agriculture, affordable healthcare, industrial productivity and the delivery of government services at population scale.

The RDI Fund can support enterprises developing such technologies, particularly when their research requires substantial investment before commercial returns emerge.

Quantum technologies offer another important opportunity. Quantum computing, quantum communications and quantum sensing could transform selected applications in materials science, secure communications, scientific research and advanced measurement. Their commercial adoption remains at different stages of maturity, making patient investment and rigorous technical assessment particularly important.

By supporting indigenous research and product development, India can build the talent, intellectual property and industrial partnerships required to participate in these emerging technological fields.

The ultimate objective should be to ensure that Indian enterprises are not merely users of future technologies, but contributors to their development and commercialisation.

Accelerating biotechnology, healthcare and agricultural innovation

The significance of the RDI Fund extends beyond conventional engineering and digital technologies.

Biotechnology and advanced healthcare research can produce solutions to unmet medical needs, improve diagnostics, support new therapeutic approaches and strengthen domestic medical-device manufacturing.

However, biomedical innovation frequently requires extensive laboratory research, preclinical development, clinical validation, regulatory compliance and manufacturing scale-up. These processes can be expensive, time-consuming and uncertain.

Affordable, long-term financing can help eligible enterprises advance promising technologies through these stages while maintaining appropriate scientific and regulatory standards.

Agriculture presents another major opportunity. Indian farmers face challenges involving weather variability, water availability, soil health, crop losses, input costs and market uncertainty. Advanced technologies such as AI-based decision support, satellite-enabled monitoring, robotics, biotechnology and precision agriculture can help address these problems.

The challenge is to translate technological progress into solutions that are reliable, affordable and accessible to farmers, including small and marginal cultivators.

Similarly, indigenous medical devices and connected healthcare systems can improve access to care in rural and underserved areas, provided that they meet rigorous safety, effectiveness and affordability requirements.

The RDI Fund can help connect research institutions, technology enterprises, healthcare providers and industrial partners to develop such solutions.

The potential benefit is not merely the creation of new businesses. It is the development of technologies that improve productivity, expand access to essential services and strengthen the resilience of India’s social and economic systems.

Building a globally competitive manufacturing ecosystem

Deep-tech innovation can also strengthen India’s manufacturing ambitions.

For many years, India’s competitive advantages have included engineering talent, a large domestic market, a growing startup ecosystem and established capabilities in selected industrial sectors. The next phase of industrial development must build on these strengths by increasing domestic capabilities in advanced machinery, industrial automation, robotics, electronic components, advanced materials and high-value manufacturing processes.

The RDI Fund can support enterprises that develop these technologies and bring them into industrial use.

For example, an Indian company developing advanced industrial sensors could help domestic manufacturers improve quality control and operational efficiency. A startup developing indigenous robotics could reduce dependence on specialised imported equipment. An enterprise working on advanced materials could support applications across aerospace, energy, transport and electronics.

Such developments can generate benefits throughout the economy.

Domestic manufacturers gain access to locally developed technologies, research-intensive enterprises acquire industrial customers, and skilled workers find opportunities in engineering, scientific research, product development and advanced manufacturing.

Over time, these capabilities can help Indian companies compete in international markets on the basis of technology, quality and productivity rather than relying primarily on lower costs.

The long-term ambition should be to make India a source of globally competitive technological products and industrial solutions.

Mobilising private investment in national innovation

A particularly important feature of the scheme is its emphasis on encouraging private-sector participation in research and development.

Public investment is essential in areas where technological uncertainty is high, the investment horizon is long or the potential benefits extend beyond a single enterprise. Nevertheless, government funding alone cannot support every promising innovation or finance the full range of industrial research required by a large economy.

Private companies possess valuable knowledge of customer requirements, production systems, supply chains and commercial opportunities. They can also contribute managerial expertise, market access and additional capital.

The RDI Fund is designed to encourage greater private investment by improving access to suitable financing for eligible technology projects.

This approach can help establish a more productive relationship between government, research institutions, investors and industry.

Public capital can help reduce specific financing constraints, while private enterprises contribute commercial discipline and the capacity to scale successful technologies. Research institutions can provide scientific expertise, and specialised fund managers can assess projects and monitor their progress.

The desired outcome is a stronger innovation ecosystem in which public resources catalyse additional investment instead of substituting for it.

For this reason, the impact of the scheme should ultimately be assessed not only by the amount of government money committed, but also by the additional private capital mobilised, the technologies developed, the products commercialised and the economic value generated.

Creating high-skilled employment and retaining Indian talent

India possesses a large pool of scientists, engineers, researchers and technology professionals. However, the availability of skilled people does not automatically translate into domestic technological leadership.

Researchers need access to advanced laboratories, specialised equipment, experienced mentors, patient capital and opportunities to work on ambitious industrial problems. Deep-tech enterprises also require interdisciplinary teams combining scientific expertise with engineering, product development, regulatory knowledge, manufacturing and business management.

By strengthening the financing available for research-intensive enterprises, the RDI Fund can expand opportunities for these professionals within India.

It can support employment in semiconductor design, robotics, biotechnology, AI engineering, advanced materials, quantum technologies and other specialised fields.

It may also help create an environment in which experienced researchers and entrepreneurs can establish globally competitive companies without needing to relocate their most important research activities abroad.

Over time, the development of such enterprises can strengthen the connections between universities, research institutions, startups and established industries.

This is especially important for India’s demographic and economic future. The country must create not only a large number of jobs, but also productive, high-value employment that builds specialised skills and contributes to national technological capabilities.

Supporting Viksit Bharat

The ambition of Viksit Bharat 2047 requires India to move towards a higher-productivity economy supported by advanced manufacturing, modern infrastructure, scientific excellence and globally competitive enterprises.

Technological capability will be central to this transformation. A country that develops its own advanced technologies can improve productivity across industries, create new markets, strengthen exports and retain a greater share of the economic value generated by innovation.

The RDI Fund can contribute to this ambition through several interconnected pathways.

• First, it can support the development and commercialisation of indigenous technologies.
• Second, it can encourage private-sector investment in research-intensive industries.
• Third, it can strengthen domestic supply chains in strategic sectors.
• Fourth, it can generate high-skilled employment and expand opportunities for researchers and entrepreneurs.
• Fifth, it can help Indian enterprises develop products and intellectual property for international markets.
• Finally, it can improve India’s ability to respond to future technological disruptions and emerging strategic challenges.

These outcomes will not materialise automatically. They require effective implementation, sustained industrial participation and a consistent commitment to scientific quality.

Nevertheless, the establishment of a financing framework of this scale creates an important opportunity to accelerate the process.

What must happen next

The first cohort of fund managers is an important beginning, but the real test of the RDI Fund will be its ability to produce measurable technological and economic outcomes.

Several priorities deserve attention.

First, fund allocation must remain transparent and merit-based. Projects should be assessed through clear criteria covering technological feasibility, strategic importance, commercial potential, financial sustainability and measurable public value. Potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed and managed effectively.

Second, financing must reach enterprises with genuine technological capabilities. Deep-tech development involves uncertainty, but public support should be directed towards credible research, engineering and commercialisation milestones rather than speculative business narratives.

Third, the programme must improve access for promising startups, smaller technology enterprises and research-intensive firms outside the largest innovation hubs. India’s scientific and entrepreneurial talent extends well beyond a handful of metropolitan centres.

Fourth, stronger collaboration is needed between universities, public research laboratories, private enterprises and manufacturing industries. Research outcomes become economically valuable when they can be translated into products, processes and services that solve real problems.

Fifth, the scheme should track outcomes rigorously. Useful indicators include additional private investment mobilised, patents and intellectual property commercialised, technologies successfully deployed, domestic value addition, export performance, high-skilled employment and the survival and growth of supported enterprises.

Finally, the financing mechanism should encourage learning and adaptation. Some research projects will fail despite sound scientific reasoning. Such risks are inherent in innovation. The objective is to manage these risks responsibly, learn from unsuccessful projects and build a portfolio capable of producing significant technological breakthroughs.

A robust accountability framework must therefore combine financial discipline with a realistic understanding of the uncertainty involved in advanced research.

The ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation Fund represents an important step towards strengthening India’s technological foundations.

The announcement of the first cohort of 19 Second-Level Fund Managers, with ₹7,131 crore committed to them, marks progress in establishing a mechanism through which public capital can support deep-tech innovation and private-sector research.

The initiative deserves appreciation for recognising that India’s next stage of development will depend not only on infrastructure, manufacturing capacity and digital adoption, but also on the ability to create and commercialise advanced technologies.

The Government of India has placed a strategic emphasis on patient capital, indigenous innovation and private-sector participation. The next priority is to translate this commitment into successful products, stronger research institutions, competitive enterprises and measurable economic outcomes.

India should aspire to develop indigenous semiconductor technologies, advanced batteries, intelligent industrial systems, biotechnology platforms, AI applications, quantum capabilities and other strategic technologies that meet domestic requirements and compete globally.

The objective is not technological isolation. It is technological confidence, greater strategic autonomy and meaningful participation in global innovation.

If implemented effectively, the RDI Fund can help India move from adopting technologies developed elsewhere towards creating technologies that shape the future of industries and societies.

That is the larger significance of this initiative. It is an investment not merely in research projects or startups, but in India’s capacity to innovate, compete and lead.

As India advances towards Viksit Bharat 2047, the country must increasingly convert its scientific talent into industrial strength, its research into commercial success and its technological aspirations into globally competitive capabilities.

The ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation Fund can become an important instrument in that national transformation.

The post India’s ₹1 Lakh Crore R&D and Innovation Fund to Transform the Deep-Tech Ecosystem appeared first on VisionViksitBharat.

“Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, women entrepreneurs are building successful brands, creating employment opportunities and becoming powerful drivers of India’s journey towards Viksit Bharat 2047.”

India’s startup revolution is not merely a story of technology, venture capital and unicorn valuations. It is also a story of women who challenged conventional business models, entered traditionally male-dominated sectors, built consumer trust and transformed everyday problems into successful enterprises.

From beauty and personal care to healthcare, financial technology, real estate and sustainable food, women entrepreneurs are demonstrating that economic growth becomes more inclusive and resilient when women move from being participants in the economy to becoming its creators, innovators and leaders.

The women behind brands such as Nykaa, SUGAR Cosmetics, Mamaearth, LimeRoad, MobiKwik, Slurrp Farm and other emerging enterprises represent an important dimension of India’s development journey. Their stories reveal how entrepreneurial ambition, digital infrastructure, changing consumer aspirations and a supportive policy environment are reshaping the country’s economic landscape.

This is not simply a story of women succeeding in business. It is a story of women expanding India’s productive capacity, creating employment, strengthening domestic brands and contributing to the national aspiration of Viksit Bharat 2047.

1. The scale of India’s women-led entrepreneurial movement

The numbers indicate that women are becoming an increasingly important part of India’s formal startup ecosystem. According to the Government of India’s Press Information Bureau, as of 31 March 2026, more than 1.07 lakh recognised startups had at least one woman director or partner, representing approximately 48% of all DPIIT-recognised startups. The same release reported that recognised startups had generated over 23.36 lakh direct jobs. These figures establish the scale of women’s participation, although having a woman director or partner does not necessarily mean that a business is majority-owned or controlled by women.

This distinction matters. Women’s entrepreneurial contribution should not be measured only by the number of companies they establish. It should also be assessed through their role in innovation, capital formation, formal employment, supply-chain development, consumer access and the creation of businesses capable of competing in national and international markets.

2. How the Modi government has strengthened the entrepreneurial ecosystem

The growth of women’s entrepreneurship has several drivers, including individual talent, private investment, changing consumer behaviour, digital adoption and public policy. The Modi government’s contribution is best understood as building an enabling ecosystem rather than attributing the success of individual companies to any single scheme.

A. Startup India and a culture of enterprise

Launched on 16 January 2016, Startup India sought to move the economy towards job creation through entrepreneurship. DPIIT recognition can provide eligible startups access to benefits such as intellectual-property facilitation, self-certification under specified laws, easier public procurement norms and eligible tax benefits. This framework helps reduce some of the barriers faced by new businesses.

B. Seed funding, venture capital and credit support

Early-stage businesses often struggle to finance prototypes, product testing and market entry. The Startup India Seed Fund Scheme, Fund of Funds for Startups and Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups address different stages and financing needs. As of 31 October 2025, government-reported support included approximately ₹284.79 crore approved for 1,635 women-led startups through incubators under the Seed Fund Scheme, and ₹2,838.9 crore invested in 154 women-led startups by funds supported under the Fund of Funds mechanism during the reported period. These are distinct forms of support and should not be added together as direct government grants.

C. Stand-Up India and access to bank credit

Stand-Up India was launched in 2016 to facilitate bank loans of ₹10 lakh to ₹1 crore for eligible greenfield enterprises promoted by women and Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe entrepreneurs. It recognised that business ownership requires access to finance, not merely encouragement. The scheme’s eligibility rules and lending conditions apply, so it should not be interpreted as an unconditional grant.

D. Mentorship, networks and capacity building

The Women Entrepreneurship Platform and Startup India’s women-focused initiatives help connect entrepreneurs with mentors, information, networks and funding opportunities. Startup India’s Women for Startups workshops, conducted across 22 states between November 2022 and November 2023, engaged more than 1,400 aspiring and existing women entrepreneurs and included pitching and fundraising support. Such interventions matter because capital alone cannot substitute for market knowledge, managerial capability and professional networks.

E. Digital public infrastructure and market access

Digital payments, widespread smartphone adoption, online commerce and digital identity infrastructure have helped lower the friction involved in reaching customers and accepting payments. UPI, in particular, has become a critical part of India’s digital payments ecosystem. These developments are not women-specific policies, but they create opportunities for women-led ventures to operate beyond traditional geographical boundaries and serve customers across India. Their impact depends on connectivity, digital literacy, consumer trust and access to working capital.

The larger policy lesson is that entrepreneurship flourishes when ambition is matched by institutions. The government can improve access to finance, reduce regulatory friction, support incubation and expand digital infrastructure. Entrepreneurs must then convert these opportunities into commercially viable products, trusted brands and sustainable businesses.

3. The women and the startups reshaping India’s markets

The businesses featured in the image represent different dimensions of India’s entrepreneurial transformation. Some have created consumer brands, others have built digital marketplaces or financial platforms, and some have addressed specific gaps in nutrition and women’s economic participation. Their contribution lies in identifying unmet needs and building organisations around them.

A. Falguni Nayar and Nykaa (Beauty, lifestyle and digital commerce)

Founded in 2012, Nykaa transformed beauty retail by combining e-commerce with product discovery, expert-led content and an expanding physical retail presence. Falguni Nayar, who brought extensive investment-banking experience to entrepreneurship, identified an opportunity in a market where product authenticity, consumer education and access to a broad selection of beauty products mattered. Nykaa’s development into a multi-channel beauty and lifestyle business illustrates how an Indian enterprise can build consumer trust, create a recognisable domestic brand and scale through technology. Its journey also challenges the assumption that entrepreneurship is primarily the domain of young founders in software and engineering.

B. Vineeta Singh and SUGAR Cosmetics (Beauty products and consumer branding)

SUGAR Cosmetics, co-founded by Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee, built its identity around contemporary beauty products and a distinctive brand proposition for Indian consumers. Singh’s entrepreneurial journey demonstrates the importance of persistence, product-market fit and learning from unsuccessful business experiments. The company has used digital channels and e-commerce platforms to reach consumers while developing a broader beauty brand. Its story illustrates how women entrepreneurs can compete in a crowded consumer market by combining customer insight, brand positioning and execution rather than relying solely on the appeal of a product.

C. Ghazal Alagh and Mamaearth (Personal care and purpose-led brands)

Ghazal Alagh co-founded Honasa Consumer with Varun Alagh in 2016, with Mamaearth emerging from a focus on parenting and personal-care needs. The business subsequently expanded into a portfolio of beauty and personal-care brands. Ghazal’s role in product innovation and brand development illustrates how a consumer problem can become the starting point for a scalable enterprise. The broader lesson is that successful branding requires more than attractive packaging or digital advertising. It demands an understanding of consumer expectations, product development, distribution and the ability to sustain trust as a company grows.

D. Suchi Mukherjee and LimeRoad (Fashion discovery and social commerce)

LimeRoad, founded by Suchi Mukherjee, sought to make online fashion discovery more interactive through curated product collections and user-generated styling ideas. The venture reflected a wider shift in Indian retail, where consumers increasingly discover products through digital communities rather than relying exclusively on conventional catalogues and stores. Mukherjee’s entrepreneurial story highlights the role of design, technology and consumer behaviour in building differentiated platforms. It also demonstrates that innovation can occur in how customers discover and evaluate products, not only in the products themselves.

E. Upasana Taku and MobiKwik (Fintech and digital payments)

Upasana Taku co-founded MobiKwik with Bipin Preet Singh in 2009, when India’s digital payments market was still developing. The company evolved into a financial technology platform offering digital payments and other financial services. Taku’s journey is especially significant because fintech demands expertise in technology, risk management, regulation, customer acquisition and financial operations. The wider expansion of digital payments has helped businesses of different sizes participate in a more connected commercial economy. MobiKwik’s trajectory demonstrates the role of entrepreneurial execution in developing financial products for a rapidly changing Indian market.

F. Meghana Narayan and Shauravi Malik of Slurrp Farm (Nutrition, food innovation and millets)

Slurrp Farm was founded by Meghana Narayan and Shauravi Malik to offer convenient food products built around ingredients such as millets, lentils and other grains. Their business addresses a consumer challenge at the intersection of nutrition, convenience and children’s eating habits. Its emphasis on indigenous grains also connects modern consumer branding with India’s agricultural diversity. Millets can offer agronomic advantages in suitable growing conditions, although their actual environmental benefits depend on the crop, location and farming practices. The venture demonstrates how women-led businesses can connect household needs with opportunities for farmers, food processing and value addition.

G. Ruchi Kalra and Oxyzo (Business finance and SME lending)

Ruchi Kalra co-founded Oxyzo Financial Services, which provides financing solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises. While consumer brands often receive the greatest public attention, business finance is equally important to India’s growth because smaller enterprises need working capital, credit and the ability to manage cash flows. Oxyzo operates in this less visible but economically significant part of the startup ecosystem. Its focus on SME financing illustrates how women entrepreneurs are building businesses that support other businesses, strengthen supply chains and address financing gaps in the productive economy.

H. Mehak Sagar and WedMeGood (Wedding services and the digital marketplace)

Mehak Sagar co-founded WedMeGood with Anand Shahani in 2014 after their own wedding-planning experience revealed how difficult it could be to discover and coordinate wedding services. The platform connects couples with vendors and helps them explore venues, photography, décor and other services. Its model illustrates how India’s large wedding economy can generate opportunities for digital intermediation and service-sector entrepreneurship. Beyond the platform itself, such marketplaces can improve discoverability for smaller service providers and help organise a fragmented market.

I. Kanika Gupta Shori and Square Yards (Real estate technology and housing transactions)

Kanika Gupta Shori is the co-founder and COO of Square Yards, a real estate marketplace that uses technology and an offline network to facilitate property transactions. Real estate is a complex sector in which consumers must navigate fragmented information, documentation, financing and multiple intermediaries. Digital platforms can make property discovery and transaction support more accessible, although the quality of outcomes depends on transparency and service execution. Shori’s work highlights the role of women in building technology-enabled businesses in sectors traditionally associated with capital-intensive operations and male-dominated leadership.

J. Radhika Ghai and Kindlife (Beauty, wellness and consumer discovery)

Radhika Ghai is associated with Kindlife, a platform focused on beauty, personal care and wellness products. The platform addresses a modern consumer challenge by bringing products and discovery into one digital destination. Its business model reflects a broader opportunity in India’s expanding self-care market, where consumers seek curated selections, product information and convenient access to emerging brands. This category illustrates how entrepreneurship can create value by reducing the time and uncertainty involved in product discovery. Kindlife’s current founding team also includes co-founders Vidit Jain and Manasa Garemella, illustrating the collaborative nature of startup building.

K. Sairee Chahal and SHEROES (Women’s economic participation and entrepreneurship)

Sairee Chahal founded SHEROES and Mahila Money to help women access communities, employment opportunities, learning and financial resources. Her work addresses a fundamental challenge in women’s entrepreneurship, namely that business ambition can be constrained by limited networks, unequal access to capital and a lack of supportive professional environments. By building digital platforms centred on women’s participation, Chahal has helped bring these barriers into the entrepreneurial conversation. Her ventures demonstrate that some businesses create value not only by selling products, but also by widening access to opportunities and economic participation.

4. What these entrepreneurial journeys tell us about India’s development model

Women are creating markets, not merely entering them. Nykaa transformed beauty discovery, Slurrp Farm built a proposition around convenient nutrition, and WedMeGood organised the discovery of wedding services. Each identified a consumer problem and developed a business model around it.

Technology is enabling businesses to scale. Digital commerce, payments and online marketplaces have widened access to customers and suppliers. Public digital infrastructure and private innovation reinforce each other, although neither guarantees commercial success.

Women are entering technically demanding sectors. The journeys of Upasana Taku in fintech, Ruchi Kalra in business finance and Kanika Gupta Shori in real estate technology challenge outdated assumptions about women’s suitability for complex business leadership.

Entrepreneurship can strengthen supply chains. Food brands can create opportunities for agricultural producers, fintech platforms can serve merchants, and marketplaces can improve access to customers for service providers. The strongest development outcomes occur when business growth generates productive economic activity beyond the company’s immediate workforce.

Successful founders can change aspirations. When women build nationally recognised enterprises, they expand the range of possibilities that young women, students and aspiring entrepreneurs can imagine for themselves.

5. The road ahead towards Viksit Bharat 2047

The next stage of India’s startup journey must move beyond celebrating a handful of prominent founders. The objective should be to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem in which women from smaller cities, rural communities, disadvantaged backgrounds and non-metropolitan educational institutions can also build and scale sustainable enterprises.

This requires continued attention to affordable credit, access to equity capital, professional mentorship, digital literacy, intellectual-property protection, business networks, childcare support and safer working environments. It also requires better measurement of women’s actual ownership, leadership, access to finance and business survival, rather than relying solely on the presence of a woman director.

Government schemes can create opportunities, but their ultimate success depends on whether entrepreneurs can access them, whether funding reaches viable businesses and whether enterprises can grow without becoming excessively dependent on subsidies or promotional support.

For India, women’s entrepreneurship is therefore not simply a question of social empowerment. It is a question of national economic capacity. A country aspiring to become a developed economy cannot afford to underutilise the talent, creativity and leadership of half its population.

The Modi government’s startup policies, credit-support mechanisms, digital infrastructure and women-focused entrepreneurship initiatives have contributed to building an enabling environment. The responsibility now is to deepen this progress, improve access to capital and ensure that the next generation of women founders can move from local innovation to national scale and global competitiveness.

The ultimate measure of success will not be how many women appear on startup lists or at entrepreneurial events. It will be how many can build enduring businesses, employ people, innovate, compete globally and create prosperity for their communities.

India’s women entrepreneurs are already demonstrating what is possible. Their stories deserve recognition not as exceptions to the national growth story, but as an integral part of it.

Viksit Bharat 2047 will be stronger when women are not merely included in India’s economic transformation, but are among the people leading it.

The post THE WOMEN BEHIND INDIA’S STARTUP STORY appeared first on VisionViksitBharat.

The next employment revolution will not simply change who gets hired. It will change why organisations hire, what they pay for, and how careers are built.

For decades, the corporate world has operated on a relatively predictable employment model. Organisations recruit large numbers of fresh graduates, assign them repetitive operational responsibilities, develop a smaller proportion into supervisors and managers, and gradually promote a select few into senior leadership. This structure resembles a pyramid, with a broad base of entry-level employees, a narrowing middle of managers, and a small leadership apex.

Business management education evolved around this structure. MBA and PGDM institutions taught students the fundamentals of marketing, finance, human resources, operations, and strategy, with the expectation that graduates would enter organisations at the lower or middle levels, learn through experience, and gradually move upwards.

Artificial intelligence is challenging the economic logic behind this model. When AI systems can generate reports, analyse financial statements, prepare presentations, process transactions, interpret customer data, support recruitment, automate documentation, and coordinate routine workflows, organisations may need fewer people to perform the repetitive tasks that traditionally justified large entry-level teams. The change will not be uniform, immediate, or identical across industries. Nevertheless, it raises a fundamental question for management education.

If businesses can automate a substantial proportion of the work traditionally assigned to fresh graduates, what exactly should an MBA or PGDM graduate be trained to do? The answer cannot be limited to learning AI tools. It requires a fundamental rethinking of the relationship between education, organisational design, employability, and economic value creation.

The next generation of management graduates must be prepared not merely to enter the corporate hierarchy, but to create value in organisations where routine execution is increasingly automated, human responsibility is concentrated in higher-value work, and the ability to manage intelligent systems becomes a defining professional capability.

1. The emergence of the AI diamond

The most useful way to understand the coming organisational transformation is through three possible structures. The traditional pyramid has a broad operational base, a substantial supervisory layer, and a narrow leadership apex. The emerging AI-enabled organisation may have a smaller operational base, a wider middle comprising analytical, specialised, and decision-oriented professionals, and a lean leadership team.

This can be described as the AI diamond hypothesis. The diamond is not a prediction that every company will adopt an identical organisational chart. It is a strategic model for understanding what happens when the cost of routine execution falls while the demand for judgement, coordination, domain expertise, and accountability remains.

Under the traditional model, companies often employed large teams to collect information, prepare reports, reconcile records, monitor performance, and execute standardised processes. Managers supervised these activities and escalated important decisions upwards.

Under an AI-enabled model, a smaller team may be able to accomplish much of this work through automated workflows. The organisation’s competitive advantage then depends increasingly on the people who can identify the right problems, interpret machine-generated insights, coordinate multiple functions, make trade-offs, manage exceptions, and convert analysis into business outcomes.

The implication is significant. The middle of the organisation may become more valuable, even as the total number of employees required for certain activities declines.

However, there is an important counterforce. If AI also automates analytical work, coding, research, reporting, and parts of coordination, some middle-management positions may shrink as well. Consequently, the most plausible future is not necessarily a perfect diamond. It is a more selective, skill-intensive organisation in which employment growth concentrates around roles that combine technological capability with business judgement and accountability.

The question for management institutions is therefore not whether the pyramid will disappear entirely. It is whether they are preparing students for a corporate structure that may no longer exist in its traditional form.

2. What research tells us about the future of employment

The emerging evidence supports a transformation of jobs rather than a simple narrative of universal replacement.

The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 estimates that, by 2030, structural labour-market changes could create 170 million jobs and displace 92 million, producing a projected net increase of 78 million jobs globally. It also estimates that approximately 39% of workers’ existing skills may be transformed or become outdated over the period. These are employer-based global projections, not guaranteed outcomes for individual countries, institutions, or professions. Source. (World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report 2025.)

The International Labour Organization’s 2025 research on generative AI provides a complementary perspective. It estimates that roughly one in four workers globally is in an occupation with some degree of exposure to generative AI. Yet the ILO concludes that transformation is more likely than complete replacement for most occupations because human input remains necessary across many tasks. Source. (International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs, 2025 update.)

These findings must be interpreted carefully. Exposure does not automatically mean job loss. Actual outcomes depend on the cost and reliability of technology, organisational readiness, regulation, customer expectations, infrastructure, and the creation of new demand.

Nevertheless, the research points to a critical distinction. The unit of technological disruption is often the task, whereas the unit of employment is the job. A financial analyst does not necessarily disappear when AI automates the preparation of financial models. A marketing executive does not necessarily disappear when AI generates campaign drafts. A procurement professional does not necessarily disappear when software compares supplier quotations.

Instead, the composition of their work changes. Less time may be spent on routine production, and more value may be expected from interpretation, validation, negotiation, exception management, and decisions. The challenge is that employers may not need to retain the same number of people to perform the redesigned jobs.

For management graduates, this creates both an opportunity and a risk. Those who learn to work above the level of routine execution may become more productive and valuable. Those whose principal advantage is the ability to perform standardised tasks may find their bargaining power weakening.

3. The entry-level employment paradox

One of the most consequential changes may be the shrinking of the traditional entry point into professional careers. Historically, fresh graduates entered corporate organisations through roles involving data preparation, documentation, reporting, research assistance, customer support, transaction processing, sales coordination, and operational execution. These roles were not merely jobs. They were the training ground through which graduates learned how businesses functioned.

A junior finance professional learnt financial discipline while preparing reports. A marketing executive understood customers while coordinating campaigns. A procurement analyst learnt commercial judgement while comparing quotations. A human resources executive developed interpersonal skills while managing recruitment and employee records.

AI can now perform or accelerate many of the underlying tasks. Consequently, an employer may increasingly ask why it should recruit several inexperienced graduates to perform work that a smaller team using AI-enabled systems can complete.

This creates an entry-level employment paradox. Graduates are expected to possess experience to secure their first professional role, but the traditional junior roles through which they acquired that experience may become fewer or more demanding.

The issue is not necessarily that companies will stop hiring fresh graduates. It is that they may change the criteria for hiring them. Academic qualifications and theoretical knowledge may be insufficient when employers expect new recruits to demonstrate practical competence from the beginning.

For MBA and PGDM institutions, this means that employability cannot be postponed until the final placement semester. Students must graduate with evidence that they can solve real business problems, work with imperfect data, use AI responsibly, communicate with stakeholders, and deliver measurable outcomes.

The degree must become evidence of demonstrated capability, not merely evidence of course completion.

4. The middle of the organisation may become the new battleground

If routine execution becomes cheaper, the greatest professional opportunity may lie in roles that connect technology with business performance.

Consider the modern supply chain. An AI system may forecast demand, identify inventory anomalies, compare supplier prices, and recommend replenishment quantities. Yet a business still needs professionals who understand supplier reliability, production constraints, contractual obligations, geopolitical risks, working capital, and customer commitments.

Similarly, AI can analyse campaign performance and recommend customer segments, but a business needs people who understand brand positioning, consumer psychology, channel economics, competitive behaviour, and commercial priorities. The same principle applies to finance, human resources, consulting, operations, and general management.

This points towards a new category of professional, the AI-enabled business integrator. Such a professional does not need to build every algorithm or become a full-time software engineer. Instead, the professional understands the business problem, selects appropriate tools, interprets their output, challenges unreliable conclusions, coordinates people and systems, and takes responsibility for the result.

Potential areas of opportunity include the following.

• Business process transformation and automation management.
• AI-enabled financial planning, forecasting, and commercial analysis.
• Supply chain analytics, procurement intelligence, and risk management.
• Revenue operations, customer intelligence, and sales effectiveness.
• Human resources analytics, workforce planning, and skills transformation.
• Product operations, business analysis, and digital implementation.
• AI governance, risk controls, compliance, and responsible adoption.
• Project and programme management for technology-enabled change.

These roles will not all grow automatically, and their titles will vary between employers. The underlying capabilities, however, are relevant across many sectors.

The new advantage will belong to professionals who can bridge the gap between what technology can produce and what a business should actually do.

5. The disappearance of routine work does not mean the disappearance of human value

A major mistake in discussions about AI is to assume that human value is determined by how much information a person can process or how quickly a task can be completed. For many years, professional competence was demonstrated through the ability to prepare an accurate report, create a financial model, produce a presentation, analyse a dataset, or execute a defined process.

These capabilities remain useful. But when technology can perform them rapidly, their standalone market value may decline. Human value increasingly lies in determining which report matters, whether the assumptions behind a model are credible, what information is missing, which business risk deserves attention, how competing priorities should be balanced, and who should be accountable for the decision.

This is where judgement becomes economically important. AI may recommend the cheapest supplier, but a manager must consider delivery reliability, quality failures, geopolitical exposure, and the long-term commercial relationship. AI may recommend reducing a workforce, but a leader must consider organisational capability, morale, legal obligations, and the consequences for future growth.

AI may generate a business strategy, but a management team must decide whether the strategy is feasible, ethical, financially sustainable, and aligned with the organisation’s objectives. The future manager must therefore be capable of questioning the machine, not merely operating it.

Critical thinking, communication, negotiation, ethical reasoning, creativity, leadership, and the ability to work with uncertainty will become more important when routine cognitive work is increasingly accessible through technology. This is not an argument for abandoning technical skills. It is an argument for combining technical fluency with human judgement.

The most employable graduate will not necessarily be the person who knows the largest number of AI applications. It may be the person who knows when to use them, when to distrust them, and how to translate their output into responsible business action.

6. The labour market will change in at least six additional ways

The transformation will extend beyond the number of jobs and the shape of organisational charts. First, skill-based recruitment may become more important than qualification-based screening. Employers will increasingly have opportunities to assess candidates through work samples, simulations, portfolios, and practical demonstrations. Degrees will continue to matter, but the ability to demonstrate competence may carry greater weight in many roles.

Second, careers may become less linear. A professional may move between operations, analytics, product management, consulting, and entrepreneurship rather than following a predictable progression through a single department. Career resilience will depend on transferable skills and continuous learning.

Third, smaller teams may manage larger business portfolios. AI-enabled professionals may supervise multiple workflows, customers, markets, or projects. This could raise productivity and create opportunities for high performers, while increasing the pressure on employees to manage complexity.

Fourth, the wage premium may shift towards people who combine domain expertise with AI capability. Merely knowing how to use an AI assistant may become commonplace. The differentiator will be the ability to apply it within a specific commercial context and generate measurable value.

Fifth, employment may become more unevenly distributed. Some workers may benefit from higher productivity and more valuable responsibilities, while others may experience displacement, slower wage growth, or greater insecurity. The benefits of automation will depend partly on how organisations distribute productivity gains and invest in reskilling.

Sixth, new work will emerge around the implementation and control of AI itself. Organisations will require capabilities in data quality, systems integration, model evaluation, cybersecurity, privacy, governance, human oversight, and process redesign. Some of these roles will be technical, while others will require management graduates who understand both business processes and technology-related risks.

For India, the outcome will also depend on the country’s ability to create new enterprises, expand formal employment, improve digital capabilities, and translate productivity gains into additional demand. A young workforce is an advantage only when its skills align with economic opportunities.

The objective should not be to preserve every existing task. It should be to build an economy capable of creating meaningful, productive work as old tasks are automated.

7. Why the traditional MBA curriculum needs a fundamental redesign

Many management programmes still organise learning around functional subjects, classroom lectures, examinations, case studies, internships, and final placements. These components remain valuable, but their effectiveness will depend on how they are redesigned for an AI-enabled economy.

The problem is not that students study accounting, marketing, finance, operations, or human resources. The problem arises when these subjects are taught as isolated bodies of knowledge, disconnected from the actual systems through which modern businesses operate.

A future-ready MBA or PGDM programme must integrate five dimensions of competence. The first is functional depth. Students must understand finance, marketing, operations, strategy, human resources, and the economic logic of business decisions. The second is AI and digital fluency. Students must know how to use AI tools, analyse data, automate appropriate workflows, validate outputs, and recognise limitations.

The third is commercial judgement. Students must understand costs, margins, revenue, customer behaviour, working capital, productivity, and risk. The fourth is execution capability. Students must be able to implement projects, manage stakeholders, resolve operational problems, and deliver results within constraints.

The fifth is human effectiveness. Students must communicate clearly, negotiate, collaborate, lead teams, handle ambiguity, and make responsible decisions. These five dimensions should not become five separate certificates. They should be integrated into the way every management discipline is taught.

For example, a finance assignment should require students to use AI for initial analysis, independently verify assumptions, identify risks, and defend a recommendation before a review panel. A marketing project should require students to interpret customer evidence, use AI to develop campaign alternatives, test the economics of those alternatives, and explain their strategic choice.

An operations assignment should require students to identify a process bottleneck, evaluate automation opportunities, calculate expected returns, and design controls for failures or exceptions. The purpose is to move students from knowing about management to demonstrating the ability to manage.

8. Campus transformation must begin with the employment model

The most important institutional change is to stop designing education exclusively around existing job descriptions. Traditional placement preparation often begins by identifying the roles companies recruit for and then training students to qualify for those roles. This approach is necessary but insufficient when job descriptions, team structures, and hiring criteria are changing rapidly.

Management institutions must also identify the enduring business problems that organisations will continue to face. Companies will still need to acquire customers, control costs, allocate capital, manage suppliers, retain talent, improve productivity, comply with regulations, develop products, and manage risk. The tools used to solve these problems may change dramatically, but the problems themselves will remain.

A future-ready campus should therefore organise learning around business problems and measurable outcomes. Instead of asking only whether a student is ready for a marketing executive position, the institution should also ask whether that student can improve customer acquisition economics, analyse campaign profitability, identify a weak sales funnel, and recommend a better allocation of resources.

Instead of asking only whether a student is ready for a procurement analyst position, the institution should assess whether the student can evaluate suppliers, identify cost-saving opportunities, analyse supply risks, and design a more efficient purchasing process.

This change creates a broader employment pathway. Students become capable of applying for conventional positions while also demonstrating readiness for newly emerging roles and cross-functional assignments.

9. A practical campus blueprint for MBA and PGDM students

The following interventions can convert the AI diamond hypothesis into a concrete educational programme.

A. Establish an AI-enabled management laboratory
B. Introduce industry-based automation projects
C. Build a business problem portfolio for every student
D. Replace some conventional internships with supervised business assignments
E. Create an AI-era career and placement office
F. Teach AI governance and professional accountability
G. Develop entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial capabilities
H. Introduce a continuous reskilling system

10. How should institutions measure success?

If management education is changing, institutional performance measures must change as well. Placement percentages and salary packages will remain important, but they should be complemented by indicators that measure the quality and durability of employability.

Institutions should track the proportion of students who can independently demonstrate AI-enabled business skills, the number of industry projects completed, the quality of employer assessments, the proportion of graduates placed in roles aligned with their capabilities, and the progression of graduates into more responsible positions.

They should also measure the time required for graduates to become productive in their first jobs, employer satisfaction with their practical skills, and the effectiveness of alumni reskilling programmes. A particularly useful measure would be the business value of student projects, assessed through verified savings, improved process performance, better customer outcomes, or credible implementation plans.

Institutions must avoid claiming that projected savings are realised savings or that participation in an AI course automatically creates employability. The objective is to measure demonstrated competence and real-world impact. Over time, these measures could help institutions identify which interventions produce stronger employment outcomes and which need redesign.

11. The social responsibility of management education

The AI transition also raises a question that cannot be answered through curriculum design alone. If organisations produce more output with fewer workers, the distribution of productivity gains becomes a major economic and social issue.

Higher productivity can support lower prices, business expansion, new investment, higher wages, and the creation of new products and services. But these outcomes are not automatic. If productivity gains are concentrated while employment opportunities and bargaining power weaken for some groups, economic insecurity may rise even as corporate efficiency improves.

Management education must prepare future leaders to understand this tension. Students should examine how organisations can redesign jobs, retrain employees, redeploy talent, create new services, improve working conditions, and share the benefits of productivity responsibly.

The manager of the future should understand not only how to reduce the cost of a process but also how to manage the human consequences of that decision. For India, this challenge is especially important. The country needs productivity growth, competitive enterprises, quality employment, and opportunities for a large and diverse workforce. Automation policy and management practice should therefore aim to increase the economy’s capacity to create new work, rather than focus exclusively on eliminating existing tasks.

The objective is not to resist technology. It is to ensure that technological progress contributes to broader economic opportunity.

The future belongs to those who can turn intelligence into impact

Artificial intelligence is challenging the traditional relationship between education and employment. The old corporate model rewarded the ability to perform routine tasks accurately, accumulate experience, and gradually move up a well-defined hierarchy. The emerging model may reward a different combination of capabilities, including AI fluency, domain expertise, commercial judgement, problem-solving, collaboration, and accountability.

The corporate pyramid may evolve towards a diamond-like structure in some organisations, but the more fundamental change is the declining value of routine execution relative to the ability to design, interpret, coordinate, and improve business systems.

This has profound implications for MBA and PGDM institutions. They cannot guarantee that every graduate will enter a particular job category, nor should they attempt to preserve an outdated employment model. They must instead prepare students to navigate changing roles, compete for emerging opportunities, and create value across different organisational structures.

The campus of the future should become a laboratory for solving business problems, a platform for mastering AI-enabled work, a centre for developing managerial judgement, and a bridge between education and the changing requirements of industry.

The ultimate question is no longer whether a management graduate knows finance, marketing, operations, or human resources. It is whether the graduate can combine that knowledge with technology, human insight, and commercial understanding to make an organisation perform better.

In the age of AI, the winning manager will not be the person who competes with a machine at repetitive execution. It will be the person who knows what should be automated, what must remain a human responsibility, and how to turn the combined capabilities of people and intelligent systems into sustainable business value.

The future of management education must therefore move beyond preparing students for jobs as they exist today. It must prepare them for the work that organisations will need tomorrow.

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Indian civilisation has never been merely a witness to history; it has been a source of knowledge, intellectual inquiry and innovative thought for thousands of years. From mathematics and astronomy to medicine, philosophy, linguistics, literature and the performing arts, Bharat’s knowledge traditions reflect a civilisational legacy that continues to offer insights for the contemporary world. The challenge today is not simply to celebrate this heritage, but to understand it systematically, examine it critically and explore its relevance to modern education, research and nation-building.

At a time when India is working towards Viksit Bharat, the revival and integration of Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) into mainstream education assumes renewed significance. The National Education Policy 2020 has created an important framework for bringing India’s intellectual traditions into contemporary learning. However, meaningful integration requires more than policy recognition. It demands accessible academic resources that introduce young learners to the foundations, diversity and methodologies of Indian knowledge traditions.

Book, Indian Knowledge Systems: A Primer, seeks to address this need by encouraging students to discover their civilisational inheritance through a structured and engaging introduction to IKS. Written by Prof. Gautam R. Desiraju, Anshuman Panda and Deekshit Bhattacharya, and published by Khanna Publishers, Delhi, with support from the IKS Division, Ministry of Education, this introductory textbook arrives at a significant moment in Indian higher education.

Its purpose extends beyond presenting historical achievements. It seeks to stimulate curiosity among students at the threshold between school and college, inviting them to explore how India’s knowledge traditions developed, how they shaped its intellectual and social life, and how they might inspire new avenues of inquiry in the present.

Ultimately, the book raises an important question for contemporary India: how can a civilisation with a rich intellectual inheritance draw meaningfully upon its knowledge traditions while addressing the demands of modern education, scientific inquiry and national development? By encouraging students to ask questions rather than merely accept conclusions, Indian Knowledge Systems: A Primer opens a conversation about the relationship between civilisational continuity and contemporary progress. This conversation is closely connected to the broader vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, in which India’s development can draw strength from both modern innovation and a deeper understanding of its own intellectual heritage.

The publication also arrives amid an ongoing public debate on IKS in education, with questions raised across ideological lines about its necessity and scope. Rather than entering this debate polemically, the book responds through scholarship: accessible, evidence-based, and pedagogically engaging rather than ideologically assertive.

This, in fact, is the book’s larger purpose: the decolonisation of education. The idea is often misunderstood. Decolonisation does not mean rejecting Western scholarship or advocating isolation; it means freeing ourselves from the colonial lens that conditions Indians to see their own civilization as inferior. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s Decolonising the Mind describes exactly this condition. Indian students learn the Pythagorean theorem but not the geometry of the Śulba Sūtras; they study Aristotle before Gautama, Descartes before Nyāya, Newton before Āryabhata. The book does not seek to reverse these priorities but to restore balance, letting students appreciate Indian epistemology on its own terms.

Few are better placed to lead such a project than Prof. Desiraju, an internationally renowned crystallographer, Emeritus Professor at IISc Bengaluru, and Dean of SAStech at Rishihood University, who bridges scientific inquiry and Indian civilizational thought with rare ease. Together with Panda and Bhattacharya, he has produced a book meant to inculcate curiosity and intellectual confidence rather than merely transmit information.

As its title suggests, the book is a primer: a gateway, not an encyclopaedia. IKS spans literature, philosophy, science, medicine, governance, aesthetics, and more, so an introductory text must orient rather than exhaust its subject, and the authors stay conscious of this throughout. The design reflects this ambition: each page runs in two columns, with the main narrative on the left and illustrations, anecdotes, maps, timelines, QR codes, and audio-video links on the right, turning a textbook into something closer to an interactive resource.

Structurally, the book unfolds across five chapters: “What is Indian?”, “What is Knowledge?”, “What is Systems?”, “What is IKS?”, and “Bhāratiya Civilizational Reawakening”, a sequence that itself mirrors Indian epistemology, building understanding through successive questions rather than upfront definitions. The opening chapter sets the tone with a striking line: the authors will ask readers questions and leave them to figure out the answers, echoing the dialogical spirit of the Upanishads and Nyāya. The second chapter introduces the Chaturdasha Vidyāsthānas (the fourteen traditional branches of learning), along with Śruti and Smṛti, showing how colonial disruption severed India from this intellectual tradition. The third, perhaps the book’s most original chapter, distinguishes complicated from complex systems and reductionism from emergence, arguing that IKS complements rather than replaces Western scientific method, resisting easy binaries between “Indian” and “Western” knowledge. The fourth uses the metaphor of the banyan tree and the Panchakośas to present IKS holistically, drawing on figures like Kalam, Sarojini Naidu, and Dharampal to show its continuing relevance. The final chapter situates all this within Bhāratiya Civilizational Reawakening, arguing that Bhārat is best understood as a civilization organised around Dharma, and closes with a call for readers to join this process themselves.

The book’s language is one of its finest strengths: simple without being simplistic, explaining difficult philosophical ideas through everyday examples. Its liberal use of illustrations, tables, timelines, and QR codes linking to music, recitations, and documentaries reflects real thought about how students learn today.

Equally important is what the book does not do. It does not dismiss Western knowledge; the authors acknowledge its strengths in practical application while arguing that IKS offers something equally valuable: a civilizational perspective, or dṛṣṭi, enabling integrated thinking across domains. This is perhaps its most significant contribution: not replacing one knowledge system with another, but opening a dialogue between them.

No introductory book can, or should, answer every question about IKS; an ocean of knowledge accumulated over millennia cannot be compressed into 192 pages, and the authors know this. The book’s value lies precisely in acknowledging its limits: it offers not final answers but better questions.

Ultimately, Indian Knowledge Systems: A Primer succeeds because it understands what a primer should do: not an encyclopaedia, but an invitation. It makes the case for India’s knowledge traditions through evidence and inquiry rather than rhetoric, reminding readers of India’s contributions to mathematics, metallurgy, philosophy, medicine, music, and governance, while encouraging students to see themselves not just as inheritors of this civilization but as its future custodians. Parents of children entering high school or college, teachers introducing IKS, and curious readers alike will find in this book a timely, thoughtful, and much-needed point of departure.

You may purchase the book on Amazon: Click Here

(Neelabh Kumar Sharma is an Assistant Director (Research & Admin), Centre for Human Sciences, Rishihood University, Sonipat. Views expressed are personal.)

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भारत ने 2047 तक विकसित भारत बनने का लक्ष्य रखा है। यह लक्ष्य केवल GDP का आकार बढ़ाने से पूरा नहीं होगा। यदि भारत को 2047 तक विकसित राष्ट्र और उसके बाद 2060 के आसपास दुनिया की दूसरी सबसे बड़ी अर्थव्यवस्था बनना है, तो उसे अपनी आर्थिक सोच के मूल में परिवर्तन करना होगा। सड़कें, बंदरगाह, डिजिटल भुगतान, AI, semiconductor और रक्षा उत्पादन आवश्यक हैं, लेकिन इन सबके पीछे जिस आर्थिक दर्शन की आवश्यकता है, उस पर भारत ने अभी तक पर्याप्त स्पष्टता नहीं दिखाई है। सात-आठ प्रतिशत की वृद्धि दर से भारत बड़ी अर्थव्यवस्था तो बन सकता है, लेकिन जिस गति से जनसांख्यिकीय परिवर्तन हो रहा है, जिस गति से दुनिया में कृत्रिम बुद्धिमत्ता और robotics उत्पादन को बदल रहे हैं और जिस तेजी से चीन, अमेरिका, वियतनाम, इंडोनेशिया तथा भविष्य में अफ्रीका अपनी आर्थिक क्षमता बढ़ा रहे हैं, उसमें भारत को लंबे समय तक 10 प्रतिशत या उससे अधिक की वास्तविक वृद्धि की दिशा में बढ़ना होगा।

भारत की पहली आर्थिक भूल स्वतंत्रता के बाद की वह वैचारिक भूल थी जिसमें हमने अपनी सभ्यतागत आर्थिक स्मृति को पीछे रखकर सोवियत समाजवादी नियोजन, राज्य-नियंत्रित उद्योग और पश्चिमी समाजवादी विचारों का मिश्रण अपना लिया। संविधान की प्रस्तावना में 1976 में ‘समाजवादी’ शब्द जोड़ा गया। यह मूल संविधान की 1950 की प्रस्तावना का हिस्सा नहीं था। 42वें संविधान संशोधन द्वारा ‘समाजवादी’ और ‘पंथनिरपेक्ष’ शब्द जोड़े गए। संविधान में यह शब्द आज भी मौजूद है। इसलिए भारत की आर्थिक यात्रा को समझते समय यह याद रखना चाहिए कि समाजवादी शब्द संविधान की मूल प्रस्तावना में नहीं था, बल्कि आपातकाल के दौर में जोड़ा गया। यह तथ्य अपने आप में उस वैचारिक यात्रा का प्रतीक है जिसमें भारत ने अर्थव्यवस्था में राज्य की भूमिका को अत्यधिक विस्तार दिया।

यहाँ एक स्पष्ट बात कहनी होगी। स्वतंत्र भारत में भारी उद्योग, वैज्ञानिक संस्थान, सार्वजनिक क्षेत्र, इस्पात संयंत्र, सिंचाई और आधारभूत ढाँचे के निर्माण की आवश्यकता थी। इसलिए सार्वजनिक क्षेत्र की स्थापना अपने आप में गलती नहीं थी। गलती तब हुई जब सार्वजनिक क्षेत्र को आर्थिक जीवन के लगभग हर क्षेत्र में राज्य के नियंत्रण का आधार बना दिया गया और निजी उद्यम, पूँजी, लाभ तथा बाजार को संदेह की दृष्टि से देखने की वैचारिक आदत विकसित हुई। उद्योग लगाने के लिए लाइसेंस, उत्पादन बढ़ाने के लिए अनुमति, आयात करने के लिए नियंत्रण, विदेशी पूँजी के लिए प्रतिबंध और व्यापार के लिए ऊँची बाधाएँ—यह व्यवस्था अंततः उस उद्यमशील भारत को रोकने लगी जिसने सदियों तक व्यापार और उत्पादन किया था।

जिसे बाद में ‘लाइसेंस-परमिट-कोटा राज’ कहा गया, वह केवल प्रशासनिक व्यवस्था नहीं थी; वह एक आर्थिक दर्शन का परिणाम था। उसका मूल विश्वास यह था कि राज्य अधिक जानता है, राज्य बेहतर आवंटन कर सकता है और निजी लाभ की आकांक्षा सामाजिक रूप से संदिग्ध है। परिणाम सामने था—कम उत्पादकता, सीमित प्रतिस्पर्धा, कम निजी निवेश और धीमी आर्थिक वृद्धि। 1950 से 1980 के बीच भारत की वृद्धि को लंबे समय तक लगभग 3–4 प्रतिशत के आसपास रहने के कारण बाद में व्यंग्यपूर्वक ‘Hindu rate of growth’ कहा गया। यह शब्द भारतीय सभ्यता की आर्थिक परंपरा का वर्णन नहीं था; यह स्वतंत्र भारत की धीमी समाजवादी-नियंत्रित अर्थव्यवस्था पर टिप्पणी थी। विडंबना यह है कि बाद में इसी शब्द का उपयोग भारत की सभ्यतागत आर्थिक क्षमता पर व्यंग्य करने के लिए भी किया गया।

यहाँ इतिहास को सही करना आवश्यक है। भारत में कोई ‘हिंदू आर्थिक विकास-दर’ इसलिए कम नहीं थी कि हिंदू समाज स्वभावतः आर्थिक रूप से पिछड़ा था। उलटे, आधुनिक राष्ट्रीय आय के ऐतिहासिक पुनर्निर्माणों के अनुसार पूर्व-औपनिवेशिक काल में भारत विश्व अर्थव्यवस्था का अत्यंत बड़ा केंद्र था। Angus Maddison के अनुमानों में लगभग 1 ईस्वी के आसपास भारत का विश्व GDP में हिस्सा लगभग 32 प्रतिशत और 1700 के आसपास लगभग 24 प्रतिशत था। चीन और भारत मिलकर लंबे समय तक विश्व उत्पादन का बहुत बड़ा हिस्सा उत्पन्न करते थे। ये ऐतिहासिक अनुमान आधुनिक GDP आँकड़ों की तरह प्रत्यक्ष मापन नहीं हैं, लेकिन वे इस तथ्य को स्पष्ट करते हैं कि औद्योगिक क्रांति से पहले भारत विश्व अर्थव्यवस्था की परिधि पर नहीं, बल्कि उसके केंद्र में था।

भारत में व्यापार की परंपरा भी केवल कल्पना नहीं थी। कौटिल्य के अर्थशास्त्र में राज्य, कृषि, खनन, व्यापार, उद्योग, कर, मुद्रा और राजकोष का विस्तृत विवेचन मिलता है। शुक्रनीति, बृहस्पति-स्मृति और अन्य भारतीय आर्थिक-राजनीतिक परंपराओं में धन, व्यापार, दंड, राजकोष और सामाजिक उत्तरदायित्व के प्रश्न मिलते हैं। भारत के व्यापारी समुद्री और स्थल मार्गों से पश्चिम एशिया, दक्षिण-पूर्व एशिया और अन्य क्षेत्रों से जुड़े हुए थे। दक्षिण भारत के चोलों से लेकर गुजरात, राजस्थान, बंगाल और पश्चिमी तट के व्यापारिक समुदायों तक भारतीय वाणिज्य की लंबी परंपरा रही है।

इसलिए यह कहना कि बाजार, लाभ, व्यापार या निजी संपत्ति भारत के लिए पश्चिम से आयातित विचार हैं, इतिहास के साथ अन्याय होगा। भारतीय परंपरा में ‘अर्थ’ स्वयं पुरुषार्थों में से एक है। धर्म, अर्थ, काम और मोक्ष को जीवन के चार पुरुषार्थ माना गया। इसका अर्थ यह नहीं था कि धन बुरा है। अर्थ आवश्यक है, लेकिन अर्थ धर्म से नियंत्रित हो और जीवन के व्यापक उद्देश्य से जुड़ा हो। यही भारतीय आर्थिक चिंतन का मूल बिंदु है।

लक्ष्मी की पूजा करने वाला समाज संपदा को अपवित्र कैसे मान सकता है? कुबेर धन के अधिष्ठाता माने जाते हैं। दीपावली में लक्ष्मी-कुबेर पूजन होता है। व्यापारी समाज में धन का अर्जन केवल व्यक्तिगत लालच का विषय नहीं रहा; दान, धर्मशाला, अन्नक्षेत्र, मंदिर, शिक्षा, जल-संरचना और सामाजिक सेवा की परंपरा में अर्जित संपदा का पुनर्वितरण भी रहा। अर्थात् भारतीय दृष्टि ने धन के अर्जन और धन के सामाजिक उपयोग को विरोधी नहीं माना।

यहीं पूँजीवाद और साम्यवाद के बीच भारतीय दृष्टि का अंतर समझना आवश्यक है। साम्यवाद निजी संपत्ति और पूँजी संचय को मूलतः संदेह की दृष्टि से देखता है और उत्पादन के साधनों पर सामूहिक अथवा राज्य नियंत्रण को प्राथमिकता देता है। दूसरी ओर अनियंत्रित पूँजीवाद में बाजार को ही अंतिम निर्णायक मानने का खतरा है। भारतीय दृष्टि में अर्थ का निर्माण निजी और सामाजिक दोनों स्तरों पर हो सकता है, लेकिन उसका नैतिक अनुशासन धर्म से होना चाहिए। राज्य का कार्य हर व्यक्ति की संपत्ति अपने हाथ में लेना नहीं, बल्कि न्यायपूर्ण व्यवस्था, सुरक्षा, आधारभूत संरचना और अवसर उपलब्ध कराना है।

इसीलिए भारत की समस्या यह नहीं थी कि हमने ‘हिंदू आर्थिक मॉडल’ अपनाया और वह विफल हो गया। वास्तविक समस्या यह थी कि स्वतंत्रता के बाद हमने अपनी परंपरा के उद्यमशील, विकेंद्रित और व्यापार-समर्थक पक्ष को आर्थिक नीति का आधार नहीं बनाया और सोवियत शैली के नियोजन तथा समाजवादी नियंत्रण से प्रभावित मिश्रित अर्थव्यवस्था को लंबे समय तक अपनाए रखा।

चीन का उदाहरण आज सबसे बड़ा प्रमाण है। चीन ने राजनीतिक रूप से साम्यवादी प्रशासन बनाए रखा, लेकिन 1978 के बाद आर्थिक क्षेत्र में बाजार, निजी उद्यम, विदेशी निवेश, निर्यात और प्रतिस्पर्धा को बड़े पैमाने पर स्थान दिया। विश्व बैंक के अनुसार 1978 से चीन की औसत वास्तविक GDP वृद्धि 9 प्रतिशत से अधिक रही और 1978–2010 के बीच उसकी वृद्धि लगभग 10 प्रतिशत प्रतिवर्ष रही।

इससे एक बात निर्विवाद रूप से सामने आती है—साम्यवादी राजनीतिक प्रशासन और साम्यवादी आर्थिक व्यवस्था एक ही चीज नहीं हैं। चीन ने राजनीतिक व्यवस्था नहीं बदली, लेकिन आर्थिक व्यवस्था में बाजार और निजी पूँजी की भूमिका इतनी बढ़ाई कि वह विश्व का manufacturing powerhouse बन गया। आज चीन के भीतर निजी कंपनियाँ, विदेशी कंपनियाँ, शेयर बाजार, venture capital, विशाल export industries और प्रतिस्पर्धी उत्पादन मौजूद हैं। जिस आर्थिक व्यवस्था को चीन ने 1978 से धीरे-धीरे बदला, भारत ने उसके विपरीत लंबे समय तक समाजवादी नियंत्रणों को ढोया।

इसलिए भारत के ‘Hindu rate of growth’ पर मजाक करने वालों को यह प्रश्न पूछना चाहिए कि उस धीमी वृद्धि का कारण हिंदू सभ्यता थी या स्वतंत्र भारत की समाजवादी आर्थिक नीतियाँ। इतिहास का उत्तर स्पष्ट है। भारत की धीमी वृद्धि का संबंध उसके स्वतंत्रता-उत्तर आर्थिक नियंत्रणों से था, जबकि भारत की प्राचीन आर्थिक समृद्धि उससे बहुत पहले की कहानी है।

1991 ने इस दिशा को बदला। भुगतान संतुलन संकट के बीच भारत ने व्यापार, उद्योग, विनिमय दर, विदेशी निवेश और वित्तीय क्षेत्र में बड़े सुधार किए। लाइसेंसिंग कम हुई, आयात प्रतिबंध घटे और निजी क्षेत्र के लिए अवसर बढ़े। उसके बाद भारत ने 1990 के दशक और विशेषकर 2000 के दशक में तेज वृद्धि देखी। 2003–08 के दौरान भारत ने कई वर्षों में 8 प्रतिशत से अधिक की वृद्धि हासिल की। लेकिन हम लगातार 10 प्रतिशत की अर्थव्यवस्था नहीं बन पाए।

क्यों?

क्योंकि 1991 का सुधार अधूरा था। हमने बाजार खोला, लेकिन भूमि सुधार, श्रम सुधार, न्यायिक सुधार, कृषि बाजार सुधार, शिक्षा, कौशल, शहरीकरण और manufacturing scale को उसी गति से नहीं बदला। हमने services में असाधारण सफलता प्राप्त की, लेकिन चीन की तरह करोड़ों लोगों को बड़े पैमाने के विनिर्माण में नहीं ला पाए। आज भी भारत के रोजगार का बहुत बड़ा हिस्सा कृषि में है। विश्व बैंक के अनुसार लगभग 45 प्रतिशत रोजगार कृषि में है, जबकि देश को अधिक उत्पादक विनिर्माण और आधुनिक सेवाओं की ओर श्रम स्थानांतरित करने की आवश्यकता है।

यही कारण है कि भारत की 7–8 प्रतिशत वृद्धि को 10 प्रतिशत की स्थायी वृद्धि में बदलना कठिन रहा है। 10 प्रतिशत growth केवल GDP की संख्या नहीं है। उसके पीछे निवेश दर, productivity, labour participation, manufacturing, exports और capital formation का एक साथ तेज होना आवश्यक है।

भारत की निवेश दर लगभग 33–34 प्रतिशत GDP के आसपास है। विश्व बैंक का आकलन है कि भारत को 2047 तक high-income economy बनने के लिए अगले दशकों में निवेश को और बढ़ाना होगा और 2035 तक लगभग 40 प्रतिशत GDP के निवेश स्तर की दिशा में जाना होगा।

यहाँ एक सीधा आर्थिक सिद्धांत समझना होगा—पैसा पेड़ों पर नहीं उगता। सरकार के पास खर्च करने के लिए धन तभी आता है जब समाज उत्पादन करता है, उद्योग कमाता है, नागरिक आय अर्जित करते हैं और कंपनियाँ कर देती हैं। इसलिए जो व्यक्ति रोजगार पैदा करता है, जो उद्योग लगाता है, जो जोखिम लेकर पूँजी लगाता है, जो कर देता है और जो निर्यात करके विदेशी मुद्रा कमाता है, उसे शोषक या चोर मानने वाली मानसिकता किसी भी राष्ट्र को समृद्ध नहीं कर सकती।

भारत ने लंबे समय तक उद्यमी को संदेह की दृष्टि से देखा। उद्योगपति को ‘पूँजीपति’ कहकर सामाजिक रूप से संदिग्ध बनाया गया, लाभ को लालच से जोड़ा गया और संपत्ति को असमानता का प्रतीक मान लिया गया। इसका परिणाम यह हुआ कि भारत ने पूँजी निर्माण की संस्कृति विकसित करने में समय खोया।

यहाँ गांधी को भी केवल समाजवादी चश्मे से देखना गलत होगा। गांधीजी का ग्राम स्वराज, स्थानीय उत्पादन, स्वावलंबन और विकेंद्रीकरण का विचार राज्य के केंद्रीकृत आर्थिक नियंत्रण से अलग था। उनकी रामराज्य की अवधारणा का केंद्र नैतिक शासन, उत्तरदायित्व और लोककल्याण था। गांधीजी बड़े उद्योग के आलोचक हो सकते थे, लेकिन उनका आर्थिक चिंतन सोवियत साम्यवाद का भारतीय संस्करण नहीं था। भारतीय आर्थिक चिंतन को गांधी के ग्राम स्वराज, दीनदयाल उपाध्याय के एकात्म मानववाद और कौटिल्य के राज्य-समर्थित उत्पादन-वाणिज्य चिंतन के बीच संवाद से समझना अधिक उपयोगी होगा।

एकात्म मानववाद का मूल प्रश्न यह है कि विकास केवल GDP का प्रश्न नहीं है। समाज के अंतिम पायदान पर खड़े व्यक्ति को मुख्यधारा में कैसे लाया जाए? लेकिन यहाँ भी एक बुनियादी आर्थिक सत्य है—अंतिम व्यक्ति की सेवा के लिए संसाधन चाहिए और संसाधन उत्पादन से आते हैं। रोजगार पैदा किए बिना गरीबी दूर नहीं होगी। केवल गरीबी भत्ता देकर गरीब को स्थायी रूप से सक्षम नहीं बनाया जा सकता।

यही कारण है कि ‘दरिद्र नारायण’ की सेवा की भारतीय भावना को आधुनिक economic policy से जोड़ने का सही तरीका यह नहीं है कि गरीब को हमेशा सहायता मिलती रहे। सही तरीका यह है कि गरीब के हाथ में कौशल, पूँजी, बाजार और सम्मानजनक रोजगार पहुँचे। मंदिर में दान देना और सरकार द्वारा गरीब को सामाजिक सुरक्षा देना अपनी जगह आवश्यक हो सकता है, लेकिन राष्ट्रीय गरीबी का स्थायी समाधान उत्पादन और रोजगार है।

यदि सरकार उद्योग लगाए बिना रोजगार देना चाहती है, तो वह अंततः करदाताओं के धन से रोजगार का कृत्रिम ढाँचा बनाएगी। यदि उद्योग बढ़ेंगे, तो सरकार को कर मिलेगा; कर बढ़ेगा तो सरकार शिक्षा, स्वास्थ्य, वृद्धावस्था और गरीब कल्याण पर अधिक खर्च कर सकेगी। इसलिए लोककल्याणकारी राज्य की पहली शर्त मजबूत अर्थव्यवस्था है।

गरीब कल्याण और उद्योग विरोधी राजनीति एक साथ लंबे समय तक नहीं चल सकती।

अमेरिका चीन से व्यापार और तकनीक के क्षेत्र में प्रतिस्पर्धा क्यों करता है? क्योंकि दोनों विशाल productive economies हैं। चीन का विनिर्माण इतना बड़ा है कि अमेरिका उसकी supply chains पर निर्भरता कम करना चाहता है। अमेरिका स्वयं manufacturing capacity, semiconductor, defence production और advanced technology में भारी निवेश कर रहा है। आज की भू-राजनीति में आर्थिक शक्ति ही राष्ट्रीय शक्ति है।

इसलिए भारत को यह भ्रम छोड़ना होगा कि उद्योग और गरीब विरोधी हैं। वास्तविकता इसके विपरीत है। एक नया कारखाना गरीब परिवार के लिए रोजगार पैदा करता है। एक logistics park स्थानीय छोटे व्यवसाय पैदा करता है। एक food-processing plant किसान की उपज का मूल्य बढ़ाता है। एक export company विदेशी मुद्रा लाती है। एक startup उच्च-कौशल रोजगार बनाता है। यही वास्तविक wealth creation है।

भारत को अब गांव और शहर के संबंध को भी बदलना होगा। 1991 के बाद आर्थिक अवसरों के केंद्रीकरण ने urbanisation को तेज किया, लेकिन यदि गांव में पर्याप्त productive employment नहीं होगा तो लोग मजबूरी में शहरों की ओर जाएँगे। परिणाम होगा—महँगा आवास, ट्रैफिक, प्रदूषण, झुग्गियाँ, शहरों पर infrastructure का दबाव और परिवारों का विखंडन।

इसका समाधान गांव को शहर बनने से रोकना नहीं है। समाधान है कि गांव को productive economic node बनाया जाए।

कृषि-प्रसंस्करण, textile clusters, handicrafts, food processing, rural tourism, renewable-energy manufacturing, warehousing, digital services, small engineering units और agro-logistics को जिला एवं ब्लॉक स्तर पर विकसित किया जा सकता है। यदि गांव में आय और रोजगार होगा तो migration अवसर के लिए होगा, मजबूरी के लिए नहीं।

चीन ने अपने ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों को भी औद्योगिक नेटवर्क से जोड़ा। भारत को भी ग्राम और नगर को संघर्ष के दो छोर के रूप में नहीं, बल्कि एक economic continuum के रूप में देखना होगा।

भारत में इसके विपरीत राजनीति ने लंबे समय तक समाज को अनेक binary categories में बाँटने का प्रयास किया—अमीर बनाम गरीब, पूँजीपति बनाम मजदूर, ग्रामीण बनाम शहरी, अगड़ा बनाम पिछड़ा, क्षेत्र बनाम केंद्र। सामाजिक वास्तविकताएँ इनसे अधिक जटिल हैं। आर्थिक विकास का सबसे बड़ा इंजन संघर्ष नहीं, सहयोग और productivity है।

इसका अर्थ सामाजिक अन्याय की अनदेखी करना नहीं है। जातिगत भेदभाव, अवसर की असमानता और गरीबी वास्तविक समस्याएँ हैं। लेकिन उनका समाधान स्थायी वर्ग-संघर्ष नहीं, बल्कि upward mobility है। गरीब को अमीर से लड़ाने के बजाय गरीब को अमीर बनने का अवसर देना होगा।

भारत की वर्तमान राजनीति में मुफ्त गारंटी और subsidy की बढ़ती प्रवृत्ति इसी कारण गंभीर आर्थिक प्रश्न बनती है। हर subsidy गलत नहीं है। किसान को उत्पादक निवेश के लिए सहायता, गरीब बच्चे को शिक्षा, बीमार नागरिक को स्वास्थ्य सहायता, वृद्ध को सामाजिक सुरक्षा—ये लोककल्याण के वैध उपकरण हैं। समस्या तब पैदा होती है जब सरकारें चुनावी प्रतिस्पर्धा में ऐसी स्थायी घोषणाएँ करने लगें जिनका कोई स्पष्ट fiscal sustainability framework न हो।

RBI लगातार राज्यों की fiscal स्थिति, guarantees, off-budget borrowings और contingent liabilities पर ध्यान आकर्षित करता रहा है। राज्यों का संयुक्त fiscal deficit हाल के वर्षों में लगभग 3 प्रतिशत GDP के आसपास रहा है और कई राज्यों पर ऋण तथा ब्याज का दबाव बढ़ा है।

यहाँ सरकारों को एक कठोर नियम बनाना चाहिए—उधार लेकर ऐसी संपत्ति बनाओ जो भविष्य में आय और productivity बढ़ाए; केवल ऐसी स्थायी consumption liabilities मत बनाओ जिनका भुगतान आने वाली पीढ़ियाँ करें।

राज्य को ‘सोने का अंडा देने वाली मुर्गी’ की तरह नागरिक और उद्योग से कर निकालते रहना भी बंद करना होगा। यदि उद्योग पर लगातार कर, अनुमति, निरीक्षण और अनुपालन का बोझ बढ़ेगा तो उद्योग निवेश नहीं करेगा। यदि उद्योग निवेश नहीं करेगा तो रोजगार नहीं बनेगा। रोजगार नहीं बनेगा तो कर आधार नहीं बढ़ेगा। कर आधार नहीं बढ़ेगा तो सरकार की कल्याणकारी क्षमता भी सीमित रहेगी।

इसलिए उद्योगपति को सम्मान देना पूँजीवाद की पूजा नहीं है; यह economic realism है।

जो व्यक्ति एक हजार लोगों को रोजगार देता है, उसे केवल इसलिए संदेह की दृष्टि से नहीं देखा जाना चाहिए कि उसने लाभ कमाया है। लाभ आर्थिक व्यवस्था का signal है। जहाँ लाभ है, वहाँ संसाधन आकर्षित होते हैं; जहाँ लगातार नुकसान है, वहाँ संसाधन निकलते हैं। हाँ, बाजार में fraud, monopoly, labour exploitation और environmental damage को रोकना राज्य का दायित्व है। लेकिन उद्यमिता को ही अपराध मान लेना आर्थिक आत्महत्या है।

भारत की नई आर्थिक नीति का लक्ष्य इसलिए ‘धनी को गरीब बनाना’ नहीं होना चाहिए। लक्ष्य होना चाहिए—गरीब को उत्पादक बनाना, मध्यवर्ग को मजबूत करना और उद्यमी को निवेश करने योग्य वातावरण देना।

इसी को भारतीय दृष्टि में धर्म-अर्थ-काम-मोक्ष के संतुलन से समझा जा सकता है। अर्थ के बिना काम और सामाजिक व्यवस्था कमजोर होती है; अर्थ यदि धर्म से मुक्त हो जाए तो लालच और शोषण पैदा कर सकता है; धर्म यदि अर्थ-विहीन हो जाए तो आदर्शवाद भूख नहीं मिटा सकता। इसलिए भारतीय दृष्टि अर्थ को स्वीकार करती है, लेकिन उसे जीवन के व्यापक नैतिक उद्देश्य से जोड़ती है।

भारत को इसी आर्थिक दर्शन को आधुनिक भाषा में पुनर्गठित करना चाहिए।

राज्य का धर्म है—न्याय, सुरक्षा, infrastructure, शिक्षा, स्वास्थ्य, कानून और अवसर।

समाज का धर्म है—उत्पादन, उद्यम, सहयोग, दान और सामाजिक उत्तरदायित्व।

उद्योग का धर्म है—पूँजी लगाना, रोजगार देना, innovation करना और प्रतिस्पर्धी उत्पादन करना।

नागरिक का धर्म है—श्रम, कौशल, कर भुगतान और जिम्मेदार उपभोग।

और सरकार का काम हर नागरिक को अपना आश्रित बनाना नहीं, बल्कि उसे सक्षम बनाना है।

अब भारत के सामने सबसे बड़ा प्रश्न demographic है। भारत की कुल प्रजनन दर replacement level 2.1 से नीचे आ चुकी है। World Bank के अनुसार 2024 में भारत की TFR लगभग 2.0 थी। इसका अर्थ है कि आज का युवा भारत आने वाले दशकों में धीरे-धीरे वृद्ध भारत बनेगा। UNFPA के अनुसार 2050 तक भारत में 60 वर्ष से अधिक आयु के लोगों की संख्या लगभग 346 मिलियन तक पहुँच सकती है।

इसलिए भारत के पास demographic dividend को economic dividend में बदलने की एक सीमित खिड़की है। यदि अगले 15–20 वर्षों में युवा population को कौशल, रोजगार और पूँजी नहीं मिली तो वही जनसंख्या भविष्य में pension, healthcare और dependency का बोझ बढ़ाएगी।

इसलिए 10 प्रतिशत growth का लक्ष्य केवल GDP लक्ष्य नहीं है। यह demographic survival strategy भी है।

भारत को अब ऐसी शिक्षा चाहिए जो रोजगार और productivity से जुड़ी हो। ITI, polytechnic, engineering colleges और universities को उद्योगों के साथ जोड़ना होगा। प्रत्येक जिले को अपने आर्थिक specialization के अनुसार skill ecosystem बनाना होगा।

भारत को manufacturing में बड़े पैमाने पर जाना होगा—electronics, semiconductor, defence, automobiles, batteries, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, machinery, textiles, footwear, food processing और renewable-energy equipment। China+1 का अवसर केवल नारा नहीं, बल्कि production capacity बनाने का अवसर है।

भारत को महिलाओं की labour-force participation बढ़ानी होगी। World Bank भारत में महिला श्रम-भागीदारी को 50 प्रतिशत तक बढ़ाने को दीर्घकालीन growth strategy का महत्वपूर्ण हिस्सा मानता है।

भारत को भूमि रिकॉर्ड, land pooling और industrial land banks बनाने होंगे। निवेशक को जमीन प्राप्त करने में वर्षों नहीं लगने चाहिए।

भारत को labour reforms लागू करने होंगे, लेकिन साथ में worker social security भी मजबूत करनी होगी। उद्योग के लिए flexibility और श्रमिक के लिए सुरक्षा—दोनों साथ चल सकते हैं।

भारत को commercial courts और contract enforcement को तेज करना होगा। जिस देश में ₹10,000 करोड़ लगाने वाला निवेशक यह नहीं जानता कि विवाद का समाधान कब होगा, वहाँ 10 प्रतिशत growth की कल्पना कठिन है।

भारत को R&D expenditure बढ़ाना होगा। AI, robotics, biotechnology, semiconductor और advanced manufacturing में भारत केवल consumer नहीं बन सकता। विश्व बैंक ने अक्टूबर 2026 के अपने नवीनतम आकलन में AI को भारत की
productivity और export क्षमता बढ़ाने का बड़ा अवसर बताया है।
AI और robotics को भारत रोजगार का दुश्मन मानकर नहीं चल सकता। यह सच है कि automation कुछ jobs को समाप्त करेगा। लेकिन इतिहास बताता है कि नई तकनीक नए उद्योग भी पैदा करती है। नीति का लक्ष्य technology को रोकना नहीं, बल्कि भारतीय श्रमिक को उस technology के साथ अधिक उत्पादक बनाना होना चाहिए।
भारत को export economy बनना होगा। दुनिया को भारत में बने उत्पाद चाहिए। भारत के लिए लक्ष्य होना चाहिए—‘Make in India for the World’। केवल घरेलू consumption पर निर्भर अर्थव्यवस्था 10 प्रतिशत की दीर्घकालीन growth के लिए पर्याप्त नहीं होगी।
राज्यों को भी अपने-अपने reform scorecard के आधार पर प्रतिस्पर्धा करनी होगी। जिस राज्य में अधिक private investment, अधिक exports, अधिक formal jobs, बेहतर school outcomes, बेहतर power supply और तेज approvals हों, उसे अधिक आर्थिक प्रोत्साहन मिलना चाहिए।
केंद्र सरकार को भी अपनी भूमिका बदलनी होगी। हर समस्या के लिए नई subsidy बनाना शासन नहीं है। शासन का अर्थ है ऐसा institutional framework बनाना जिसमें समाज स्वयं उत्पादन और समृद्धि पैदा करे।
यही कारण है कि भारत को 10 प्रतिशत growth के लिए ‘सरकार बड़ी हो’ नहीं, बल्कि सरकार सक्षम हो और समाज आर्थिक रूप से स्वतंत्र हो—इस सिद्धांत की आवश्यकता है।
यदि राज्य हर आर्थिक गतिविधि का मालिक बनेगा तो पूँजी निर्माण सीमित होगा। यदि राज्य पूरी तरह पीछे हट जाएगा तो सार्वजनिक वस्तुएँ और सामाजिक सुरक्षा कमजोर होंगी। भारतीय मॉडल का सही रास्ता दोनों अतियों के बीच है—मजबूत राज्य, स्वतंत्र उद्यम, जिम्मेदार बाजार और सामाजिक दायित्व।
यही एक आधुनिक भारतीय आर्थिक मॉडल हो सकता है।

इस मॉडल में पूँजीपति शत्रु नहीं है; शोषण शत्रु है।
लाभ शत्रु नहीं है; धोखाधड़ी शत्रु है।
बाजार शत्रु नहीं है; बाजार में अन्याय और एकाधिकार शत्रु हैं।
धन शत्रु नहीं है; धन का अनैतिक उपयोग शत्रु है।
सरकार शत्रु नहीं है; असीमित और अनुत्तरदायी राज्य शक्ति समस्या है।
गरीब समस्या नहीं है; गरीबी समस्या है।
और गरीब को स्थायी रूप से गरीब रखकर राजनीति करना सबसे बड़ी समस्या है।
भारत को अब इसी वैचारिक स्पष्टता की आवश्यकता है।

यदि 2047 तक विकसित भारत बनना है और 2060 के आसपास अमेरिका को पीछे छोड़कर दुनिया की दूसरी सबसे बड़ी अर्थव्यवस्था बनने की महत्वाकांक्षा रखनी है, तो केवल जनसंख्या, धार्मिक भावना, राष्ट्रवाद या राजनीतिक नारे पर्याप्त नहीं होंगे। उसके लिए प्रति व्यक्ति उत्पादकता बढ़ानी होगी। पूँजी निर्माण बढ़ाना होगा। निजी निवेश बढ़ाना होगा। उद्योग बढ़ाना होगा। गांवों में रोजगार पैदा करना होगा। कृषि को value chain से जोड़ना होगा। महिलाओं को आर्थिक शक्ति बनाना होगा। शिक्षा को रोजगार से जोड़ना होगा। AI और robotics में अग्रणी बनना होगा। राज्यों को आर्थिक प्रतिस्पर्धा में उतारना होगा। राजकोषीय अनुशासन रखना होगा। और सबसे बढ़कर—धन पैदा करने वाले नागरिक और उद्यमी के प्रति सामाजिक दृष्टिकोण बदलना होगा।
भारत की सबसे बड़ी विडंबना यह रही है कि जिस सभ्यता ने लक्ष्मी और कुबेर की पूजा की, व्यापारियों को सामाजिक प्रतिष्ठा दी, समुद्री व्यापार किया, अर्थ को पुरुषार्थ माना और राजकोष को राज्य की शक्ति का आधार समझा, उसी भारत ने स्वतंत्रता के बाद लंबे समय तक पूँजी और उद्यम को संदेह की दृष्टि से देखने वाली आर्थिक व्यवस्था अपना ली।
1991 ने उस गलती को सुधारा, लेकिन पूरी तरह नहीं।
अब 2026 में भारत के सामने दूसरी आर्थिक स्वतंत्रता का समय है।
पहली स्वतंत्रता राजनीतिक थी।
1991 का सुधार आर्थिक नियंत्रणों से मुक्ति की शुरुआत था।

अब तीसरे चरण में भारत को उत्पादकता, उद्यमिता और पूँजी निर्माण की पूर्ण स्वतंत्रता चाहिए।
यह स्वतंत्रता अराजक बाजार नहीं होगी। यह धर्म से नियंत्रित, कानून से संरक्षित और समाज के प्रति उत्तरदायी बाजार व्यवस्था होगी।
भारत को ऐसा राज्य चाहिए जो उद्योग से डरे नहीं, उद्योग पर निर्भर भी न हो; जो गरीब की सहायता करे, लेकिन गरीबी को स्थायी राजनीतिक पहचान न बनाए; जो किसान को subsidy से आगे बढ़ाकर value creator बनाए; जो युवा को नौकरी माँगने वाला नहीं, रोजगार पैदा करने वाला बनाए; और जो धन को पाप नहीं, राष्ट्र की productive शक्ति माने।
क्योंकि अंततः सरकार गरीबों को पैसा तभी दे सकती है जब समाज पैसा पैदा करे।
सरकार स्कूल तभी बना सकती है जब अर्थव्यवस्था कर दे।
सरकार अस्पताल तभी चला सकती है जब उत्पादन हो।
सरकार pension तभी दे सकती है जब भविष्य की पीढ़ी पर्याप्त आय पैदा करे।
और सरकार कल्याण तभी बढ़ा सकती है जब आज उद्योग, किसान, श्रमिक और उद्यमी मिलकर राष्ट्रीय संपदा बढ़ाएँ।

इसलिए भारत के लिए 10 प्रतिशत की स्थायी वृद्धि का मूल मंत्र किसी एक योजना में नहीं है। वह एक आर्थिक संस्कृति में है—उत्पादन को सम्मान, उद्यम को प्रोत्साहन, पूँजी को सुरक्षा, श्रम को कौशल, बाजार को स्वतंत्रता, राज्य को मर्यादा और संपदा को सामाजिक उत्तरदायित्व।
यही धर्म-अर्थ-काम-मोक्ष के संतुलन से निकलने वाली आधुनिक भारतीय आर्थिक दृष्टि हो सकती है।
भारत यदि इसे अपनाता है तो 10 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि केवल एक आर्थिक लक्ष्य नहीं रहेगी; वह उस सभ्यता की आधुनिक पुनर्स्थापना होगी जिसने कभी विश्व अर्थव्यवस्था में असाधारण योगदान दिया था।
और यदि भारत फिर उसी पुराने रास्ते पर लौटता है—अत्यधिक सरकारी नियंत्रण, स्थायी subsidy, वर्ग-संघर्ष, पहचान की राजनीति, उद्यमी के प्रति अविश्वास, कमजोर राजकोष और अधूरे सुधार—तो 2047 का विकसित भारत केवल एक राजनीतिक नारा बनकर रह सकता है।
अगले बीस वर्ष इसलिए निर्णायक हैं। भारत के पास युवा जनसंख्या है, विशाल बाजार है, तकनीकी क्षमता है, लोकतांत्रिक संस्थाएँ हैं, डिजिटल आधारभूत ढाँचा है और विश्व अर्थव्यवस्था में बढ़ती भूमिका है। लेकिन ये सभी संभावनाएँ तभी राष्ट्रीय संपदा बनेंगी जब भारत अपनी आर्थिक नीति का केंद्रीय प्रश्न बदल देगा—
सरकार लोगों को कितना बाँट सकती है, यह नहीं; भारत कितनी नई संपदा पैदा कर सकता है, यह।
यहीं से भारत की अगली आर्थिक यात्रा शुरू होगी

The post लक्ष्मी को सम्मान, उद्यम को अवसर : 10% विकास-दर के लिए भारत को क्या बदलना होगा? appeared first on VisionViksitBharat.

India is building a system in which technology may be global, but national decisions remain independent; investment may be foreign, but the rules are determined by Indian law; and cooperation may be international, but strategic choices remain firmly in India’s hands.

Historically, colonialism was identified by soldiers, warships, foreign flags, and the occupation of territory. Colonial powers seized control of a country’s resources, controlled its trade, and shaped its political system to serve their own interests. In the twenty-first century, however, the nature of colonialism is changing. Today, a country’s economy, information, markets, and social behaviour can be influenced without occupying its territory. The weapons required for this purpose are no longer limited to guns. They now include data, algorithms, cloud computing, digital platforms, artificial intelligence, and semiconductors. This is the central question posed by technological colonialism.

In this emerging landscape, the recent dispute between Elon Musk and India over Starlink offers an important example. The controversy is not merely about granting a foreign company access to the Indian market. The fundamental question is whether the economic power and public influence of global technology companies can become instruments of pressure on the regulatory processes of a sovereign nation.

Elon Musk raised questions about the delay in Starlink’s commercial launch in India and used social media to take a sarcastic swipe at Mukesh Ambani. The Government of India rejected these allegations, stating that companies such as Starlink, Jio Satellite Communications, and Eutelsat OneWeb were undergoing security clearance and spectrum allocation procedures. According to available reports, Musk did not present public evidence to substantiate his allegations.

Technologies such as Starlink can play a valuable role in expanding internet access across India’s remote regions. However, a company’s technological capabilities or the global stature of its founder cannot place it above Indian law. If a company is required to fulfil security-related conditions, the same regulatory process must apply equally to all companies. The public popularity of a business leader cannot serve as a substitute for regulatory decision-making.

Data Is the New Resource, but Control Over It Is the Real Power

During the industrial age, coal, oil, steel, and maritime trade were the principal foundations of economic power. In the digital age, data has also emerged as a strategic resource. Data generated through citizens’ digital activities, consumer preferences, financial transactions, health-related information, and industrial processes creates value in the modern economy. With the advancement of artificial intelligence, the importance of this data has increased even further.

If foreign platforms and technology companies capture most of the economic value generated by data originating from a country’s citizens and enterprises, while the domestic economy receives only limited benefits, questions about the distribution of digital development are inevitable. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in its Digital Economy Report 2024, highlighted inequalities in the digital economy and the environmental and economic pressures faced by developing countries. According to the report, the energy consumption of digital devices, data centres, and communication networks accounts for an estimated 6 to 12 per cent of global electricity use.

Data sovereignty does not mean confining all information within a country’s geographical borders. It means protecting citizens’ privacy, ensuring that data is used under clear and lawful rules, maintaining appropriate control over data related to national interests, and building the country’s capacity to generate economic and scientific value from its own data.

Expanding Influence Through Algorithms

Influencing a society does not always require controlling its government. If digital platforms begin determining which news citizens see, which products they buy, which ideas receive greater attention, and which information takes priority, these platforms acquire the ability to shape public discourse.

Similarly, artificial intelligence models generate responses to questions concerning language, history, culture, and social behaviour. If a country’s education, administration, research, and business decision-making processes become excessively dependent on a few external technological systems, its intellectual independence may also be affected. In 2024, UNCTAD warned that the concentration of advanced AI systems and their underlying infrastructure in the hands of a few large companies could pose challenges to the technological capabilities and policy autonomy of developing countries.

The issue here is not about rejecting foreign technology, but about ensuring that technology enhances citizens’ capabilities rather than turning them into passive consumers of opaque systems. A multilingual and diverse country like India must develop AI models that understand Indian languages, local needs, constitutional values, and social realities.

Information Warfare, Where the Target Is the Public Mind

In conventional warfare, an adversary’s military capabilities, communications, and physical infrastructure are targeted. In information warfare, the targets can also include people’s perceptions, social trust, and the credibility of institutions. Misinformation, fake news websites, bot networks, deepfake videos, and coordinated social media campaigns can be used to create confusion and distrust within a society.

A March 2025 report by the European External Action Service (EEAS) of the European Union analysed various foreign information manipulation and interference networks linked to Russia and China. The report described methods used to influence the information environment through digital infrastructure, social media, and other channels.

In the Russia-Ukraine war, information warfare has become an important component of the military conflict. According to a European Union study, Kremlin-backed disinformation campaigns reached at least 165 million people across the European Union and its partners during the first year of the war, generating at least 16 billion views. These figures represent the study’s estimates and do not establish that every individual was influenced. Nevertheless, they demonstrate the enormous scale at which information can spread across digital platforms.

Following the first round of Romania’s 2024 presidential election, serious investigations were conducted into foreign interference and online campaigning. Romanian authorities presented evidence relating to cyberattacks, misinformation, and influence campaigns. The Constitutional Court annulled the electoral process. These developments triggered a broader debate across Europe about electoral sovereignty and the accountability of digital platforms.

During Moldova’s 2024 presidential election and referendum on European Union membership, authorities reported foreign interference involving illegal financing, disinformation, cyberattacks, and social media campaigning. The country’s security service referred to the identification of propaganda networks on Telegram, TikTok, and YouTube. These allegations and findings should be understood in the context of reports issued by Moldovan authorities and international institutions.

The lesson from these examples is that digital sovereignty extends far beyond protecting data. It also involves providing citizens with reliable information, preserving the integrity of electoral processes, and protecting public discourse from coordinated manipulation.

Chips, Cloud Computing, and the Strategic Cost of Technological Dependence

Digital sovereignty cannot be achieved merely by establishing data centres. It requires reliable access to hardware, chip design, semiconductor manufacturing, network equipment, cybersecurity, cloud management, and advanced computing.

If a country’s defence systems, telecommunications networks, banking services, and AI infrastructure depend on equipment or software that it cannot independently control, repair, or replace, disruptions to external supplies can undermine its strategic capabilities. Export controls, sanctions, and geopolitical tensions can make this dependence even more consequential.

This challenge is particularly significant for India. According to the semiconductor roadmap released by NITI Aayog in May 2026, approximately 90 to 95 per cent of India’s chip demand is met through imports. This dependence on semiconductors creates strategic risks for sectors such as defence, telecommunications, electric vehicles, healthcare technology, and digital public infrastructure.

Therefore, investment in semiconductor manufacturing, chip design, advanced packaging, domestic cloud capabilities, and cybersecurity is not merely a matter of industrial policy. It is an investment in the nation’s future independence.

Opportunities and Responsibilities Before India

India has developed significant capabilities in the field of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, and other digital platforms have expanded access to services and enabled digital transactions on a massive scale. India’s next objective should not be limited to increasing the adoption of digital services. It should also focus on strengthening its capabilities in the underlying technologies, research, computing infrastructure, and intellectual property that power these services.

The Government of India’s IndiaAI initiative and semiconductor programme are important in the context of this broader challenge. In August 2026, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology emphasised strengthening technological self-reliance through indigenous AI models, computing capabilities, and semiconductor initiatives in India.

However, self-reliance does not mean developing every technology independently. Global cooperation, foreign investment, and international research networks are essential for every country. Genuine technological sovereignty means retaining the ability to make critical decisions, choose alternative suppliers, test one’s own systems, and switch technologies when necessary, even while engaging in international cooperation.

To achieve this, India should advance in five key directions. First, it should strengthen domestic research and development in semiconductors, AI, and cybersecurity. Second, it should develop AI models tailored to Indian languages and local requirements. Third, it should create secure and diversified cloud and software alternatives for critical government and strategic systems. Fourth, it should establish effective regulations that protect competition, data privacy, transparency, and consumer rights. Fifth, it should enable Indian startups, universities, and companies to play a more significant role in global technology value chains.

Sovereignty Does Not Mean Technological Isolation, but Freedom of Choice

One important caution is necessary when discussing technological sovereignty. It would be inappropriate to view every foreign company with suspicion or to assume that every domestic product is superior simply because it is indigenous. Competition drives innovation, while international cooperation provides access to knowledge and investment. However, openness must not mean accepting dependence.

A country’s true independence should be measured by whether it can secure its essential services, maintain alternative technological options, protect its citizens’ data, and make decisions in accordance with its own laws despite external pressure.

This is why technological sovereignty has become an extension of national security. Just as industrial development can be disrupted without energy security, excessive dependence on digital infrastructure and critical technologies can constrain economic independence.

The most modern form of colonialism would be one in which a country’s borders remain independent, its government is democratically elected, and its markets remain open, yet control over its critical technologies, data, digital infrastructure, and knowledge systems is concentrated elsewhere. This risk does not automatically arise from every foreign technology, but excessive concentration and the absence of alternatives can make it a reality.

India is building a system in which technology may be global, but national decisions remain independent; investment may be foreign, but the rules are determined by Indian law; and cooperation may be international, but strategic choices remain firmly in India’s hands.

The goal of Viksit Bharat 2047 is not merely to achieve economic prosperity. It also involves building a national framework that is technologically capable, economically resilient, and independent in its policymaking. Today, soldiers defend sovereignty at the borders. In the years ahead, scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, data specialists, and technological institutions will play an equally important role in safeguarding it.

In the twenty-first century, freedom will mean more than a country’s ability to determine its own future. It will also mean having effective control over, and genuine alternatives in, the technologies that shape that future. This is technological sovereignty, and it is an essential condition for being an independent nation in the new era.

The post Technological Colonialism and the Battle for National Sovereignty appeared first on VisionViksitBharat.

डॉक्टर साहेब कृषि क्षेत्र को भारतीय अर्थव्यवस्था की रीढ़ मानते थे और कृषि क्षेत्र के विकास के हिमायती थे। परंतु साथ ही, आप बड़े आकार के उद्योग के खिलाफ भी नहीं थे, क्योंकि उदयोंग के क्षेत्र में बड़े स्तर पर रोजगार के अवसर निर्मित किए जा सकते हैं और आप श्रमिकों के हिमायती थे। आपका स्पष्ट मत था कि औद्योगिक क्रांति पर जोर देने के साथ साथ कृषि क्षेत्र को नजर अन्दाज नहीं किया जा सकता है। क्योंकि, देश की अधिकतम आबादी ग्रामों में निवास करती है एवं यह अपनी आजीविका के लिए कृषि क्षेत्र पर ही निर्भर है और फिर उद्योग क्षेत्र के लिए कच्चा माल भी तो कृषि क्षेत्र ही प्रदान करता है। इस प्रकार, कृषि एवं उद्योग क्षेत्र संयुक्त रूप से श्रमिकों के लिए रोजगार का सृजन कर सकते हैं। आधुनिक भारत की इमारत कृषि क्षेत्र के विकास पर ही खड़ी हो सकेगी। इन्हीं विचारों के दृष्टिगत आपने कृषि क्षेत्र के पुनर्गठन के लिए क्रांतिकारी उपाय सुझाए थे। जैसे, कृषि योग्य भूमि के राष्ट्रीयकरण की आप वकालत करते थे। आप राज्य को यह दायित्व सौपने की सोचते थे कि राज्य नागरिकों के आर्थिक जीवन को इस प्रकार योजनाबद्ध तरीके से आगे बढ़ाए कि उससे नागरिकों की उत्पादकता का सर्वोच्चय बिंदु हासिल हो जाय, इससे इन नागरिकों की आय में वृद्धि होगी और उनका जीवन स्तर ऊपर उठाया जा सकेगा। साथ ही, निजी उद्योग को भी बढ़ावा दिया जाना चाहिए और देश की सम्पदा का समाज में वितरण करने के भी प्रयास किए जाने चाहिए। कृषि के क्षेत्र में राजकीय स्वामित्व का नियोजन भी होना चाहिए ताकि सामूहिक रूप से खेती को बढ़ावा दिया जा सके तथा इसी प्रकार उद्योग के क्षेत्र में निजी क्षेत्र को भी बढ़ावा दिया जाना चाहिए। कृषि एवं उद्योग क्षेत्रों के लिए आवश्यक पूंजी की व्यवस्था राज्य द्वारा की जानी चाहिए।

“Small Holdings in India and their Remedies” नामक शोधग्रंथ डॉक्टर अम्बेडकर ने वर्ष 1918 में लिखा था। यह शोधग्रंथ, भारत में किसानों के सम्बंध में जमीनी यथार्थ की व्याख्या करने में उनके कौशल और आर्थिक समस्याओं के लिए व्यावहारिक नीतियों का सुझाव देने में इनकी प्रवीणता को दर्शाता है। उनकी इस शोधपत्र में की गई व्याख्या आज भी भारत में कृषि क्षेत्र के लिए प्रासंगिक है। आपका विचार था कि श्रम, पूंजी और संयत्र – तीनों भारत में कृषि उत्पादन के लिए महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका अदा करते है। पूंजी वस्तु है और श्रमिक व्यक्ति। पूंजी का यदि कोई उपयोग न किया जाय तो  कोई आय नहीं होती परंतु उस पर कोई खर्च भी नहीं करना पड़ता। परंतु, श्रमिक, चाहे वह आय का अर्जन करे अथवा नहीं, उसे जीवित रहने के लिए स्वयं पर व्यय करना होता है। यदि वह यह खर्च उत्पादन से नहीं निकाल पाता, जैसा कि होना चाहिए, तो वह लूटपाट करने को मजबूर हो जाता है। इसी प्रकार भारत में छोटी जोतों की समस्या, दरअसल, उसकी सामाजिक अर्थव्यवस्था की समस्या है। अतः इस समस्या का स्थाई हल खोजना ही चाहिए।

वर्ष 1923 में डॉक्टर अम्बेडकर ने लंदन स्कूल आफ इकोनोमिक्स से डीएससी (अर्थशास्त्र) की डिग्री प्राप्त की थी। डीएससी की थीसिस का विषय था “The Problem of the Rupee – Its Origin and its Solution” और, आपने उस समय पर रुपए के अवमूल्यन जैसी गम्भीर समस्या पर अपना शोध कार्य सम्पन्न किया था, जो उस खंडकाल में सबसे महत्वपूर्ण और व्यावहारिक विषय का शोध कहा जाता है। आपने वर्ष 1923 में ही वित्त आयोग की चर्चा करते हुए सुझाव दिया था कि वित्त आयोग का प्रतिवेदन प्रत्येक 5 वर्ष के अंतराल पर अवश्य आना चाहिए। साथ ही, लगभग इसी खंडकाल में आपने भारतीय रिजर्व बैंक की स्थापना का ब्लूप्रिंट तैयार करने में अपना योगदान दिया था। बाद में, भारतीय रिजर्व बैंक ने डॉक्टर साहेब के इस योगदान को स्वीकार करते हुए अपनी स्थापना के 81 वर्ष पूर्ण होने के उपलक्ष में डॉक्टर अम्बेडकर के नाम पर कुछ सिक्के जारी किए थे।

डॉक्टर साहेब द्वारा देश के आर्थिक विकास के संदर्भ में उस खंडकाल में दिए गए समस्त सुएकात्मझाव आज की परिस्थितियों के बीच भी अति महत्वपूर्ण एवं उपयुक्त माने जाते हैं। वर्तमान समय में हालांकि कई प्रकार की आर्थिक समस्याओं का हल निकालने में सफलता हासिल हुई है परंतु फिर भी डॉक्टर साहेब द्वारा उस खंडकाल में किए गए शोधकार्यों एवं सुझावों की प्रासंगिकता आज भी बनी हुई है। जैसे, बेरोजगारी, मुद्रास्फीति, गरीबी, आय की असमानता, भारतीय रुपए का अवमूल्यन आदि के उन्मूलन पर विचार डॉक्टर साहेब द्वारा आर्थिक विषयों पर किए गए शोधों में देखे जा सकते है। डॉक्टर साहेब ने अर्थशास्त्र के सिद्धांतों एवं अपने शोधों को भारतीय समाज के लिए व्यावहारिक स्तर पर लागू करने के सम्बंध में अपने सुझाव रखे थे। डॉक्टर साहेब भारतीय समाज व्यवस्था में आमूलचूल परिवर्तन कर अर्थशास्त्र के सिद्धांतों को भारतीयता के अनुरूप लागू करना चाहते थे। यह उनकी सामाजिक आर्थिक संवेदना एवं सामाजिक एवं आर्थिक विषयों पर गहन वैचारिकी को प्रदर्शित करता है। डॉक्टर साहेब भारतीय आर्थिक व्यवस्था में भारतीय समाज में न्यायसंगत समानता, गरीबी का पूर्ण उन्मूलन, शून्य बेरोजगारी, नियंत्रित मुद्रा स्फीति, नागरिकों का आर्थिक शोषण नहीं होना एवं सामाजिक न्याय होना जैसी व्यवस्थाएं चाहते थे। यह व्यवस्थाएं पंडित दीनदयाल उपाध्याय के ‘एकात्म मानवदर्शन’ के सिद्धांत के बहुत करीब हैं, जो एक राष्ट्र के निवासियों को केवल नागरिक नहीं बल्कि परिवार के सदस्य के रूप में देखता है। एकात्म मानवदर्शन का सिद्धांत व्यक्ति बनाम समाज नहीं बल्कि व्यक्ति और समाज की एकात्मता का विचार है। यह मानव बनाम प्रकृति नहीं बल्कि मानव के साथ प्रकृति की एकात्मता का विचार है। भौतिक बनाम आध्यात्मिक नहीं बल्कि इनकी एकात्मता का विचार है। भारत में इसे धर्म कहा गया है। अर्थात, यह व्यश्टि, समश्टि, सृष्टि एवं परमेश्टि की एकात्मता का सिद्धांत है। साथ ही, इस सिद्धांत का आश्य यह भी है कि देश में आर्थिक विकास का लाभ जब तक पंक्ति में अंतिम पायदान पर खड़े व्यक्ति तक नहीं पहुंचता है तब तक इस आर्थिक विकास का कोई लाभ नहीं है। लगभग इसी प्रकार के विचार डॉ भीमराव अम्बेडकर के भी थे।

The post एकात्म मानवदर्शन के बहुत निकट था डॉ अम्बेडकर का आर्थिक दृष्टिकोण appeared first on VisionViksitBharat.

India’s development story is increasingly shaped by a question that managers, investors and policymakers can no longer treat as secondary: how will the country finance growth while making its infrastructure, industries and energy systems more sustainable? Viksit Bharat is an ambition for a developed India by 2047. India’s commitment to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2070 adds a long-term environmental direction to that ambition. The two goals will be realised together only if investment decisions support productivity, inclusion and lower environmental intensity at the same time.

The opportunity is substantial, but so is the financing task. NITI Aayog’s 2026 scenario study estimates cumulative investment of about USD 22.7 trillion for its Net Zero Scenario through 2070, compared with USD 14.7 trillion under its Current Policy Scenario. It estimates that around USD 16.2 trillion could be mobilised under enabling reforms, leaving a gap of roughly USD 6.53 trillion. These are model-based, indicative estimates, not a government spending commitment or a forecast. The investment assessment covers power, transport and industry; it does not include detailed costs for adaptation, buildings or waste. Read with these limits, the estimates still make one point clear: green finance is not a niche add-on to development. It is part of the capital architecture needed to build Viksit Bharat.[1]

From Milestones to Implementation

India has recorded meaningful progress. Non-fossil sources accounted for 54.18 per cent of installed electricity capacity at the end of June 2026, after the country crossed the 50 per cent mark in 2025. The government also reported a 37.38 per cent reduction in GDP emissions intensity in 2022 compared with 2005, against the earlier 2030 NDC target of a 45 per cent reduction. In March 2026, the Union Cabinet approved a new NDC for 2031–35: a 47 per cent reduction in GDP emissions intensity and 60 per cent non-fossil installed power capacity by 2035, alongside a 3.5–4.0 billion-tonne CO₂-equivalent carbon-sink target relative to 2005.[2][7] These are important indicators of direction and scale.

They also need to be read precisely. Installed capacity measures the power plants available to generate electricity; it does not show how much electricity those plants actually produce over a year. In FY 2025–26, non-fossil sources supplied 29.2 per cent of total electricity generation, according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. The difference between capacity and generation is not a verdict on the transition. It highlights the management challenge ahead: build the transmission, storage, balancing capacity, project execution and market arrangements that allow clean capacity to deliver reliable power when it is needed.[3]

This distinction is relevant to Viksit Bharat. A developed economy requires dependable electricity, expanding transport, modern urban services and competitive manufacturing. A transition that adds renewable capacity but leaves grid bottlenecks unresolved would not fulfil that development purpose. Conversely, investment in transmission, storage, demand management and energy efficiency can enable more clean energy while improving the performance of the wider economy. Green investment therefore has to be understood as a system: generating assets matter, but so do the networks, technologies, institutions and skills that make them productive.

NITI Aayog’s study frames its scenarios as development pathways rather than prescriptive policy. Its long-term vision links a USD 30 trillion economy in 2047 with net zero by 2070, while acknowledging uncertainty over technology, finance and future policy. That framing is useful for management: sustainability is not simply a compliance cost to be added after a growth strategy is set. It affects which assets are built, where capital is placed, what capabilities firms develop and whether today’s investments remain competitive as markets and technologies change.[1]

Green Finance is More than a Green Label

Green finance is often discussed through particular instruments: green bonds, green deposits, sustainability-linked loans, blended finance or climate funds. Each can help, but no instrument is inherently sustainable just because it carries a green label. The central questions are what activity the money supports, what environmental and social outcomes are expected, how risks are shared, and whether results are measured and disclosed.

India already has elements of this financial infrastructure. The Government of India has issued sovereign green bonds and published allocation reporting. The Reserve Bank of India’s framework for entities that choose to accept green deposits requires eligible use-of-proceeds reporting, independent third-party verification and impact assessment. SEBI introduced BRSR Core, a standardised set of ESG indicators, with requirements phased in for the largest listed companies; later industry standards aim to improve reporting consistency.[4][5][6][8] These mechanisms are important because capital markets work better when investors can compare information and verify how funds are used.

Yet reporting is only the beginning. ESG data creates value when it changes decisions: which factory receives capital for an efficiency upgrade; whether a company invests in electrifying process heat; how a lender assesses the transition plan of a borrower; or whether a supplier is prepared for new customer and market requirements. If disclosures are treated as a year-end reporting exercise detached from budgeting, procurement and risk management, they may produce more paperwork without changing the underlying investment pattern.

This is where management practice becomes central. A company seeking transition finance should be able to explain its baseline, the material sources of its environmental impact, the sequence of investments it plans to make, the technologies and operational changes involved, and the indicators by which progress will be assessed. It should also explain dependencies: grid access, skills, supplier capacity, permitting, technology readiness and the availability of affordable capital. A credible plan does not promise that every business activity can become low-carbon immediately. It identifies what can be improved now, what requires pilots or partnerships, and what remains uncertain.

For investors and lenders, better project preparation can be as important as more funds. The NITI study argues that the challenge lies not only in the amount of capital but in intermediation, risk management and cost of capital. It recommends measures such as a National Green Finance Institution, blended finance, guarantees, project preparation, a unified climate finance taxonomy and deeper bond markets. These are proposals in an analytical report, not all established institutions or settled policy. Their underlying logic is practical: public and concessional resources can absorb or reduce specific risks, helping attract private investment into projects that otherwise cannot meet investors’ risk and return requirements.[1]

Matching Finance to the Project

Different investments need different financing structures. Mature renewable power projects may be suitable for conventional project finance when land, grid connection, offtake and payment risks are addressed. Transmission and storage can require long tenors and coordinated planning because their benefits extend beyond a single project or company. Energy-efficiency upgrades in smaller firms may need aggregation, standardised contracts or credit guarantees because transaction costs can be too high for lenders to assess each small project separately. Emerging technologies such as green hydrogen or industrial carbon management may need grants, concessional finance, demonstration funding or assured early demand while costs and performance are tested.

This approach prevents a common mistake: treating “green finance” as one pool of low-cost money available to every project. Capital providers evaluate risk, cash flow, execution capacity and policy stability. A bankable project is therefore a management outcome as much as a financial product. It depends on clear ownership, credible cost estimates, capable contractors, predictable approvals, a realistic offtake arrangement and transparent performance data.

The project also needs a coherent definition of sustainability. A solar or electric mobility project may reduce emissions, but it can still raise questions about land, water, labour conditions, mineral sourcing or community impacts. NITI Aayog’s study highlights pressure points around critical minerals, land and water use, and the need for a fair transition for workers and districts linked to fossil-fuel activity. For managers, these are not peripheral reputational issues. They can affect project timelines, operating continuity, financing terms and public trust. ESG due diligence is most useful when it identifies these risks early enough to change design, siting, sourcing or engagement plans.[1]

What Business Leaders can Do

Management has an important role because the transition is not financed only by governments or large energy developers. Manufacturers, logistics firms, commercial property owners and their suppliers make recurring decisions about equipment, buildings, vehicles and production processes. Those decisions determine energy demand and emissions for years. A finance team that sees sustainability only as a reporting obligation may miss savings from efficiency or expose the company to avoidable transition and physical risks. A finance team that brings sustainability into investment appraisal can compare options over the full life of an asset, including energy costs, reliability, maintenance, water exposure and likely changes in customer or regulatory expectations.

This is particularly relevant to smaller enterprises. For MSMEs, limited technical capacity and the small scale of individual projects can make it difficult to prepare proposals or attract finance for efficiency upgrades. NITI Aayog highlights MSME-focused retrofits, cluster programmes and energy-efficiency financing platforms as ways to support this part of the transition.[1] Large buyers and lenders can help by aggregating similar projects, sharing technical assessments, offering standard documentation and linking suppliers to practical advisory support. This creates a management and finance opportunity: supply-chain engagement can improve data quality while widening access to capital and productivity improvements beyond the largest listed firms. The design should avoid making smaller suppliers carry disproportionate reporting costs without access to the tools or finance needed to respond.

First, connect sustainability to capital allocation. Boards and finance teams can require major projects to disclose expected energy use, emissions implications, climate vulnerabilities and transition relevance alongside conventional financial measures. This does not mean every project must carry a green label. It means decision-makers should understand how the project performs under plausible changes in energy prices, technology, regulation, water availability and customer expectations.

Second, make transition plans operational. A corporate climate target should flow into annual budgets, asset replacement schedules, procurement criteria, product strategy and executive accountability. For example, a manufacturer’s transition plan could sequence energy-efficiency measures, electrification where technically feasible, renewable electricity procurement, materials circularity and pilots for harder-to-abate processes. The plan should distinguish actions already funded from aspirations dependent on future technology or policy support.

Third, build comparable and decision-useful data. BRSR Core can provide a common reporting foundation, but firms need internal systems that connect environmental metrics to facilities, products and suppliers. Data should have named owners, documented boundaries and controls against double counting. For smaller suppliers, large companies and lenders can reduce burden through common templates, technical support and phased engagement rather than demanding complex reporting without assistance.[6]

Fourth, structure finance around risk. Companies can combine equity, bank lending, bonds, green deposits or concessional capital according to the project’s maturity and revenue profile. Public policy can help with project preparation, guarantees or early-stage demonstrations, while private capital finances projects with clearer cash flows. For hard-to-abate industries, transition finance can support credible decarbonisation of existing assets where an immediate switch is not technically or economically feasible, provided that milestones are specific and progress is monitored. The test should be whether financing changes the pathway of the activity, not merely the language used to describe it.

Fifth, treat social and resilience outcomes as part of investment quality. A low-carbon project that is poorly sited, vulnerable to climate hazards or damaging to local livelihoods may not be sustainable in practice. Companies should assess physical climate risks, worker impacts, affordability and community concerns early. Lenders and investors can reflect these findings in due diligence and covenants. This is especially important because the financing estimates in the NITI overview do not fully price adaptation needs; sustainable investment decisions must therefore look beyond the headline net-zero capital requirement.[1]

From Disclosure to Outcomes

India’s recent progress shows that policy targets can be translated into measurable change. The next test is whether the financial system can help turn plans into assets and operating improvements at the speed and scale required by development. The NITI scenario analysis estimates that external finance could need to account for a larger share of total capital by 2070, while warning that financing choices affect domestic investment and macroeconomic outcomes. This makes project quality and risk allocation especially important: public capital should be used transparently to unlock additional investment, and not simply to relabel financing that would have occurred anyway.[1]

For financial institutions, this means strengthening appraisal beyond short-term collateral and cash flow where appropriate, while preserving sound credit discipline. Lenders can develop sector expertise, assess transition plans and create products for efficiency, storage, clean transport and industrial upgrades. Institutional investors can support longer-duration assets when governance, disclosure and risk structures are credible. Regulators and public agencies can improve taxonomies, data standards and project pipelines so that investors can distinguish environmental contribution from greenwashing.

For corporate leaders, the agenda is equally concrete: identify material sustainability risks, set investment priorities, assign accountability, prepare credible projects and report results in a way that investors and communities can scrutinise. ESG then becomes a management system that connects strategy with financing and performance. It does not guarantee access to cheaper capital, nor does it replace operational competence. It helps make the case for capital and provides a basis for checking whether investment is delivering the intended outcomes.

Viksit Bharat will be built through choices made across millions of public and private investment decisions. The clean-energy capacity milestone is evidence of progress, while the gap between capacity and generation points to the next phase of execution. Green finance can help fund that phase, but only when it is tied to viable projects, transparent standards, thoughtful risk-sharing and measurable benefits. The most useful question for managers is therefore not whether an activity can be called green. It is whether finance is helping build a more productive, resilient and inclusive economy with lower environmental costs. That is how sustainability becomes part of development strategy, and how investment can help turn the promise of Viksit Bharat into durable outcomes.

Sources

[1] NITI Aayog. (2026). *A Study Report on Scenarios Towards Viksit Bharat and Net Zero: An Overview, Volume 1*, especially the Executive Summary and Chapters 3, 6, 9 and 10. The report describes its scenario results as indicative and model-dependent. Report PDF
[2] Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India. (27 July 2026). “India’s NDC Targets.” Press release
[3] Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India. (2026). “India’s Power Generation Capacity from Various Sources.” FY 2025–26 data through 31 March 2026. Press release
[4] Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. *Sovereign Green Bond Allocation Report 2023–24*. Report page
[5] Reserve Bank of India. (11 April 2023; FAQs updated 29 December 2023). *Framework for Acceptance of Green Deposits*. RBI FAQs
[6] Securities and Exchange Board of India. (20 December 2024). *Industry Standards on Reporting of BRSR Core*. SEBI circular
[7] Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India. (25 March 2026). “Cabinet approves India’s Nationally Determined Contribution (2031–2035).” Press release
[8] Securities and Exchange Board of India. (12 July 2023). *BRSR Core Framework for Assurance and ESG Disclosures for Value Chain*. SEBI circular

The post Financing Viksit Bharat Through Green Investment appeared first on VisionViksitBharat.

What BRICS Promised vs. What It Built

It would be dishonest to claim that BRICS has created nothing. The ‘Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA)’, established by the organization in 2014, is a fund of $100 billion and acts like a balance-of-payments insurance instrument, which could be regarded as equivalent to IMF functioning. In addition to that, BRICS has tried to use a local currency settlement called ‘BRICS Pay.’ However, CRA exists to provide emergency liquidity during a crisis, not to monitor or coordinate the everyday currency, commodity, and inflation spillovers members impose on one another. Thus, BRICS has crisis-response tools but no surveillance or coordination tools at all.

At the time of the formalisation of BRICS in 2009, there was a clear agenda to establish an alternative to Bretton Woods institutions, which had long determined the conditions of global economic governance. Since then, the rhetoric has been more strident. The least stated but most aggressively touted of the BRICS economic objectives is their desire to de-dollarize the world, which means to decrease the role of the US dollar in international trade and as a global reserve currency.

But, with all these ambition, intra-BRICS trade still takes up a very small percentage, it is roughly around 18%, while the intra-EU trade represents about 60% of the total trade of the EU’s members. It is because BRICS does not have an institutional mechanism to promote economic sovereignty among member nations. Nearly after 20 years, BRICS does not have a central bank mechanism like EU, no common inflation benchmark, and no established protocol for one member to flag economic damage arising from another member’s policy. So, it has ended up as an ‘economic family’ without the ‘family spirit’ needed for solidarity.

Currency Wars Nobody Admits are Happening

The export of economic damage to other countries, especially within BRICS, is perhaps the most visible repercussion. The clearest evidence is the People’s Bank of China’s strategic management of the yuan’s exchange rate to support exports. The yuan was devalued by roughly 3% against the dollar in 2015, weakened during 2018-2019 amid the U.S.-China trade war (falling past 7 yuan per dollar for the first time in over a decade), and depreciated further through 2022-2023 as China’s post-pandemic recovery lagged. In return, this devaluation had a direct impact on Indian and Brazilian manufacturers competing in the same global markets.

By contrast, the European Union has institutional mechanisms, imperfect but nonetheless real, through which currency spillovers are at least acknowledged and debated. In the eurozone, the mandate of the European Central Bank (ECB) explicitly requires consideration of how monetary policy decisions affect member states across the union, creating a framework for discussion and coordination of cross-border monetary impacts. BRICS has no such equivalent forum.

Commodity Cannibalism: When Partners Become Competitors

Where currency devaluation transmits cost shocks through exchange rates, commodity overlap transmits them directly through the global pricing of identical goods. ‘BRICS+’ has a structural weakness that it had not yet acknowledged. The members include some of the world’s biggest exporters other than China, such as Russia (oil, gas, metals, wheat); Brazil (iron ore, soybeans, sugar); South Africa (platinum, gold, coal); Saudi Arabia (oil, gas); India (Pharmaceuticals, textiles, IT) and the UAE (oil, gas). These countries do not have complementary production. They serve in parallel global markets. And when one of them plays in his own economic interests, others bleed (See Table 1).

Table 1: BRICS+ Major Commodity Exports and Competition Matrix

Source: WTO Statistical Review and IMF Primary Commodity Price System, compiled by the author from 2024-2025 data.

Now let us see the occurrence of commodity cannibalization in BRICS+.  In 2024, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined the group, thus making the economic influence of BRICS+ even greater. At the same time, such an enlargement also led to a certain contradiction that exists within this bloc. One should keep in mind that Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE are leading oil exporters with very similar markets. In recent years, especially after 2022, Russia has been regularly selling its oil at reduced prices as a means to continue oil exports despite the Western embargo, with Urals crude trading at a discount to Brent that reportedly reached over $30 per barrel in 2022. Even though this has been helping some importers, this approach leads to competition between these countries in oil markets. In other words, one country within BRICS may be negatively affecting another country’s economic interests in terms of the same commodity being exported. It is worth noting that Russia and Saudi Arabia already coordinate production quotas through OPEC+, the forum that exists specifically to manage this kind of overlap between major oil exporters. That coordination, however, is narrow by design, it addresses aggregate output levels to manage global prices, not the bilateral discounting and market-share competition.

Importing Inflation: The Hidden Tax of Bloc Membership

India and China have the largest business relationship in the world when compared with any other developing nations. India imports up to $130 billion worth of goods annually from China, mainly electronics, manufacturing machinery, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. This dependency forms a concealed but powerful pathway through which inflation gets into the Indian economy. Whenever China increased production costs, whether it’s because of higher wages, costly energy, or disruption in the production chain, the cost is reflected in the price of the Chinese exports. As soon as the exporters hike their prices, the companies importing products from China are faced with increased production costs which are eventually passed to consumers.

However, these externalities of inflation have been neither measured nor taken care of in BRICS. There is no forum through which they can be deliberated upon, as well as there is no mechanism through which they could be mitigated. Consequently, what appears to be a mutually beneficial trade relationship can, in practice, impose a disproportionate inflationary burden on countries that are highly dependent on Chinese imports. Importantly, this asymmetry is not limited to China’s trade relations within BRICS. Similar imbalances can be observed across several bilateral economic relationships among BRICS members, where differences in economic size, production capacity, and trade dependence create uneven distributions of costs and benefits.

Truth behind BRICS De-Dollarisation Dream

The bloc’s biggest economic paradox emerges here, and maybe not so much talked about amongst its members. De-dollarisation is sometimes described as a route to financial freedom. However, it can also give rise to new financial fragilities, unless robust institutions are provided. Despite the many criticisms levelled against the US dollar dominance and the imbalances it has brought in international trade, the dollar has historically served an important stabilising function in trade. It served as a widely used price level standard to lessen the effect of the fluctuation of currencies.

When BRICS countries want to trade in their own currencies (Rupees for Rubles, Yuan for Brazilian Real, and more) the fluctuations in the less traded currency pairs are much more important. Currency pairs characterized by low trading volumes, limited liquidity, and wide bid-ask spreads, such as INR/RUB, tend to experience greater exchange-rate volatility. In the absence of deep and liquid foreign-exchange markets, economic shocks are more likely to generate sharp currency fluctuations, increasing uncertainty for traders and investors. As a result, inflationary and other macroeconomic shocks originating in one member economy can be transmitted more unevenly and with greater intensity to its trading partners.

Now let’s understand this more clearly with an example. India wishes to purchase Russian crude oil. Assume that the value of the oil shipment is $100 million. This sale is conducted normally in USD. India changes rupees into dollars, Russia gets the dollars. In this concession, India and Russia do not have to deal with the tides of exchange rates between the Rupee and the Ruble. Here, the dollar serves as a buffer. Now suddenly Ruble become a weaker currency in comparison to Rupee after the deal is signed. But India or Russia need not be concerned with the rate. The exchange-rate shock between the two countries is already absorbed by the dollar.

Next, what if the BRICS group choose to have no trade dealings in dollar at all and engage in bilateral trading with their own currencies? Now again consider the example of Rupee-Ruble trade. The Rupee-Ruble market is not possessing such liquidity like dollar has in the market. Bothe these currencies have fewer traders and less volume of trading. This leads to significant exchange rate swings to a small economic shock. Suppose that on Monday the exchange rate is ₹1 = ₽1. India purchases Russian oil worth ₽100 million and therefore pays ₹100 million. Later that week  turbulence in global energy markets increase demand for Rubles, causing the exchange rate to move to ₹1 = ₽0.7. In other words, one rupee now buys fewer Rubles than before.

Now to purchase the same ₽100 million worth of oil, India must now pay approximately ₹143 million instead of ₹100 million. The quantity of oil has not changed, yet the cost in rupees has increased by more than 40 percent due solely to exchange-rate movements. In a deep and liquid currency market, such fluctuations would be partly absorbed by a large pool of buyers, sellers, and financial instruments. Thus, in this case, the point made was not that BRICS members have to stop using their currencies in transactions with each other but to mark that any ‘De-dollarisation Dream’ will never be a financial independence if it is done without monetary coordination.

Another issue arises from the fact that developing new financial infrastructure takes time and efforts. In 2026, one of the most ambitious projects in this regard, which is mBridge, is still at a relatively early stage of development. Notably, the ‘Bank for International Settlement’ itself withdrew from the project in October 2024, handing it over to the participating central banks, which underscores how far it remains from operational scale. Although the project has progressed beyond the experimental phase, significant technological, regulatory, governance, and geopolitical challenges remain unresolved. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar continues to dominate international payments. According to the Swift’s Global Currency Tracker, the dollar has accounted for roughly 47-49% of SWIFT-processed payment, while despite years of efforts to internationalize alternative currencies and payment systems, their global usage remains comparatively limited.

BRICS: Showing Ambition Without Architecture

The key issue for BRICS is not whether there are any economic spillover effects. All major economic groups have them because of the global economy’s interdependence. Economic factors such as inflation, exchange rate fluctuations, commodity prices, and monetary policies inevitably spill over from one country into another. The one difference is that most successful economic groupings eventually built institutions to manage these consequences. Monetary coordination was created in the European Union; regional financing systems were established in ASEAN and even G20 created forums for discussing such macroeconomic issues.

BRICS, on the other hand, was not conceived as an economic union from its inception. Rather, it is a diplomatic grouping based on concepts of sovereignty and strategic independence, among others, that wanted a more multipolar world order. That model allowed members to cooperate politically while avoiding the obligations of deeper economic coordination. However, many economic problems exist, such as Chinese inflation transmitted through imports, commodity shocks affecting exporters, volatile local-currency trade arrangements, and ambitious de-dollarization initiatives. These all-stated externalities points that BRICS is making economies dependent upon each other but without the governance structures required to manage it.

But the solution to these problems does not involve the creation of a BRICS central bank, a common currency, or even any diminution of national sovereignty. What it does involve is a realization that economic interdependence is both a source of opportunity and obligation. A workable model already exists in ASEAN+3’s Economic Review and Policy Dialogue process, which performs macroeconomic surveillance among a similarly diverse, sovereignty-protective membership without requiring any member to cede monetary authority. BRICS could attach a comparable function to its existing finance ministers’ track, starting with something as low-cost as a non-binding annual spillover report, that simply tracks and publishes how members’ currency, commodity, and trade decisions are affecting one another. Modest but meaningful mechanisms for consultation, spillover monitoring, and monetary dialogue would help members anticipate and manage the costs they impose on one another. None of this is likely to happen quickly. Closing this gap will not come from reducing reliance on Western institutions, but from finally building the coordination machinery.

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साथ ही, भारत में सेमीकंडक्टर उत्पादन इकाईयों को उत्पादन आधारित प्रोत्साहन योजना के अंतर्गत लाभ प्रदान किया जा रहा है, इसके लिए 1,300 करोड़ अमेरिकी डॉलर की राशि निर्धारित की गई है। इसका परिणाम यह है कि सेमीकंडक्टर के क्षेत्र में विनिर्माण इकाईयों की स्थापना हेतु भारत में 2,000 करोड़ अमेरिकी डॉलर का निवेश किया जा चुका है, और यह आगे भी जारी हैं।

भारत आज उन चुनिंदा देशों में से एक है, जिनके पास स्पेस क्षेत्र से सम्बंधित नवीनतम तकनीकी उपलब्ध है। भारत में स्पेस क्षेत्र की अर्थव्यवस्था वर्ष 2030 तक 5 गुना तक बढ़ सकती है। वैश्विक स्तर पर एयरो स्पेस के क्षेत्र में मांग एवं आपूर्ति में असंतुलन के चलते भारत लाभ की स्थिति में पहुंच गया है क्योंकि कम लागत और कुशल इंजीनीयरिंग टैलेंट आज भारत में ही सम्भव है।

इलेक्ट्रॉनिक्स के क्षेत्र में भारत आज केवल पुर्जों को इकट्ठा कर उत्पाद बनाने का कार्य करने तक सीमित नहीं है बल्कि इस क्षेत्र में उच्चस्तरीय उत्पादों का निर्माण भी करने लगा है। 6 वर्षों में मोबाइल कम्पोनेंट में घरेलू वैल्यू एडीशन लगभग 20 प्रतिशत से बढ़कर 50 प्रतिशत तक होने की सम्भावना व्यक्त की जा रही है।

सोलर के क्षेत्र में भारत आज वैश्विक स्तर पर दूसरा सबसे बड़ा सोलर पीवी का उत्पादक देश बन गया है। इसका परिणाम यह है कि वर्तमान में भारत की 35 GW की सोलर क्षमता चालू है एवं 100 GW की क्षमता पर निर्माण कार्य चालू है।

एशिया की सबसे बड़ी 100 कम्पनियों की सूची में आज भारत की 34 कम्पनियां शामिल हो चुकी हैं। कुल मिलाकर, पूर्व में भारत केवल फार्मा, टेक्स्टायल, चमड़ा उत्पाद, कृषि उत्पाद (मसाला, आदि) स्टील, ऑटोमोबील एवं सूचना प्रौद्योगिकी जैसे क्षेत्रों में ही वैश्विक स्तर पर उक्त उत्पादों का निर्यात करने में सफल हो रहा था परंतु आज स्थितियां बदल गई हैं एवं अन्य महत्वपूर्ण क्षेत्रों जैसे डाटा केंद्र, सेमीकंडक्टर उत्पादन, स्पेस क्षेत्र, इलेक्ट्रॉनिक्स क्षेत्र, सोलर क्षेत्र, सुरक्षा क्षेत्र में भी वैश्विक स्तर पर भारत तेजी से आगे बढ़ रहा है।

भारत में उपलब्ध टैलेंट एवं श्रम के भरोसे विश्व की कई बड़ी कम्पनियों के बीच आज भारत में विशाल वैश्विक योग्यता केंद्रों (जीसीसी) की स्थापना करने की होड़ सी लग गई है। ब्रिटेन में फार्मा के क्षेत्र में कार्य करने वाली कम्पनी – एस्ट्रा जेनेका ने चेन्नई में एक विशाल वैश्विक योग्यता केंद्र की स्थापना की है। बैंक ओफ अमेरिका ने अपना सबसे बड़ा बैक ऑफिस कार्यालय पुणे में स्थापित किया है, इस बैंक के पूरे विश्व में बैक ऑफिस में कार्य कर रहे 11,000 कर्मचारी इस केंद्र का ब्रेन बन गए हैं। अमेरिका के सबसे पुराने वित्तीय संस्थानों में से एक बैंक ओफ न्यूयॉर्क, मेलोन ने पुणे एवं चेन्नई में वैश्विक योग्यता केंद्रों की स्थापना की है। आरटीफिशीयल इंटेलिजेन्स के क्षेत्र में कार्य करने वाली बोस्टन की एक कम्पनी ने फरवरी 2026 में हैदराबाद में विशाल स्तर पर अपने एक अंतरराष्ट्रीय कार्यालय की स्थापना की है।

बेंगलुरु, हैदराबाद, चेन्नई एवं पुणे में आज 1,700 से अधिक वैश्विक योग्यता केंद्र स्थापित किए जा चुके हैं, इन केंद्रों में 19 लाख से अधिक कर्मचारी कार्यरत हैं। भारत आज आउटसोर्सिंग हब से आगे बढ़कर उच्च स्तरीय टैलेंट केंद्र के रूप में स्थापित हो रहा है। भारत में स्थापित किए गए कुल वैश्विक योग्यता केंद्रों में से लगभग 65 प्रतिशत केंद्र अमेरिकी कम्पनियों द्वारा स्थापित किए गए हैं। इन कम्पनियों द्वारा विभिन्न क्षेत्रों में की जा रही रीसर्च का कार्य इन केंद्रों पर सम्पन्न हो रहा है एवं टेक्नॉलजी के क्षेत्र में नए नए उत्पादों का निर्माण भी इन्हीं केंद्रों में किया जा रहा है। स्वास्थ्य के क्षेत्र में कार्य कर रही अमेरिका की ही एक कम्पनी ट्रूब्रिज ने भी फरवरी 2026 में मुंबई में वैश्विक योग्यता केंद्र की स्थापना की है, इस केंद्र को आगे आने वाले समय में और अधिक विस्तार दिया जाने वाला है। इसी प्रकार, बीमा, बैंकिंग, स्वास्थ्य, साइबर सिक्युरिटी, फार्मा एवं सुरक्षा के क्षेत्रों में कार्यरत अनेक कंपनियां भारत में अपने वैश्विक योग्यता केंद्रों की स्थापना कर रही हैं।

पूर्व में, अमेरिका एवं अन्य विकसित देशों को भारत से ब्रेन ड्रेन हो रहा था, परंतु अब परिस्थितियां तेजी से बदल रही हैं एवं अब विशेष रूप से अमेरिका से भारत को रिवर्स ब्रैन ड्रेन होने लगा है क्योंकि ट्रम्प प्रशासन की नीतियों के चलते अन्य देशों से अमेरिका में जाने वाले टैलेंट का अमेरिका में रहना अब मुश्किल हो रहा है। अमेरिका एवं अन्य यूरोपीयन देशों में पूंजीवाद एवं साम्यवाद की नीतियों के चलते इन देशों में जन्म दर भी लगातार कम हो रही है। इन देशों में समाज में प्रत्येक व्यक्ति केवल अपने आप पर ध्यान केंद्रित किए हुए है। विवाह जैसी अति पवित्र संस्था को पश्चिमी देशों ने केवल मौज मस्ती का माध्यम बना दिया गया है। केवल कामुकता के लिए विवाह नहीं किया जाता है जबकि यह एक सामाजिक जिम्मेदारी है। भारतीय दर्शन में अपने कुल को आगे बढ़ाने के लिए विवाह को एक पवित्र संस्था माना गया है। जबकि, पश्चिमी देशों में आज विवाह को आवश्यक ही नहीं माना जा रहा है बल्कि वहां के नागरिक लिव इन रिलेशनशिप में भी रहने लगे हैं। इन देशों में तलाक की दर में अतुलनीय वृद्धि दर्ज हो रही है। इन देशों में सामान्य जीवन यापन की लागत बहुत अधिक महंगी हो रही है। साथ ही, पश्चिमी दर्शन में पुनर्जन्म में विश्वास नहीं किया जाता है, जो कुछ भी भोगना है केवल इसी जन्म में सम्पन्न करना है। अतः इन देशों में अपनी पीढ़ी को आगे बढ़ाने के लिए बच्चे पैदा करना आवश्यक नहीं समझा जा रहा है। इन देशों में समाज की जीवन शैली ही इस प्रकार की बन गई है कि केवल अपने आप पर ध्यान केंद्रित करें एवं अपनी काया को किसी प्रकार का कष्ट नहीं होना चाहिए, परिवार पर एवं समाज पर किसी नागरिक का ध्यान बहुत कम है। पश्चिमी देशों में नागरिक, “मैं और केवल मैं” किस प्रकार अधिक से अधिक सुखी रह सकता हूं, इस विषय पर अपना पूरा ध्यान केंद्रित किए हुए हैं। यह विशेषताएं पूंजीवाद एवं साम्यवाद पर आधारित अर्थव्यवस्थाओं में बहुत मुखर रूप से उभर का सामने आती है। बच्चे पैदा करने का निर्णय भी बचत एवं खर्च की दृष्टि को सामने रखकर लिया जा रहा है। चूंकि मैं अपने बच्चे पर होने वाले खर्च को वहन नहीं कर सकता हूं अतः मुझे बच्चे पैदा ही नहीं करना है। पश्चिमी देशों में सामान्य परिवार चलाने की लागतें बढ़ती जा रही है अतः परिवार में “डबल इनकम नो किड्ज़” (डिंक) का विचार भी जोर पकड़ता जा रहा है। इन देशों में पूंजीवाद एवं साम्यवाद पर आधारित आर्थिक नीतियों ने नागरिकों को दिमागी तौर पर दिवालिया बना दिया है। इन देशों में नागरिकों का पूरा ध्यान केवल भौतिकवादी विकास पर ही केंद्रित हो गया है। परिवार एवं समाज के प्रति अपनी जिम्मेदारी का एहसास समाप्त सा हो गया है।

आज पश्चिमी देशों के नागरिक, विशेष रूप से प्रौढ़ नागरिक, जीवन के अपने अंतिम पलों को सहज बनाने के उद्देश्य से भारत में शिफ्ट हो रहे हैं। भारत की अध्यात्म नगरी ऋषिकेश, हरिद्वार, हिमाचल प्रदेश, उत्तराखंड आदि स्थानों पर विकसित देशों के नागरिकों की जैसे बाढ़ सी आ गई है। कुछ देशों के नागरिक गोवा जैसे राज्यों में भी आकर बस रहे हैं। क्योंकि, भारत के इन स्थलों पर उन्हें मानसिक शांति प्राप्त हो रही है। पहिले तो ये विदेशी नागरिक योगा एवं आध्यात्मिक ज्ञान प्राप्त करने के उद्देश्य से भारत आते हैं परंतु यहां आने के उपरांत उन्हें जो आत्मिक शांति प्राप्त होती है, उसके चलते ये लोग भारत में ही बस जाते हैं।

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पं. दीनदयाल उपाध्याय एक श्रेष्ठ चिंतक-विचारक होने के साथ सजग थे। उन्होंने भारत ही नहीं बल्कि विश्व परिदृश्य में गहरा हस्तक्षेप करने वाली विचारधाराओं का गहन अध्ययन किया था। भारतीय दृष्टि के आधार पर उनका विश्लेषण और मीमांसा की थी।वे भारतीय राजनीति और वैश्विक राजनीति में अपना प्रभाव रखने वाली विचारधाराओं की तात्विक समीक्षा करते हुए उनका नीर-क्षीर विवेचन करते हैं। साथ ही स्वातन्त्र्योत्तर काल के उपरान्त पश्चिमी प्रभाव से ग्रस्त राजनीतिज्ञों की ‘स्वदेशी’ की ओर न देखकर पश्चिम के अन्धानुकरण की प्रवृत्ति का
विरोध करते हैं। पश्चिमी अन्धानुकरण की प्रवृत्तियों को पंडित जी भारत और भारतीयता के लिए आत्मध्वन्सात्मक बतलाते हैं। उनके मतानुसार – आधुनिक पाश्चात्य देशों का उदय केवल पाँच सौ से सात सौ वर्षों की अवधि के पूर्व ही हुआ है, किन्तु भारत हजारों वर्षों से आसेतु हिमालय की भाँति एक उत्कृष्ट राष्ट्र के रूप में अवस्थित है। अतएव वे पाश्चात्य देशों की कसौटी और उनके निष्कर्षों पर भारत के आँकलन और अनुकरण करने को न्यायसंगत नहीं मानते हैं। दीनदयाल जी का मानना था कि – “जो हमारा है उसे समयानुकूल बनाया जाए तथा जो विदेशी है, उसे राष्ट्रानुकूल बनाया जाए।” वे भारतीय समाज में केवल विदेशी होने के कारण श्रेष्ठताबोध और भारतीय होने के कारण उसे उपेक्षित और नकारने की दुष्प्रवृत्ति का विरोध करते हैं।

चूँकि राजनीतिक अन्धानुकरण के चलते स्वातंत्र्योत्तर भारत में पराजयबोध, हीनभावना की व्याप्ति अकादमिक स्तर पर क्रमशः स्थापित की गई। इसलिए वे इस पर तीक्ष्ण प्रहार करते हुए कहते हैं ―“ स्वत्व एवं स्वाभिमान का मेरुदण्ड सीधा तना न हो तो विश्व में भौतिक दृष्टि से बलशाली, प्रभावशाली,विजयशाली तथा वैभवशाली माने जाने वाले राष्ट्रों का अनुसरण करने की प्रवृत्ति बल पकड़ती है। अपने पिछड़े और दरिद्र समाज से लज्जा आने लगती है। यह अनुसरण बड़ी बातों से लेकर छोटी-छोटी दैनिक बातों तक छनता चला आता है।”

पंडित दीनदयाल उपाध्याय का विभिन्न विचारधाराओं और पश्चिमी व्यवस्थाओं को लेकर उनका गहन अध्ययन रहा है। वे व्यापक शोध एवं विश्लेषण के उपरान्त निष्कर्षत: यह कहते हैं कि -पश्चिम की नकल ‘मॉडर्न’ होने का प्रमाण बन गया है। यह चहुँमुखी अनुकरण ठीक नहीं, क्योंकि पश्चिमी चिन्तन और व्यवस्था मानव कल्याण में असफल रही है। आगे वे मैकॉले शिक्षा प्रणाली और उसके दुष्प्रभाव पर कहते हैं – “किसी ने स्वदेशी पर जोर दिया तो उसे असभ्य बता दिया जाता है। हम ब्रिटिशों से हार गए। चालाक मिशनरियों तथा शासकों ने मैकॉले शिक्षा प्रणाली के माध्यम से हमारे मन में अनेक बीज बो दिए। तब से हमारे शिक्षितों में और उनकी देखादेखी समाज के अन्य लोगों में भी पाश्चात्यों के अनुकरण की प्रवृत्ति बढ़ती गई है। स्वतन्त्रता के बाद तो वह निरंकुश हो गई है।”

वे मार्क्स के दर्शन के पूर्णतः ‘भौतिकवादी’ होने के सिद्धांत को अनुपयुक्त मानते हैं जिसके उदाहरण के तौर पर वो रूस, चीन के क्रूर प्रकरणों का विश्लेषण करते हैं। वहीं पंडित जी‘समाजवाद’ और ‘लोकतान्त्रिक समाजवाद’ के द्वारा मनुष्य की स्वतन्त्रता की समाप्ति और समाजवाद के द्वारा मानवीय जीवन में राज्य के वर्चस्व को भी अस्वीकार करते हैं। वे कहते हैं कि ‘लोकतान्त्रिक समाजवाद’ जैसी कोई चीज नहीं है, शब्द भर है। क्योंकि समाजवाद लाने में लोकतन्त्र की हत्या करनी पड़ती है। साथ ही उन्होंने पूँजीवादी व्यवस्था को भी मानव कल्याण के लिए असफल माना है। इन सबका हल सुझाते हुए वे कहते हैं — “विश्व की समस्याओं का हल समाजवाद पूँजीवादी लोकतन्त्र नहीं, वरन् हिन्दूवाद है। यही एक ऐसा जीवनदर्शन है जो जीवन का विचार करते समय उसे टुकड़ों में नहीं बाँटता, अपितु सम्पूर्ण जीवन को इकाई मानकर उसका विचार करता है।”

वे इसे हिन्दुत्व और मानवता के तौर पर स्वीकार किए जाने की बात करते हुए स्पष्ट कहते हैं कि -“यही भारत की आत्मा के अनुरूप व जनमानस में उत्साह को सञ्चारित करेगा। साथ ही विभ्रान्ति के चौराहे में खड़े विश्व के लिए मार्गदर्शक के रूप में भी काम करेगा।”

पंडित जी राष्ट्र को जीवमान इकाई मानते हुए कहते हैं कि – “एक भूमि विशेष में रहने वाले लोगों का, जिनके हृदय में मातृभूमि के प्रति असंदिग्ध श्रद्धा का भाव हो, जिनके जीवनादर्शों में साम्य हो, जीवन के प्रति स्पष्ट दृष्टि हो, शत्रु-मित्र समान हों। ऐतिहासिक महापुरुष एक हों; इन सबसे राष्ट्र का निर्माण होता है। इसके विपरीत आक्रान्ता से इसलिए सहानुभूति रखना कि वे हम-मजहब हैं, अराष्ट्रीय प्रवृत्ति है। ”

इसी तरह वैश्विक राजनीति और भारतीय परिदृश्य में ‘राष्ट्रवाद’ सर्वदा चर्चित रहता है, भारत की वामपंथी विचारसरणी, सिद्धांत विहीन दल- भारतीय राष्ट्रवाद — राष्ट्रीय विचारों को प्रायः हिटलर, मुसोलिनी से जोड़कर लाँछित करने लगते हैं। जबकि यह सर्वज्ञात तथ्य है कि भारत की राष्ट्रीय एकीकरण की भावना के कारण ही स्वातन्त्र्य यज्ञ सफल हुआ था, अन्यथा स्वतन्त्रता असंभव सी थी। जोकि समस्त क्षेत्रों की चैतन्यता के फलस्वरूप मिली।

पण्डित जी राष्ट्रवाद के सन्दर्भ में विस्तृत व्याख्या करते हुए कहते हैं –“यूरोपीय राष्ट्रवाद और भारतीय राष्ट्रवाद में अन्तर है। यूरोपीय चिन्तन पारस्परिक संघर्ष की अवधारणा पर आधारित है। जबकि भारतीय राष्ट्रीयता का जन्म संघर्ष में नहीं हुआ है,अपितु सभ्यता के आरम्भ से ही भारत सांस्कृतिक राष्ट्र रहा है ; जिसमें कई राजनैतिक सत्ताएँ थी किन्तु ‘राष्ट्र’ एक था। भारत का राष्ट्रीय विचार न तो विस्तारवादी है, न ही साम्राज्यवादी और आक्रमणशील बल्कि भारतीय विचार ‘वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम्’ पर आधारित है जो प्राणिमात्र के प्रति कल्याण का भाव रखता है।”

भारतीय विचार की तुलना पर वे कहते हैं – “पश्चिम के राष्ट्रवाद से भारत के विचार की तुलना करना ही गलत है। पश्चिम ने द्वैत के आधार पर संघर्ष का नगाड़ा बजाया और भारत ने अद्वैत के आधार पर एकात्म की बाँसुरी बजायी। दोनों वाद्य होते हुए भी दोनों की स्वरलहरियों में भारी अन्तर है। इस भेद को समझकर हमें राष्ट्रवाद का विचार करना चाहिए।”

स्पष्ट है जब पंडित दीनदयाल उपाध्याय भारतीय राष्ट्रवाद शब्द का प्रयोग करते हैं तो यहां वे ‘राष्ट्रीयता’ को ही संबोधित करते हैं। आगे पंडित जी वे भूमि, जन, संस्कृति के संघात से राष्ट्र के निर्माण की बात कहते हैं। उनकी दृष्टि में भारतीय संस्कृति का अभिप्राय ही ‘हिन्दू संस्कृति’ है। साथ ही उनके मतानुसार भारतीय राष्ट्रवाद का आधार यह संस्कृति है। भारत की एकात्मता तभी सम्भव है, जब संस्कृति के प्रति निष्ठा रहे। वे हिन्दू संस्कृति, शक्ति और सांस्कृतिक राष्ट्रवाद के सम्बन्ध में यथार्थबोध प्रस्तुत करते हैं – “भारतीय राष्ट्रवाद सांस्कृतिक राष्ट्रवाद है, क्योंकि भारतवर्ष को राजनीति और हमलावरों ने कई बार विखण्डित किया, किन्तु संस्कृति ने उसे कश्मीर से कन्याकुमारी तक अखण्ड रखा। जहाँ हिन्दू संस्कृति और हिन्दू धर्म कमजोर हुआ वह हिस्सा भी देश से कट गया।”

इन्हीं सब कारणों के चलते भारत और भारतीयता की मूल पहचान के रूप में हिन्दू संस्कृति को केन्द्र व मानबिन्दु के रूप में रखते हैं। साथ ही वे भारत में व्याप्त विविधताओं में पृथकता के स्थान पर ‘एकत्व’ को प्रतिष्ठित करते हुए भाषा,प्रान्त, वेशभूषा,खान-पान,रहन-सहन उपासना पद्धति के आधार पर किसी भी प्रकार के विभाजन की विकृति को अस्वीकार करते हैं। सभी के मध्य सांस्कृतिक एकता के सूत्र में पिरोई हुई माला के रुप में राष्ट्रीय चेतना और भारतमाता की भव्य झाँकी को देखते हैं।

वे विवेकानन्द की परम्परा का पथानुसरण करते हुए कहते हैं – हमारा धर्म (नॉट रिलिजन) हमारे राष्ट्र की आत्मा है। बिना धर्म के राष्ट्र जीवन का कोई अर्थ नहीं रहता है। भारत धर्म प्राण देश है, और राष्ट्र का जातीय उद्देश्य ‘धर्म’ है, क्योंकि भारत में धर्म पर अभी आघात नहीं हुआ। अतः यह जाति जीवित है। वे अल्पसंख्यक अवधारणा को ‘प्रच्छन्न द्विराष्ट्रवाद’ या बहुराष्ट्रवाद मानते हैं।

इसी प्रकार पंडित दीनदयाल उपाध्याय अल्पसंख्यक और मुस्लिम हठधर्मिता को लेकर एकदम सुस्पष्ट हैं। उनका मत था कि— “मुसलमानों या ईसाइयों का प्रश्न कहलाने वाली समस्या वस्तुतः धार्मिक है ही नहीं। यदि धार्मिक होती तो नानक, कबीर, गांधी आदि के सर्वधर्म समभाव के प्रयत्नों से सुलझ गई होती, किन्तु सैकड़ों सालों के प्रयास के बाद भी सुलझी नहीं क्योंकि समस्या राजनीतिक है। मुस्लिम बहुसंख्या सदैव अन्य मतावलम्बियों के प्रति असहिष्णु होती है और उनकी अल्पसंख्या सदा उपद्रवकारी। स्वयं को इस्लामी घोषित करने वाले किसी भी देश में यह अनुभव किया जा सकता है। जहां वे लोग परिणामकारक अल्पसंख्या में होते हैं वहाँ वे उपद्रव खड़ा करते हैं क्यों ? इसलिए कि उनके मन में अपने समाज का राजनीतिक वर्चस्व प्रस्थापित करने की आकांक्षा होती है। मुसलमानों का यह सामूहिक स्वभाव बन गया है। धर्म और राजनीति में वे कोई अन्तर नहीं मानते। धर्म के आवरण में अपनी राजनीतिक आकांक्षाओं की पूर्ति करा लेने का मुसलमानों और ईसाइयों द्वारा अखण्ड प्रयास किए जाने के कारण उत्पन्न समस्या ही हिन्दुस्तान के अल्पसंख्यकों की समस्या का वास्तविक रूप है।”

आगे वे भारतीय मुसलमानों के परावलम्बन, राजनीतिक हठधर्मिता, राष्ट्र-संस्कृति के प्रति अलगाव के कारण भारत में व्याप्त मुस्लिम समस्या का समाधान सुझाते हैं। वे
मुस्लिमों के राजनीतिक पराभव और उनके समावेशन का मार्ग बतलाते हैं। वे कहते हैं —“मुसलमानों की हठधर्मिता का पराभव करने का श्रेष्ठ उपाय है कि उनका राजनीतिक पराभव किया जाए। जब तक उनकी यहाँ राजनीतिक पराजय नहीं होती उनकी समस्या उलझती ही रहेगी, किन्तु उनकी राजनीतिक हार हो जाए तो वे निश्चय ही अपनी पूर्व स्थिति पर विचार करेंगे और जिस समय वे इस प्रकार विचार करने की मानसिकता में आएँगे तभी दोनों (हिन्दू और मुसलमान) समाजों में सच्चा सांस्कृतिक सहयोग प्रारम्भ होगा। पराजय आत्मनिरीक्षण करवाती है हिन्दुओं की तो परम्परा ही ऐसी रही है कि किसी पंथ को नष्ट करने की झंझट में न पड़ते हुए उसे अपने में समा लेना । हमारी नीति राष्ट्रीय स्तर पर आक्रामक, धर्म के स्तर पर सहिष्णु तथा सामाजिक धरातल पर समावेशक रहनी चाहिए।”

पंडित दीनदयाल उपाध्याय का स्पष्ट मानना था कि — “मुस्लिम और ईसाई बाहर से आए हुए लोग नहीं हैं। उनके पूर्वज हिन्दू ही थे। धर्म बदल जाने से राष्ट्रीयता नहीं बदलती, संस्कृति नहीं बदलती।”

इसीलिए पंडित दीनदयाल उपाध्याय कहते हैं कि— “मुसलमान व ईसाई चाहे जैसे अपने धर्म को मानें, रोजे रखें, चर्च जाएँ किन्तु इस देश की संस्कृति को अपनी संस्कृति मानें। मक्का-मदीना या वेटीकन सिटी से ज्यादा काशी और अयोध्या से लगाव रखें क्योंकि संस्कृति का सम्बन्ध राष्ट्र के अस्तित्व के साथ होता है। भारतीय संस्कृति के मूल्यों, आदर्शों, राष्ट्र पुरुषों, परम्पराओं तथा श्रद्धा केन्द्रों के प्रति विरोध एवं विध्वंस की भावना तथा राजनीतिक प्रभुता की आकांक्षा संघर्ष का कारण बनेगी।”

पन्थनिरपेक्षता के सम्बन्ध में भी दीनदयाल जी स्पष्ट हैं। वे इस पाश्चात्य अवधारणा के सम्बन्ध में कहते हैं — “सेक्युलरिज्म भारतीय धरती पर बलात् रोपा गया विदेशी पौधा है। इसके सही स्वरूप को न समझ पाने के कारण ही भारतीय राजनीतिज्ञों ने इसका अर्थ ही बदल डाला। भारत में धर्मनिरपेक्षता का अर्थ ‘सर्वधर्म समभाव’ के स्थान पर हिन्दू धर्म, सभ्यता, संस्कृति से जुड़ी हर बात का विरोध तथा मुसलमानों व ईसाइयों की हर उचित-अनुचित माँग का; चाहे वह राष्ट्र विघातक व संविधान विरोधी क्यों न हो। इसका समर्थन करना तुष्टिकरण ही रह गया है। ”

लोकतन्त्र में उनकी दृढ़ आस्था थी – वे व्यक्ति से अधिक दल को, दल से अधिक सिद्धांत को, सिद्धांत से ज्यादा लोकतन्त्र को और लोकतन्त्र और राष्ट्र में विरोध होने पर राष्ट्र को महत्व देते हैं। वे राष्ट्र को केवल भूमि का टुकड़ा नहीं मानते हैं। अपितु वे जीवंत मानते हैं। राजनीति के लिए उनका ध्येय वाक्य था —’राजनीति राष्ट्र के लिए’ .. इसे और सुपरिभाषित करते हुए पंडित दीनदयाल उपाध्याय कहते हैं कि—“कोई भी संगठन या दल तभी ठीक प्रकार से काम कर पाता है, जबकि उसकी प्रेरणा राष्ट्र हो”

राजनीति को लेकर उनकी दृष्टि एकदम सुस्पष्ट थी। वे राष्ट्र के ऊपर किसी ‘वाद’ को मानने वाले दलों को आड़े हाथों लेते हुए कहते हैं — “जो लोग राष्ट्रीयता का मखौल उड़ाकर, राष्ट्र के विचारों को तिलांजलि देकर विभिन्न प्रकार के वादों में उलझते हैं वे भूल करते हैं। उनके हाथ से कोई अच्छा कार्य नहीं हो सकता। समाजवाद, पूँजीवाद, प्रजातंत्र अथवा कोई भी वाद अधिक से अधिक एक रास्ता है, प्रगति का आधार नहीं । व्यक्तिगत, दलगत या वादगत कोई विचार लेकर चलने से प्रगति नहीं हो सकती। राजनीति आखिर राष्ट्र के लिए ही है। यदि राष्ट्र का विचार छोड़ दिया, याने राष्ट्र की अस्मिता, उसके इतिहास, संस्कृति, सभ्यता को छोड़ दिया तो राजनीति का क्या उपयोग? राष्ट्र का स्मरण कर कार्य होगा तो सबका मूल्य बढ़ेगा। राष्ट्र को छोड़ा तो सब शून्य जैसा ही है।”

इस प्रकार जब हम पंडित दीनदयाल उपाध्याय के राजनीतिक दर्शन के सूत्रों को देखते हैं तो उनमें ‘राष्ट्र सर्वोपरि’ की भावना और चिंतन दिखाई देता है। वे बारंबार इस बात पर बल देते हैं कि राजनीति को राष्ट्रीयता का पोषण करने वाली होना चाहिए। साथ ही वे राष्ट्र को क्षीण करने वाली राजनीति को त्याज्य मानते हैं। अनुशासन और शुचिता को महत्व देते हैं। इसीलिए वे किसी भी दल के लिए — दर्शन, नेता, नीति, कार्यकर्ता और कार्यक्रम जैसे पांच प्रमुख सूत्र देते हैं। राजनीति का उद्देश्य सत्ता प्राप्ति की होड़ नहीं अपितु जनहित- राष्ट्रहित की ओर प्रेरित और पथप्रदर्शित करते हैं। स्पष्टतः पं दीनदयाल उपाध्याय के राजनीतिक दर्शन में भारतीयता और संस्कृति स्पष्ट रूप से प्रतिबिम्बित होती है। उनकी राष्ट्रोन्नति से आप्लावित वैचारिक चेतना में राष्ट्र के सर्वाङ्गीण विकास का दिशाबोध और स्पष्ट दृष्टिकोण प्राप्त होता है। जो सतत् नूतन भारत को गढ़ने का मार्ग दिखाता है। पंडित जी का पूरा दर्शन राष्ट्रीय एकता, अखंडता, एकात्मता और समस्याओं का नीर-क्षीर विवेचन कर— राष्ट्र संस्कृति से सबको संस्कारित करता है। मूल्यों की विरासत के साथ राष्ट्रनिष्ठ- शुचितापूर्ण राजनीति का युगबोध प्रदान करता है।

The post राजनीति राष्ट्र के लिए : पं. दीनदयाल उपाध्याय का राजनीतिक दर्शन appeared first on VisionViksitBharat.

The Government of India’s Decentralised Grain Storage Plan in the Cooperative Sector, launched as a pilot in May 2023, seeks to address this challenge by placing modern storage and associated agricultural infrastructure closer to production centres through Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS). The approach represents a shift from a predominantly centralised storage architecture towards a more distributed network of rural storage, procurement, processing and service facilities. According to the PIB’s September 2026 backgrounder, construction had been completed in 313 PACS by July 2026, creating more than 1.80 lakh tonnes of storage capacity.

The strategic importance of this model lies not simply in building warehouses. It lies in creating a rural ecosystem in which the village-level cooperative can increasingly become a storage, procurement, processing, machinery and financial-services hub.

India’s Food Economy Is Producing More — and That Changes the Storage Question

India has achieved substantial growth in agricultural production over the decades. According to the Economic Survey 2025-26, foodgrain production reached an estimated 357.73 million tonnes in 2024-25, an increase of about 25.43 million tonnes over the previous year. The Survey also notes that agriculture and allied activities remain central to the economy, accounting for a substantial share of employment and playing a critical role in food security.

“The PIB’s latest assessment places estimated food grain production for 2025-26 even higher, at 376.563 million tonnes, around 5.3% above the previous year’s 357.732 million tonnes”.

This rise is an achievement, but it creates a second-order infrastructure requirement.

Every additional tonne of production needs an efficient post-harvest pathway. Without adequate storage near production centres, farmers may have limited choices immediately after harvest. They may be forced to sell when local market arrivals are at their peak, when prices can be under pressure.

The policy challenge, therefore, is evolving from: “How do we produce enough food?”

to: “How do we preserve the economic value of the food we produce?”

That is where decentralised storage becomes strategically significant.

Why Storage at the Village Level Matters

India’s food grain system has historically depended heavily on large warehouses and procurement networks operated by central and state agencies. Such infrastructure remains indispensable for national food security and the Public Distribution System.However, centralised infrastructure alone cannot solve the last-mile problem.

A farmer may produce grain in a village, transport it to a local procurement centre, move it again to a warehouse, and later see it transported towards processing or distribution centres. Each additional movement involves transportation costs, loading and unloading, handling and time.A decentralised storage model changes this equation.

When adequate storage is available close to the farm gate, grain can potentially move a shorter distance immediately after harvest. Procurement agencies can use local facilities, while farmers gain an alternative to immediate sale.The Ministry of Cooperation describes the PACS-based model as an integrated infrastructure approach involving warehouses, procurement centres, Fair Price Shops, Custom Hiring Centres and common processing facilities.The policy significance is therefore broader than storage capacity alone.It is about bringing more stages of the agricultural value chain closer to the farmer.

PACS as Rural Economic Infrastructure

The most distinctive feature of the programme is its reliance on PACS. India has more than 100,000 PACS, with membership exceeding 130 million farmers, according to the Ministry of Cooperation. Their presence at the grassroots provides an institutional platform through which agricultural infrastructure can be decentralised at scale.Traditionally, PACS have been associated primarily with rural credit. The current policy direction seeks to broaden their economic role.

Under the grain-storage model, a PACS can potentially combine:

• Grain storage
• Agricultural procurement
• Primary processing
• Sorting and grading
• Custom Hiring Centres
• Fair Price Shops
• Agricultural machinery services
• Other rural economic activities.

This represents an important institutional transition.Instead of viewing the village cooperative only as a credit institution, the model seeks to develop it into a multi-functional rural service centre.If implemented effectively, such diversification could improve the economic viability of PACS while creating a stronger local infrastructure network for farmers.

The Pilot Has Provided an Early Proof of Concept

The programme began with a pilot involving 11 PACS across 11 states, creating around 9,750 tonnes of storage capacity. By July 2026, according to the PIB backgrounder, the programme had expanded considerably, with 1,012 PACS/cooperative societies identified and 313 PACS having completed godown construction, generating more than 1.80 lakh tonnes of storage capacity.

The numbers are still modest when compared with India’s overall foodgrain production. But this is precisely why the policy should be viewed as an evolving infrastructure architecture rather than a completed solution.The important question is not merely how many warehouses are constructed.It is whether these facilities become commercially viable, technologically sound and genuinely useful to farmers.

The experience of Nerpingalai PACS in Amravati, Maharashtra, provides an illustrative example. A 3,000-tonne warehouse has been developed under the programme, with around 300 farmers reportedly storing nearly 32,000 bags of soybean. The PACS has also provided approximately ₹4.50 crore in advances against stored produce. According to the PIB account, the facility is expected to generate rental and interest income for the cooperative while improving storage access for surrounding farmers.

The case demonstrates an important possibility: storage can become a financial instrument, not simply a physical structure.

From Distress Sale to Storage-Based Finance

For a farmer, the value of a warehouse extends beyond protection from moisture, pests and other forms of deterioration.It can create time.Time gives farmers the option of deciding when to sell rather than selling immediately after harvest because they lack storage or liquidity.This is particularly important when farmers need cash for household expenditure, repayment of loans or the next agricultural cycle.

India has already been developing an institutional framework for financing against stored agricultural commodities. The Economic Survey 2024-25 highlighted the Credit Guarantee Scheme for electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipts-based pledge financing, designed to facilitate post-harvest credit for farmers, particularly small and marginal farmers.The combination of scientific storage + warehouse receipts + institutional credit can therefore change the economics of post-harvest decisions.A farmer who can safely store produce and access credit against it is less dependent on immediate disposal of the crop.However, this mechanism must be implemented carefully. Storage quality, commodity grading, warehouse accreditation, receipt integrity, insurance and transparent valuation are essential for a functioning warehouse-receipt ecosystem.

Convergence Is the Real Strength of the Model

Another important feature of the Decentralised Grain Storage Plan is that it does not rely on a single government scheme.

The programme brings together multiple existing interventions, including:

• Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF): provides financing support and interest subvention for eligible agricultural infrastructure.
• Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI): supports the creation and upgradation of agricultural storage infrastructure.
• Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM): can support machinery and Custom Hiring Centres.
• PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME): supports formalisation and development of micro food-processing enterprises.

This convergence approach matters because agricultural infrastructure is interconnected.

A warehouse without grading and processing may have limited value. Processing without storage can create supply bottlenecks. Machinery without aggregation can remain underutilised.A PACS-level integrated model attempts to connect these pieces.The policy architecture therefore moves towards a “storage-plus” model rather than a warehouse-only model.

Reducing Post-Harvest Losses

Post-harvest losses represent an economic loss of resources already invested in producing the crop.

FAO’s technical literature on grain storage in India has long highlighted the role of moisture, insects, rodents, fungi and inadequate storage structures in post-harvest losses. The lesson remains relevant: storage quality is as important as storage quantity.Modern decentralised storage should therefore not simply reproduce traditional godowns at a larger scale.

Future facilities should increasingly incorporate:

• Scientific moisture management;
• Appropriate ventilation;
• Pest-control systems;
• Fire and safety measures;
• Quality testing;
• Digital inventory management;
• Weighing and grading systems;
• Traceability;
• Periodic inspection;
• Appropriate warehousing standards.

India’s Economic Survey has also highlighted the potential of smart warehouses, including technologies for monitoring temperature, humidity, airflow and rodent activity. Such technologies demonstrate how India’s rural storage network could gradually become more data-driven.For Viksit Bharat, the objective should therefore be not merely more storage, but better storage.

The Logistics Dividend

Decentralised storage can also generate a logistics dividend.If grain is stored closer to farms and procurement centres, unnecessary transportation between multiple intermediate points can potentially be reduced.

This has three economic consequences :

• First, it can lower logistics expenditure.
• Second, it can reduce multiple handling operations.
• Third, it can improve the responsiveness of procurement and distribution systems.

This does not mean that decentralised storage should replace large central warehouses or modern silos.India needs both.Large scientific storage facilities are essential for national reserves and large-scale movement of commodities. Smaller decentralised facilities are important for first-mile aggregation and farmer access.

The more appropriate model is therefore a multi-layered storage network:

Farm → PACS Storage → Regional Hub → National/State Distribution Network

Such an architecture can combine the efficiency of large-scale infrastructure with the accessibility of local storage.

• Food Security Is Also a Price-Stability Challenge
• Food security is often measured in terms of availability.
• But availability alone is not sufficient.
• Food must also be accessible and affordable.

Storage plays an important role in this equation because agricultural markets are seasonal. Large quantities of commodities may enter markets within a relatively short harvesting window, while consumption occurs throughout the year

Efficient storage helps spread availability over time

This can strengthen supply-chain resilience and potentially reduce some of the volatility created by sharp seasonal concentration of arrivals.The Economic Survey 2025-26 has emphasised the relationship between agricultural production and inflation outcomes, noting the importance of strong agricultural production for food-price stability.Thus, investment in storage should be viewed not merely as an agricultural infrastructure expenditure but also as part of macroeconomic resilience.

What the Next Phase Should Focus On

The next stage of the programme should focus on quality, utilisation and financial sustainability.

1. Measure utilisation, not just construction

A completed godown is not necessarily a successful project. Key indicators should include capacity utilisation, annual throughput, farmer participation and revenue generation.

2. Integrate digital inventory systems

Every warehouse should progressively move towards digital stock records, quality tracking and transparent inventory management.

3. Expand warehouse-receipt finance

Storage becomes more valuable when farmers can use stored commodities to obtain institutional credit.

4. Strengthen scientific storage standards

Construction should be accompanied by professional quality management, moisture testing, pest management and periodic inspection.

5. Build processing capacity around storage

Sorting, grading, cleaning, packaging and primary processing can enable farmers and cooperatives to capture more value locally.

6. Develop viable business models

PACS must generate sufficient revenue from storage, procurement, machinery services, processing and other activities to maintain infrastructure after the initial public support.

7. Connect local storage with larger markets

Decentralisation should not create isolated local markets. PACS facilities should be digitally and physically connected with state procurement agencies, FCI, processors, traders and organised markets wherever appropriate.

The Larger Vision: From Agricultural Production to Rural Value Creation

India’s agricultural policy is gradually moving from a narrow focus on production towards a broader value-chain approach.The Decentralised Grain Storage Plan fits into this transition.Its importance lies in bringing together infrastructure, cooperatives, finance, procurement, processing and logistics at the grassroots.

The model also aligns with the broader effort to strengthen PACS as multipurpose rural institutions. The Ministry of Cooperation’s wider PACS agenda includes computerisation, FPO formation, Common Service Centres and other economic activities.The result could be a new type of rural institution: a cooperative that does not merely lend money, but helps farmers store, process, finance, market and add value to their produce.That is a significantly larger economic role.

Storage as an Investment in Viksit Bharat

India’s food-security story has traditionally been associated with production, procurement and distribution. The next chapter must give equal importance to what happens between the farm and the market.The Decentralised Grain Storage Plan provides a framework for addressing this missing link.

Its strength lies in combining village-level institutions with modern infrastructure and multiple government schemes. The progress recorded by July 2026—313 completed PACS godowns and more than 1.80 lakh tonnes of new storage capacity—indicates that the initiative has moved beyond the pilot stage into broader implementation.Yet the real measure of success will ultimately be found beyond construction statistics.

It will be reflected in whether farmers can store their produce safely, access finance against it, reduce distress sales, obtain better market opportunities and participate in more stages of the agricultural value chain.For India, decentralised storage should therefore be understood as economic infrastructure at the village level.A modern warehouse in a village can become more than a place to keep grain. Connected with finance, procurement, processing, machinery and digital markets, it can become a platform for rural enterprise.That is the larger policy opportunity.

Viksit Bharat will require not only higher agricultural production, but a more efficient system for preserving, financing, processing and monetising every tonne that Indian farmers produce.In that sense, decentralised grain storage is not simply a warehousing programme. It is a potential building block of a more resilient food system, stronger cooperative economy and higher-value rural India.

Vision Viksit Bharat Policy & Research Centre sees this transition as part of a broader development imperative: moving from food production to food-system efficiency, from storage capacity to value creation, and from village-level infrastructure to village-level economic opportunity.

The post Decentralised Storage for Viksit Bharat appeared first on VisionViksitBharat.

भारत में भी कुछ वर्गों को भारतीय अर्थव्यवस्था में आए इस उछाल पर आश्चर्य हो रहा है एवं वे यह विश्वास नहीं कर पा रहे हैं कि वैश्विक स्तर पर बिगड़े हुए हालातों के बीच भारतीय अर्थव्यवस्था विश्व में बड़ी अर्थव्यवस्थाओं के बीच सबसे तेज गति से आगे बढ़ती अर्थव्यवस्था कैसे बनी रह सकती है। इस तरह के प्रशन्नों का उत्तर पाने के लिए हाल ही के समय में भारतीय अर्थव्यवस्था के विभिन्न क्षेत्रों में हो रहे परिवर्तनों को हमें समझना होगा।

वित्तीय वर्ष 2026-27 की प्रथम तिमाही (अप्रेल-जून 2026) के दौरान भारत के सकल घरेलू उत्पाद में 7.8 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि हासिल की गई है, इसमें अर्थव्यवस्था के समस्त क्षेत्रों का योगदान स्पष्टतः दिखाई दे रहा है। उक्त वृद्धि दर किसी एक विशेष कारण के चलते सम्भव नहीं हुई है। विनिर्माण के क्षेत्र में वृद्धि दर 8.3 प्रतिशत से बढ़कर 9.2 प्रतिशत की रही है, निर्माण के क्षेत्र में वृद्धि दर 5.2 प्रतिशत से बढ़कर 7.7 प्रतिशत, सेवा क्षेत्र में 8 प्रतिशत से बढ़कर 10 प्रतिशत, निजी उपभोग में 6.8 प्रतिशत से बढ़कर 7.1 प्रतिशत, सकल पूंजी निर्माण में 5.8 प्रतिशत से बढ़कर 11.9 प्रतिशत, वित्तीय क्षेत्र में 12.1 प्रतिशत, व्यापार, होटेल एवं यातायात के क्षेत्र में 8.5 प्रतिशत, कृषि के क्षेत्र में 3.6 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि दर रही है। इसी अवधि में सकल घरेलू उत्पाद का आकार भी 80.32 लाख करोड़ रुपए से बढ़कर 88.27 लाख करोड़ रुपए का हो गया है। इस प्रकार के विकास को विस्तृत आधार वाला विकास कहा जाता है।

किसी भी देश में सकल घरेलू उत्पाद में वृद्धि का आश्य यह है कि उस देश में आर्थिक गतिविधियाँ तेजी पकड़ रही हैं। आर्थिक गतिविधियों के बढ़ने से उस देश में कर संग्रहण की राशि में भी वृद्धि दृष्टिगोचर होनी चाहिए। भारत में हाल ही के समय में कर संग्रहण में भी सराहनीय सुधार हुआ है। वस्तु एवं सेवा कर संग्रहण माह अगस्त 2026 में 14.8 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि के साथ 2 लाख करोड़ रुपए के स्तर तक पहुंच गया है। आंतरिक वस्तु एवं सेवा कर संग्रहण 9 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि के साथ 1.37 लाख करोड़ रुपए के स्तर पर पहुंचा है तो वहीं आयात वस्तु एवं सेवा कर संग्रहण 29 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि दर्ज करते हुए 0.62 लाख करोड़ रुपए के स्तर पर पहुंच गया है। इसी प्रकार, आय कर की विवरणी फाइल करने वाले नागरिकों की संख्या में भी अतुलनीय वृद्धि दर्ज हुई है और वित्तीय वर्ष 2025-26 वर्ष के लिए आय कर की विवरणी फाइल करने वाले नागरिकों की संख्या 7.80 करोड़ के स्तर को पार कर गई है, जो पिछले वर्ष 7.30 करोड़ के स्तर तक ही पहुंच सकी थी।

अन्य देशों में सकल घरेलू उत्पाद में दर्ज की गई वृद्धि दर की तुलना यदि भारत में दर्ज हुई वृद्धि दर से करते हैं तो ध्यान में आता है कि भारत में सकल घरेलू उत्पाद में वृद्धि दर 7.8 प्रतिशत की रही है, सिंगापुर में 5.9 प्रतिशत, चीन में 4.3 प्रतिशत, दक्षिणी कोरीया में 3.7 प्रतिशत, अमेरिका में 2.1 प्रतिशत, यूनाइटेड किंगडम में 2.1 प्रतिशत, जर्मनी में 1 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि दर्ज हुई है। वैश्विक स्तर पर सकल घरेलू उत्पाद में औसत वृद्धि दर लगभग 3 प्रतिशत की रही है। इसी कारण से यह कहा जा रहा है कि पूरे विश्व में भारत की अर्थव्यवस्था सबसे तेज गति से आगे बढ़ती अर्थव्यवस्था बन गई है। और तो और, भारत ने अंतरराष्ट्रीय संस्थानों (विश्व व्यापार संगठन, विश्व बैंक, अंतरराष्ट्रीय मुद्रा कोष, ऐशियन विकास बैंक) द्वारा पूर्व में दिए गए अनुमानों से भी आगे बढ़कर आर्थिक विकास दर को हासिल किया है। भारतीय रिजर्व बैंक ने भी भारत के सकल घरेलू उत्पाद में 7 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि दर का अनुमान लगाया था एवं भारतीय अर्थशास्त्रियों ने 7.1 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि दर का अनुमान लगाया था। उक्त समस्त अनुमानों को पीछे छोड़ते हुए भारत ने आर्थिक विकास किया है।

भारतीय कम्पनियों द्वारा अपने व्यवसाय एवं लाभप्रदता में हासिल की गई वृद्धि दर से भी यह झलकता है कि भारतीय अर्थव्यवस्था एक तरह से अपने सुनहरे दौर से गुजर रही है। निजी गैर वित्तीय कंपनियों के परिचालन लाभ में आकर्षक 19.3 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि दर्ज हुई है। स्टॉक मार्केट में सूचिबद्ध विनिर्माण इकाईयों के परिचालन लाभ में 21.3 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि दर्ज हुई है। यात्री वाहनों की जुलाई 2026 माह में बिक्री 34.3 प्रतिशत की महत्वपूर्ण वृद्धि के साथ 4.58 लाख इकाईयों के स्तर को पार कर गई है। ट्रैक्टर की बिक्री भी 28.1 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि दर्ज करते हुए 1.17 लाख इकाईयों के स्तर से ऊपर रही है। दो पहिया वाहनों की बिक्री 28.3 प्रतिशत की आकर्षक वृद्धि दर्ज की गई और यह 18.18 लाख इकाईयों के स्तर से ऊपर निकल गई है। डिजिटल भुगतान की संख्या में 16.6 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि एवं राशि में 18.2 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि दर्ज हुई हैं। जुलाई 2026 माह में ही बिजली की मांग में 10.7 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि दर्ज हुई है। डीजल की खपत में भी 10 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि दर्ज हुई है। उक्त समस्त आंकड़ों से यह सिद्ध होता है कि भारत में आर्थिक गतिविधियाँ अपने चरम स्तर पर पहुंच रहीं हैं और इनमे आकर्षक वृद्धि दर लगातार बनी हुई है। इसी के चलते ही भारत के सकल घरेलू उत्पाद में लगभग 8 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि दर होते हुए दिखाई दे रही है। इस आलेख में दिए गए आकड़ों को किसी एक संस्थान ने नहीं जारी किया है बल्कि अलग अलग विभिन्न संस्थानों द्वारा इन्हें जारी किया गया है और यह भारत के विकास को एक ही दिशा में अर्थात ऊपर की ओर जाता हुआ दिखा रहे हैं।

विदेशी संस्थागत निवेशक जो अभी तक भारत के पूंजी बाजार से अपने निवेश को निकाल रहे थे उन्होंने भारत के शेयर बाजार में जुलाई 2026 माह में 210 करोड़ अमेरिकी डॉलर एवं अगस्त 2026 माह में 310 करोड़ अमेरिकी डॉलर का निवेश किया है, जबकि मार्च से जून 2026 की अवधि में विदेशी संस्थागत निवेशकों ने भारतीय पूंजी बाजार से 2700 करोड़ अमेरिकी डॉलर की राशि निकाल ली थी। हालांकि अभी यह कहना जल्दबाजी होगी कि विदेश संस्थागत निवेशक भारतीय पूंजी बाजार में लौट आए हैं, परंतु इस संदर्भ में ट्रेंड तो परिवर्तित होता हुआ दिखाई दे रहा है। विदेशी संस्थागत निवेशकों ने वित्तीय वर्ष 2025-26 में भारत के शेयर बाजार से 1.53 लाख करोड़ रुपए की राशि निकाली थी। स्ट्रेट ओफ होर्मुज लगातार कुछ माह तक बंद रहा है, तुलनात्मक रूप से तेल के बहुत कम जहाज इस मार्ग से निकल पाए हैं जिससे कच्चे तेल की आपूर्ति बहुत बड़े स्तर पर प्रभावित रही है। ट्रम्प प्रशासन द्वारा भारत सहित विश्व के कई देशों द्वारा अमेरिका को किए जाने वाले निर्यात के उत्पादों पर भारी मात्रा में आयात कर लगाए हैं।

उक्त वर्णित समस्त विपरीत परिस्थितियों के बीच न केवल भारत सकल घरेलू उत्पाद में वृद्धि हो रही है बल्कि भारत से विभिन्न उत्पादों के निर्यात में भी आकर्षक वृद्धि दर्ज हो रही है, और निर्यात के क्षेत्र में भी भारतीय उत्पाद धूम मचाते हुए दिखाई दे रहे हैं। जुलाई 2026 माह में इलेक्ट्रॉनिक्स उत्पादों का निर्यात 57.4 प्रतिशत से बढ़ा है, केमिकल उत्पादों का निर्यात 14.4 प्रतिशत बढ़ा है, मशीनरी एवं इक्विप्मेंट उत्पादों का निर्यात 12.1 प्रतिशत बढ़ा हैं, पूंजीगत वस्तुओं का उत्पादन 16.1 प्रतिशत बढ़ा है, बिजली के इक्विप्मेंट का उत्पाद 28.3 प्रतिशत से बढ़ा है। विश्व व्यापार संगठन ने तो वैश्विक व्यापार के अनुमानों को 2.5 प्रतिशत से घटाकर 0.5 प्रतिशत कर दिया था, अर्थात 80 प्रतिशत की कमी, परंतु भारत के निर्यात तेजी से बढ़ रहे हैं।

भारतीय रिजर्व बैंक के केएलईएम द्वारा प्रदान की गई जानकारी के अनुसार, वित्तीय वर्ष 2023-24 सहित पूर्व के 9 वर्षों में भारत में 1.9 करोड़ रोजगार के अवसर प्रतिवर्ष निर्मित किए गए हैं। वित्तीय वर्ष 2023-24 में निर्मित रोजगार के अवसरों में मातृशक्ति की भागीदारी 41.7 प्रतिशत की रही है। भारत में प्रति व्यक्ति आय भी लगभग 2900 अमेरिकी डॉलर के स्तर पर शीघ्र ही पहुंचने वाली है। विभिन्न वस्तुओं एवं सेवाओं के निर्यात में 12 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि दर्ज हो रही है। भारत ने 40 देशों के साथ मुक्त व्यापार समझौते सम्पन्न कर लिए हैं अथवा सम्पन्न करने की ओर तेजी से आगे बढ़ रहा है। वित्तीय वर्ष 2027-28 में भारत विश्व की तीसरी सबसे बड़ी अर्थव्यवस्था बनने की ओर अग्रसर है।

भारत की अर्थ के लगभग समस्त क्षेत्रों में आकर्षक वृद्धि हम समस्त भारतीयों के लिए गर्व एवं आनंद का विषय होना चाहिए एवं इसमें और अधिक सुधार करने की दृष्टि से भारतीय अर्थव्यवस्था में हमें किसी भी प्रकार का व्यवधान खड़ा नहीं करना चाहिए, विशेष रूप से भारत के युवाओं (जेन-जी) को तो भारत की आर्थिक प्रगति में अपने योगदान को बढ़ाने के लिए गम्भीरता से विचार करना चाहिए।

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आपको यह जानकर आश्चर्य होगा कि ब्रिक्स की स्थापना अमेरिका में हुई है। वर्ष 2006 में न्यूयॉर्क में संयुक्त राष्ट्र महासभा (यूएनजीए) के मौके पर ब्रिक विदेश मंत्रियों की पहली बैठक में ब्रिक को औपचारिक रूप दिया गया था। ब्रिक का पहिला उद्घाटन शिखर सम्मेलन वर्ष 2009 में रूस के येकातेरिनबर्ग में आयोजित किया गया था। वर्ष 2010 में न्यूयॉर्क में ब्रिक विदेश मंत्रियों की बैठक में दक्षिण अफ्रीका को शामिल करने के साथ ब्रिक को ब्रिक्स में विस्तारित करने पर सहमति हुई थी। तदनुसार, दक्षिण अफ्रीका ने 2011 में सान्या में तीसरे ब्रिक्स शिखर सम्मेलन में भाग लिया। मिस्र, इथियोपिया, ईरान, सऊदी अरब और संयुक्त अरब अमीरात जनवरी 2024 से और इंडोनेशिया जनवरी 2025 में ब्रिकस के पूर्ण सदस्य बने। इसके बाद बेलारूस, बोलीविया, कजाकिस्तान, क्यूबा, मलेशिया, नाइजीरिया, थाईलैंड, युगांडा, उज्बेकिस्तान और वियतनाम 2025 में भागीदार देशों के रूप में ब्रिक्स में शामिल हुए।

भारत के प्रधानमंत्री ने अपने उदबोधन में उक्त ब्रिक्स शिखर सम्मेलन में कई आवश्यक एवं महत्वपूर्ण विषयों की ओर समस्त सदस्यों का ध्यान आकर्षित किया है। अमेरिका के राष्ट्रपति डॉनल्ड ट्रम्प ने विभिन्न देशों से अमेरिका को होने वाले कई उत्पादों के निर्यात पर भारी भरकम टैरिफ लगाया था, इसी प्रकार चीन ने भी आवश्यक मिनरल के निर्यात पर कुछ प्रतिबंध लगाए थे, इस प्रकार की स्थित पुनः न बनें इस हेतु यह सुझाव दिया गया है कि तकनीकी एवं आवश्यक मिनेरल्स को विभिन्न देशों द्वारा हथियार की तरह इस्तेमाल नहीं करना चाहिए इसका सीधा सीधा विपरीत प्रभाव विकासशील देशों के विकास पर पड़ता है। जब हम वैश्विक स्तर पर एक परिवार की बात करते हैं तो प्राकृतिक संसाधनों पर इस धरा पर निवासरत पूरी मानवजाति का समान अधिकार है। इसके उपयोग को कुछ देशों द्वारा रोका नहीं जाना चाहिए। भारतीय सनातन संस्कृति में तो प्रकृति को मां के समान माना जाता है, अतः प्रकृति का शोषण नहीं बल्कि आवश्यकता अनुसार दोहन होना चाहिए। विकास और पर्यावरण के बीच संतुलन भी आवश्यक है। विकास और पर्यावरण एक दूसरे के खिलाफ नहीं हैं केवल आवश्यता है कि दोनों के बीच संतुलन स्थापित किया जाय। हाल ही के समय में महामारी, जलवायु आपदाओं एवं सप्लाई चैन में रुकावटों ने दिखाया है कि विभिन्न देश एक दूसरे पर किस प्रकार निर्भर है। एक देश में आया संकट दूसरे देश को भी प्रभावित करता हुआ दिखाई दे रहा है। ब्रिक्स के सदस्य देशों को आपस में सहयोग बढ़ाने तथा सप्लाई चैन को मजबूती प्रदान करने की ओर अपना ध्यान केंद्रित करना चाहिए।

ब्रिक्स के सदस्य देशों के बीच आपस में छोटे कारोबारों को बढ़ावा दिए जाने के प्रयास किए जाने चाहिए और उन्हें नए बाजार और पर्याप्त वित्त की सुविधा उपलब्ध कराए जाने के प्रयास भी होने चाहिए ताकि रोजगार के नए अवसर निर्मित हों और अंतिम पंक्ति पर खड़े नागरिकों को गरीबी रेखा से ऊपर लाया जा सके। इसके लिए “ब्रिक्स कनेक्ट” के माध्यम से गरीब नागरिकों को काम के लिए आवश्यक कौशल सीखने, रोजगार के अवसर बढ़ाने एवं मातृशक्ति को अधिक काम के मौके देने का प्रयास किया जाना चाहिए। छोटे कारोबारियों को मदद पहुंचाने के उद्देश्य से BRICS MSME पोर्टल प्रारम्भ किया गया है। इससे छोटे कारोबारी नए बाजारों से जुड़ सकेंगें। ब्रिक्स देशों में कार्य कर रहे स्टार्टअप्स को आपस में जोड़ने के लिए ब्रिक्स इनक्युबेटर नेट्वर्क बनाया जा सकता है। इसी प्रकार, नए और बड़े स्तर के नवाचार को बढ़ावा देने के उद्देश्य से ब्रिक्स स्टार्टअप इनोवेशन फंड भी बनाया जा सकता है। ब्रिक्स देश आपस में कारोबार को सरल बनाने के उद्देश्य से स्थानीय मुद्राओं में व्यापार को बढ़ाने का प्रयास कर रहे हैं और अमेरिकी डॉलर का इस्तेमाल कम करने का प्रयास कर रहे हैं। इसके साथ साथ, अलग अलग देशों के ऑनलाइन डिजिटल पेमेंट सिस्टम को आपस में जोड़ने का प्रयास भी किया जा रहा है। इससे एक देश के नागरिकों को दूसरे देश के नागरिकों को राशि भेजना बहुत आसान होगा और अमेरिकी डॉलर की आवश्यकता कम होगी।

ब्रिक्स स्थापना से भारत को विशेष लाभ हुआ है। सामरिक दृष्टि से भारत का वैश्विक स्तर पर महत्व बढ़ा है। भारत आज न केवल ब्रिक्स बल्कि जी-20, जी-7, क्वाड, एससीओ जैसे वैश्विक संस्थानों में भी सक्रिय भूमिका निभा रहा है। इससे वैश्विक स्तर पर भारत की साख बढ़ी है एवं अन्य देश आंज भारत की आवाज को गम्भीरता से सुन रहे हैं। विभिन्न देशों के नागरिक आज सनातन संस्कृति के संस्कारों को अपनाने हेतु लालायित हैं क्योंकि इस संदर्भ में भारत के व्यवहार से ये देश अत्यधिक प्रभावित हैं। साथ ही, भारत को कई प्रकार के आर्थिक लाभ भी होने जा रहे हैं और भारत में विदेशी निवेश बढ़ने की सम्भावना बनी है। ब्रिक्स के 21 सदस्य देशों के बीच आपसी समझदारी बढ़ी है और इससे इन देशों के बीच आर्थिक साझेदारी भी बढ़ेगी। आतंकवाद के खिलाफ मजबूत संदेश गया है कि भारत किसी भी कीमत पर आतंकवाद को पनपने नहीं देगा। नई दिल्ली घोषणापत्र में रूस एवं चीन सहित समस्त ब्रिक्स सदस्य देशों ने पहलगाम आतंकी हमले की निंदा भी की है। इसमें यह भी कहा गया है कि आतंकियों को पनाह देने वालों के खिलाफ मिलकर कार्यवाही करनी चाहिए। साथ ही, आतंकियों तक पहुंचने वाली फंडिंग को रोकने और उन्हें सुरक्षित ठिकाने देने वालों पर भी कार्यवाही की जानी चाहिए।

भारत आज ग्लोबल साउथ की आवाज बन रहा है। इस क्षेत्र के देश भारत पर भरोसा करने लगे हैं। इससे भारतीय रुपए की वैश्विक स्तर पर साख बढ़ सकती है क्योंकि ब्रिक्स के सदस्य देश आपस में स्थानीय मुद्रा में व्यापार को बढ़ावा देने के प्रयास कर रहे हैं। यूपीआई एवं रूपे कार्ड की स्वीकार्यता कई देशों में अब बढ़ रही है। आपस में स्थानीय मुद्रा में व्यापार करने से भारतीय रुपए को मजबूती मिलेगी एवं इससे मंहगाई बढ़ने की गति कम होगी। ब्रिक्स ने वर्ष 2015 में डेवलपमेंट बैंक (एनडीबी) की स्थापना की थी। इस बैंक ने भारत को 10,000 करोड़ अमेरिकी डॉलर से अधिक की राशि का ऋण प्रदान किया है। इस ऋणराशि का उपयोग मुंबई मेट्रो लाइन डालने के लिया किया जा रहा है। इंदौर में मेट्रो भी इसी ऋण से बनी है। दिल्ली-गाजियाबाद क्षेत्रीय रेल्वे लाइन इसी ऋण से बिछाई गई है। कुल मिलाकर भारत में आधारभूत संरचना खड़ी करने में ब्रिक्स द्वारा स्थापित उक्त बैंक का महत्वपूर्ण योगदान है।

The post ब्रिक्स से भारत को क्या लाभ appeared first on VisionViksitBharat.

AI can now summarise research, analyse financial statements, generate presentations, write code, examine market data, simulate scenarios and produce preliminary business strategies within minutes. Consequently, the competitive advantage of a management graduate cannot remain limited to knowing information or producing information.

The future advantage will increasingly come from the ability to identify the right problem, ask the right question, evaluate evidence, work intelligently with AI, make decisions under uncertainty and create solutions that generate measurable value.

The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 identifies analytical thinking as a leading core skill, while AI and big data are among the fastest-growing skill areas. Creative thinking, technological literacy, systems thinking and lifelong learning are also becoming increasingly important.

This creates a fundamental question for Indian management education:

Are our institutions preparing students to answer questions, or are they preparing them to discover which questions are worth answering?

The distinction may define the relevance of management education in the AI era.

From Knowledge Delivery to Problem Solving

The traditional business school was largely built around the scarcity of knowledge.

Faculty possessed knowledge.
Libraries stored knowledge.
Textbooks organised knowledge.
Students acquired knowledge.

AI fundamentally changes this equation. Knowledge is increasingly abundant, searchable and machine-accessible. Therefore, the institutional value proposition cannot remain simply “we provide knowledge.” The future business school must become a problem-solving institution.

Its core output should not only be graduates who understand management theories, but graduates who can apply those theories to unresolved business, economic and social problems.

This requires a shift:

The objective is not to eliminate foundational management knowledge. Rather, knowledge must become the raw material for intelligent action.

The New Institutional Unit: The Problem

Indian management institutions are generally organised around disciplines such as finance, marketing, human resources, operations, strategy and business analytics. These disciplines remain essential. However, real-world problems rarely respect departmental boundaries.

Consider the question:

How can a manufacturing company reduce carbon emissions while maintaining profitability and supply-chain resilience?

This single problem involves operations, procurement, finance, technology, sustainability, human resources, analytics, policy and strategy. Therefore, future management education should increasingly organise learning around problems and missions, while retaining disciplinary depth. A student might work on “Building resilient Indian supply chains” rather than completing disconnected classroom exercises in operations, finance and marketing.

Another cohort might investigate:

1. How can MSMEs adopt AI while improving productivity?
2. How can Indian cities develop financially sustainable mobility systems?
3. How can rural enterprises move from subsistence to scalable value creation?
4. How can organisations redesign jobs around human-AI collaboration?

This converts the campus into a living laboratory of management problems.

Building a Problem-Solving and Research Ecosystem

A future-ready management institution needs an integrated ecosystem rather than isolated academic activities.

A useful framework is:

Problem → Research → Reasoning → Resolution → Entrepreneurship/Execution

Problem Discovery

Students should regularly engage with:

1. companies,
2. startups,
3. MSMEs,
4. government departments,
5. public-sector organisations,
6. NGOs,
7. hospitals,
8. financial institutions,
9. cooperatives and
10. communities.

The objective is to discover real problems, not artificial classroom problems. Institutions can maintain a structured Problem Bank containing live challenges contributed by external stakeholders.

A problem bank could document the context, stakeholders, available data, business or social impact, research questions and potential outcomes. This would transform industry engagement from occasional guest lectures and recruitment relationships into a continuous source of learning and research.

From Problem Bank to Research Bank

Every significant problem should have the potential to become a research opportunity.

Institutions can create a Research and Problem Repository containing:

1. problem statements,
2. stakeholder maps,
3. available datasets,
4. literature,
5. hypotheses,
6. research methodologies,
7. AI tools used,
8. experiments,
9. proposed interventions,
10. results,
11. limitations and
12. implementation outcomes.

This creates something more valuable than a collection of student assignments. It creates institutional knowledge capital.Over time, an institution can build an intellectual database of Indian management problems and solutions.

This is particularly important because India’s management environment has characteristics that are not always adequately represented in conventional Western management cases: MSMEs, informal markets, rural enterprises, family businesses, cooperatives, multilingual consumers, frugal innovation, digital public infrastructure and rapidly emerging urban markets.

Indian management education therefore has an opportunity to develop a distinctive intellectual identity by studying management in the context of India’s scale, diversity and transformation.

AI as a Research Partner, Not a Substitute for Thinking

One of the biggest mistakes institutions can make is treating AI merely as a productivity tool. Students should instead be taught an AI-enabled research methodology.

A conventional research process may be represented as:

Question → Literature Review → Data → Analysis → Findings → Report

An AI-enabled research process can become:

Problem → Question → AI-Assisted Exploration → Source Verification → Data → Human/AI Analysis → Critical Evaluation → Experimentation → Findings → Decision

The critical addition is verification and human judgment.

Students should learn to ask:

1. Is the information accurate?
2. What is the original source?
3. What evidence supports the claim?
4. What assumptions has the AI made?
5. What data is missing?
6. Could the analysis contain bias?
7. What alternative explanations exist?
8. What evidence could falsify the conclusion?
9. What are the ethical consequences?
10. Who bears responsibility if the decision is wrong?

This represents a transition from simply teaching prompt engineering to developing judgment engineering. The objective should be to create AI-augmented managers, not AI-dependent managers.

The Faculty Role Must Evolve

AI does not make faculty less important. It changes what makes excellent faculty valuable.

When machines can explain a concept within seconds, the professor’s role increasingly moves towards:

Question Architect + Research Mentor + Industry Connector + Critical Thinker + Ethical Guide

The professor should help students move from, “What is the answer?” to “What is the problem?”

and ultimately: “What evidence would convince us that our proposed solution works?”

Faculty development must therefore become central to institutional transformation.

Management faculty should increasingly be equipped with capabilities in AI-enabled research, data analytics, interdisciplinary research, case development, experiential pedagogy, responsible AI and industry problem solving.

The future faculty member is not simply a transmitter of knowledge. The faculty member becomes an architect of intellectual inquiry.

The Classroom as a Problem Studio

The classroom of the future should increasingly resemble a problem studio.

Instead of: Professor → Lecture → Notes → Examination

the model can become: Problem → Data → Team → AI Tools → Debate → Experiment → Presentation → Feedback → Iteration

Imagine a marketing class receiving a live challenge from an Indian D2C company.

Students could:

1. understand the business context;
2. interview stakeholders;
3. collect and analyse data;
4. use AI for exploratory analysis;
5. challenge AI-generated assumptions;
6. conduct customer research;
7. develop alternatives;
8. test their recommendations;
9. estimate financial implications; and
10. present an implementation roadmap.

The final evaluation should therefore consider the quality of reasoning, evidence and implementation, rather than simply the quality of a PowerPoint presentation.

Assessment Must Change

If AI can generate a 2,000-word assignment within seconds, institutions must reconsider what they assess. Future assessment should increasingly measure:

Problem Definition: Can the student identify the actual problem?

Evidence: Can the student distinguish evidence from assumption?

Reasoning: Can the student explain why a conclusion follows from the evidence?

AI Judgment: Can the student determine where AI is useful and where it is unreliable?

Creativity: Can the student develop multiple alternatives?

Implementation: Can the proposed solution actually work?

Reflection

Can the student explain how evidence changed the original hypothesis?

This means greater use of:

1. research portfolios,
2. consulting projects,
3. simulations,
4. prototypes,
5. field studies,
6. oral defences,
7. stakeholder presentations and
8. implementation experiments.

AI should not necessarily be banned from assessment. Students should be assessed on how intelligently and responsibly they use it.

From Research to Impact

Indian management institutions should establish a Research-to-Impact Pipeline connecting:

Student → Faculty → Industry → Government → Startup → Research Centre → Society

A mature institutional model can have five interconnected layers.

Layer 1: Foundation: Management theory, economics, statistics, finance, operations, organisational behaviour and strategy.

Layer 2: Technology: AI, analytics, automation, digital platforms, cybersecurity and emerging technologies.

Layer 3: Problem Labs: Live challenges from industry, government and society.

Layer 4: Research Centres: Focused centres covering areas such as:

1. AI and Management,
2. Future of Work,
3. Indian Business and MSMEs,
4. Supply Chain and Procurement,
5. Sustainability,
6. Digital Public Infrastructure,
7. Healthcare Management,
8. Rural Management and
9. Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Layer 5: Impact

The strongest ideas should move towards:

Prototype → Pilot → Startup/Consulting Project → Policy Recommendation → Industry Implementation

This transforms research from a publication exercise into an impact engine.

India’s Opportunity: Management Education Around Indian Problems

India has a unique opportunity. The country is simultaneously experiencing rapid digitisation, demographic transformation, urbanisation, manufacturing expansion, entrepreneurship, infrastructure development, financial inclusion and technological adoption.

These developments create thousands of management questions.

For example:

1. How should an MSME adopt AI with limited capital?
2. How can Indian manufacturing develop resilient supply networks?
3. How should family businesses professionalise while preserving entrepreneurial culture?
4. How can cooperatives use digital technologies to increase member value?
5. How can universities improve employability without reducing education to placement training?
6. How should organisations redesign work around human-AI collaboration?

These are not merely academic questions. They are national management challenges. Indian management institutions can therefore develop global relevance by becoming centres for studying management in large, diverse and rapidly transforming economies.

India should not only consume management knowledge developed elsewhere. It should increasingly generate management knowledge from its own experiences and contribute it to the world.

The University as an Innovation Operating System

A future-centric institution should function like an innovation operating system, continuously connecting:

People + Problems + Data + Technology + Research + Capital + Institutions

Students provide curiosity and energy.

Faculty provide intellectual depth.

Industry provides problems.

Government provides societal challenges.

AI provides computational capability.

Research provides evidence.

Entrepreneurs provide execution.

The institution provides the platform.

This is a fundamentally different conception of a management school.

It is not simply a place where students consume education.

It becomes a network that produces knowledge, solutions and impact.

What Should a Future Management Graduate Look Like?

By graduation, a student should ideally demonstrate six capabilities.

1. Problem Intelligence: The ability to discover and frame complex problems.
2. Research Intelligence: The ability to find, evaluate and generate credible evidence.
3. AI Intelligence: The ability to collaborate effectively and responsibly with AI.
4. Business Intelligence: The ability to understand value creation, economics and organisational realities.
5. Human Intelligence: The ability to communicate, collaborate, negotiate, lead and exercise judgment.
6. Execution Intelligence: The ability to move from recommendation to measurable outcome.

The objective is therefore not to create graduates who can simply use AI. It is to create graduates who can think with AI without surrendering their thinking to AI.

From Placement-Centric to Capability-Centric Education

Placement outcomes will remain important. However, placement should increasingly become the consequence of capability, rather than the sole definition of educational success.

The deeper institutional question should be:

What can our students solve that they could not solve before entering our institution?

Institutions should therefore measure:

1. live problems solved,
2. research projects completed,
3. industry collaborations,
4. prototypes developed,
5. intellectual property,
6. startups created,
7. policy recommendations,
8. consulting engagements,
9. research publications,
10. social-impact projects,
11. AI competencies and
12. measurable organisational outcomes.

This provides a broader understanding of educational value than examination scores or placement statistics alone.

Building Institutions That Teach Students to Ask Better Questions

Artificial Intelligence will continue to reduce the value of routine cognitive work. But this does not make management education obsolete. It makes good management education more important.

The institution of the future will not compete with AI on its ability to provide information. It will create value through capabilities that technology alone cannot guarantee: context, judgment, curiosity, ethics, human understanding, interdisciplinary reasoning and responsibility for consequences.

The transformation required is therefore not merely technological. It is educational and institutional. Indian management education has an opportunity to move:

from content delivery to capability development;
from examinations to evidence;
from case studies to live problems;
from isolated research to collaborative knowledge creation;
from classroom learning to institutional problem solving; and
from placement-centric education to impact-centric education.

The central philosophy can be expressed simply:

Do not teach students only to find answers. Teach them to discover problems, formulate better questions, generate evidence, collaborate with AI, challenge assumptions and turn knowledge into solutions.

This is the ecosystem India needs for future-centric management education.

The ultimate measure of a management institution in the AI era may therefore not be how much information it delivers, but how effectively it develops people who can identify consequential problems, generate credible knowledge and convert that knowledge into responsible action.

And perhaps the defining question for every management institution should be:

If AI can answer the question in seconds, what are we doing to ensure our students can ask the question that actually matters?

The post Beyond Management Education: Building Problem-Solvers for the AI Era appeared first on VisionViksitBharat.

The scale of this transformation is extraordinary. UPI processed more than 24,161 crore transactions during FY 2025-26, with transaction value of approximately ₹314 lakh crore. The number of banks live on UPI increased from 44 in its early years to more than 700. In August 2026 alone, NPCI data recorded approximately 24.51 billion transactions worth ₹29.82 lakh crore. UPI now accounts for roughly 84-85% of India’s digital payment volume and around 49% of global real-time payment transaction volume, according to government and international-industry data.

This success, however, creates a paradox. The larger UPI becomes, the greater the economic value it creates, but also the larger the underlying infrastructure that must be continuously operated, upgraded and protected. Servers, network capacity, fraud monitoring, cybersecurity, authentication, dispute resolution, settlement infrastructure, redundancy, technical support, application programming interfaces, compliance systems and continuous product development all require investment.

The question therefore is no longer simply whether UPI should be free.

The more important question is:

Who should finance the infrastructure that makes nearly 800 million UPI transactions possible every day?

The new MDR framework announced for implementation from 15 October 2026 represents an important change in the economics of UPI. Under the framework, specified merchant transactions above ₹2,000 will attract an MDR of 0.4%, capped at ₹300 per transaction. Person-to-person transactions remain free, payments to merchants up to ₹2,000 remain protected, and specified small merchants continue to receive exemptions. The government has stated that approximately 96% of P2M transactions will remain unaffected.

This is therefore not simply a story about introducing a fee. It is the beginning of a debate about how India should finance, govern and continuously upgrade a piece of digital public infrastructure that has become systemically important to the economy.

From Payment Innovation to National Digital Infrastructure

When UPI was launched in 2016, India was solving a specific problem: how to make bank-to-bank digital payments interoperable, simple and instantaneous. Ten years later, the nature of the problem has changed.

UPI is no longer merely a payment product. It is an economic infrastructure layer. It enables small retail purchases, e-commerce, bill payments, subscriptions, transportation payments, education payments, insurance payments, capital-market transactions and person-to-person transfers. It has also become an important component of India’s financial inclusion architecture.

Government data shows the extraordinary trajectory. Annual UPI transaction volume rose from only 1.78 crore transactions in FY 2016-17 to more than 24,162 crore in FY 2025-26, an almost 13,000-fold increase. Annual transaction value increased from approximately ₹0.07 lakh crore to around ₹314 lakh crore.

This means that UPI is now processing an economic flow comparable to the size of India’s annual GDP multiple times over. August 2026 illustrates the new scale particularly well. NPCI recorded approximately 24,508.96 million transactions, equivalent to about 2,451 crore transactions, with a value of approximately ₹29.82 lakh crore.

At this scale, the distinction between a “free payment service” and “public digital infrastructure” becomes important. Roads may be free at the point of use. Electricity grids may not charge every citizen separately for every infrastructure component. Public internet infrastructure may be subsidised. But the underlying infrastructure still has operating and capital costs.

Digital infrastructure is no different.

The Economics Behind a “Free” UPI Transaction

The word “free” can be misleading. A consumer making a ₹500 UPI payment may pay nothing directly, but that does not mean the transaction costs nothing to the system.

Behind that payment are multiple layers:

1. bank infrastructure;
2. payment service providers;
3. NPCI infrastructure;
4. acquiring and issuing banks;
5. authentication and security systems;
6. cloud and data-centre capacity;
7. telecommunications networks;
8. fraud detection systems;
9. customer support;
10. dispute management;
11. regulatory compliance;
12. transaction monitoring;
13. settlement and reconciliation;
14. software development;
15. cybersecurity;
16. system redundancy and disaster recovery.

The Reserve Bank of India has previously highlighted the economic tension in digital payment pricing: excessively high charges can discourage adoption, while charges that are too low may become non-remunerative and discourage investment in payment infrastructure.

That observation is increasingly relevant to UPI. A payment ecosystem processing hundreds of millions of transactions every day cannot be managed as if its infrastructure requirements were static. The system must continuously increase capacity while simultaneously reducing downtime, detecting fraud faster, improving authentication, supporting new devices and payment modes, and integrating new participants.

Consequently, the economic model of UPI has to answer a basic infrastructure question:

How does a high-volume, low-cost payment system generate sufficient resources for continuous reinvestment?

The ₹20,000-Crore Question

Industry estimates cited in the current UPI pricing debate put the annual cost of operating the broader UPI ecosystem at approximately ₹20,000 crore. That number should be treated carefully. It is not equivalent to an officially audited statement that NPCI itself spends ₹20,000 crore every year. Rather, it represents an estimate of the broader ecosystem cost associated with maintaining the infrastructure, technology, security, processing and support required for UPI. At ₹20,000 crore a year, the arithmetic is striking.

The figure translates into approximately: ₹1,667 crore per month

or approximately: ₹54.8 crore per day

or approximately: ₹2.28 crore per hour.

These numbers provide a useful way of understanding the scale of the sustainability challenge. The infrastructure supporting UPI is operating continuously. It does not close at night. It cannot simply defer maintenance until the next financial year. Fraud monitoring cannot be switched off during weekends. Cybersecurity teams cannot work only when transaction volumes are low.

The system has to operate at national scale, around the clock. That makes sustainability a structural issue rather than a temporary accounting problem.

From Zero MDR to Sustainable MDR

India’s zero-MDR policy played an important role in UPI’s rapid adoption. The Government of India has repeatedly supported low-value digital transactions through incentive programmes. In FY 2024-25, the Union Cabinet approved a ₹1,500-crore incentive scheme for low-value BHIM-UPI P2M transactions, particularly supporting small merchants.

The logic was straightforward: reduce the economic barrier to digital adoption and accelerate India’s transition toward digital payments.

That strategy worked. But success changes the policy problem. When UPI was processing relatively small volumes, the question was how to achieve adoption. When UPI processes approximately 24.5 billion transactions in a month, the question becomes how to sustain and upgrade the system without undermining the adoption gains of the previous decade. The October 2026 framework attempts to separate these two objectives. It does not introduce a universal UPI charge. Instead, it creates a differentiated structure in which:

P2P remains free.
Small-value merchant payments remain protected.
Eligible higher-value merchant payments contribute to the economics of the system.
Small merchants receive protection through exemptions.

This is significant because it attempts to preserve UPI’s original inclusion objective while introducing greater financial sustainability at the higher-value end of the ecosystem.

What Exactly Changes From 15 October 2026?

The new framework is important precisely because it is more targeted than a blanket payment fee. For specified P2M transactions above ₹2,000, the standard MDR is 0.4%, with a maximum charge of ₹300 per transaction.

The ₹300 cap becomes relevant at ₹75,000 because: 0.4% × ₹75,000 = ₹300.

Therefore, for a transaction above ₹75,000, the MDR does not continue increasing proportionately. Several categories have differentiated treatment, including specified essential and public-service-linked transactions, where a flat charge of ₹5 applies under the announced framework. Capital-market transactions also receive a differentiated MDR structure.

Most importantly, the government has clarified that the MDR is not a tax collected by the government. It is an ecosystem charge distributed among participants such as banks and payment application providers.

The policy architecture therefore attempts to establish a market-based source of revenue without converting UPI into a direct consumer-facing fee system.

The 96% Question: Why the Threshold Matters

One of the most important facts in the current debate is that the government estimates approximately 96% of P2M transactions will remain unaffected. This is critical. UPI has become popular precisely because it works for ₹20, ₹50, ₹100, ₹250 and ₹500 payments. If the objective were simply revenue maximisation, a universal MDR would be easier to design.

But a universal charge could have disproportionately affected:

1. street vendors;
2. small retailers;
3. kirana stores;
4. domestic service providers;
5. small restaurants;
6. micro-enterprises;
7. rural merchants;
8. low-income consumers.

The current design attempts to avoid that problem by protecting small-ticket transactions and qualifying small merchants. Government data also shows that UPI has a very strong small-value character. The FY 2025-26 data indicates that a very large proportion of P2M transactions are below ₹500.

This creates an important policy principle:

The financing burden for national digital infrastructure should not fall disproportionately on the smallest transactions.

The 2026 framework broadly moves in that direction.

The Real Economic Debate: Who Should Pay?

There are four possible broad financing models for digital payment infrastructure.

Model 1: Consumers pay: Under this model, users pay a transaction fee. For UPI, this would be politically and economically disruptive because its success is partly built on frictionless consumer adoption. It could also discourage digital payments in price-sensitive segments.

Model 2: Merchants pay: This is closer to the traditional card-payment model. The merchant pays an MDR because the payment system provides a commercial service: instant settlement, lower cash handling requirements, digital records, customer convenience and potentially greater transaction efficiency.

The October 2026 framework follows this broad principle for specified transactions.

Model 3: Government pays: Government subsidies can support strategic digital infrastructure. India has already used this mechanism. The ₹1,500-crore incentive scheme for FY 2024-25 is an example. Government support can be justified when the infrastructure produces wider public benefits such as financial inclusion, formalisation and reduced dependence on cash.

But permanent full financing by the government can create fiscal dependence.

Model 4: Ecosystem pays: The fourth model is an ecosystem-based approach in which banks, payment applications, merchants, aggregators and other beneficiaries contribute according to the value they receive.

The new MDR framework moves UPI closer to this model. This is potentially significant because it transforms UPI from a predominantly subsidy-supported infrastructure model toward a shared economic model.

Why Sustainability Is More Than Paying the Electricity Bill

The most important mistake would be to view MDR revenue merely as money for “running servers.” The strategic requirement is much larger. UPI is entering its second decade.

The first decade was primarily about: adoption + interoperability + scale.

The next decade will require: security + intelligence + resilience + internationalisation + innovation.

The revenue architecture should therefore support at least six areas.

Infrastructure expansion

UPI transaction volumes continue to grow. Capacity has to expand ahead of demand rather than after failures occur.

That means:

1. additional processing capacity;
2. data-centre resilience;
3. network redundancy;
4. disaster recovery;
5. real-time monitoring;
6. geographic redundancy;
7. higher system availability.

At national scale, even a small deterioration in availability can affect millions of transactions.

Cybersecurity Should Be One of the Biggest Beneficiaries

The economics of UPI cannot be separated from cybersecurity. As digital payments grow, the incentive for fraudsters grows as well. RBI has repeatedly identified cybersecurity as a prerequisite for wider digital-payment adoption. Phishing, malware, ransomware, man-in-the-middle attacks, social engineering and other forms of cybercrime can undermine consumer confidence and financial stability.

The future UPI security architecture therefore needs continuous investment in:

1. AI-driven fraud detection;
2. behavioural analytics;
3. anomaly detection;
4. mule-account identification;
5. real-time risk scoring;
6. device intelligence;
7. biometric and behavioural authentication;
8. transaction graph analysis;
9. automated fraud response;
10. cyber threat intelligence;
11. secure APIs;
12. quantum-resistant cryptography research.

A sustainable UPI should not simply be able to process more transactions. It should be able to process more transactions safely. That distinction will become increasingly important as UPI expands internationally.

MDR Could Become a Source of India’s Digital Payments R&D Fund

This may be the most important policy opportunity in the entire debate. The objective should not be merely:

MDR → operating expenses.

It should become:

MDR → operations + security + innovation + research + future infrastructure.

India has created a globally significant payment architecture. The next challenge is to ensure that the intellectual property, technology capabilities and research ecosystem surrounding it remain globally competitive.

A portion of ecosystem revenue could therefore be institutionalised as a Digital Payments Research and Innovation Fund.

Such a fund could support research in:

1. AI-based payment security;
2. privacy-preserving payments;
3. offline digital payments;
4. low-connectivity payments;
5. voice-based UPI;
6. multilingual interfaces;
7. accessibility technologies;
8. programmable payments;
9. CBDC-UPI interoperability;
10. tokenisation;
11. cross-border payment interoperability;
12. digital identity;
13. quantum-safe payment infrastructure;
14. post-quantum cryptography;
15. payment fraud intelligence;
16. financial inclusion technologies;
17. open payment APIs;
18. payment infrastructure for feature phones.

This would change the policy narrative fundamentally.

Instead of asking: “Why should UPI no longer be completely free?”

India could ask: “How do we convert the economic value generated by UPI into the next generation of Indian payment technology?”

From UPI Infrastructure to a Global Payment Technology Mission

UPI is already moving beyond India’s borders. Government data indicates that UPI has become operational in multiple countries, while international organisations and industry reports have recognised India’s leadership in real-time payments. This creates another economic opportunity.

If UPI becomes part of India’s international digital infrastructure strategy, investment will be needed in:

1. international interoperability;
2. currency conversion infrastructure;
3. cross-border settlement;
4. fraud management across jurisdictions;
5. international compliance;
6. data governance;
7. cybersecurity;
8. dispute resolution;
9. multilingual customer interfaces;
10. sovereign digital-payment partnerships.

The economics of domestic UPI therefore have consequences for India’s international ambitions. A sustainable domestic payment rail can become the foundation for a much larger Indian digital-payment technology ecosystem.

UPI as a Strategic Digital Public Infrastructure

The global importance of UPI is not simply its transaction volume. Its deeper significance lies in its architecture. UPI demonstrates that digital public infrastructure can combine:

interoperability + competition + low cost + scale + public standards.

This is different from a closed private payment platform. The network is designed so that multiple banks and applications can participate. That architecture has generated enormous positive externalities. A merchant can receive payments from customers using different applications. A consumer can send money across banks. Businesses can integrate payments through APIs. New fintech companies can build products on top of the underlying rail.

This is a classic characteristic of infrastructure:

its economic value is larger than the revenue captured by the infrastructure provider itself.

That is why government participation and regulatory oversight remain important. But infrastructure also needs a sustainable financing model.

The International Comparison Is Important

India should also learn from other payment ecosystems. Card networks such as Visa and Mastercard historically operate with explicit interchange, assessment and merchant-service economics. China’s digital-payment ecosystem developed around major commercial platforms with multiple monetisation channels. Brazil’s Pix created a powerful instant-payment infrastructure under central-bank leadership, with an emphasis on interoperability and low-cost access. Europe has pursued instant-payment expansion while strengthening competition, consumer protection and interoperability.

India’s UPI model is different.

Its distinctive achievement has been to combine public digital infrastructure with private innovation at enormous scale. That makes the economic design particularly important. India does not need to copy card economics. Nor does it need to convert UPI into a conventional commercial platform.

Instead, it can develop a third model:

Sustainable Digital Public Infrastructure

where:

1. basic access remains affordable;
2. P2P remains free;
3. small merchants are protected;
4. commercial high-value transactions contribute;
5. ecosystem participants receive economic incentives;
6. cybersecurity receives dedicated investment;
7. research receives predictable funding;
8. infrastructure upgrades are financed continuously;
9. competition remains open;
10. consumers remain protected.

This could become a model for other countries building digital public infrastructure.

The ₹2,000 Threshold Could Create New Behaviour

Every threshold creates incentives. If transactions above ₹2,000 attract MDR while those below ₹2,000 do not, some merchants or consumers may attempt to restructure payments. For example, a ₹10,000 purchase could theoretically be divided into multiple transactions.

That creates a policy requirement for intelligent monitoring. The objective should not be to police ordinary consumer behaviour aggressively.

Instead, the system can use transaction analytics to identify suspicious patterns such as:

1. repeated split payments;
2. rapid sequential transactions;
3. multiple transactions between the same accounts;
4. artificial invoice fragmentation;
5. coordinated merchant behaviour.

This is another reason why MDR revenue should support sophisticated payment intelligence. The future payment system must be capable not only of processing transactions but also of understanding transaction behaviour.

A Possible “UPI Sustainability Framework”

India could institutionalise a transparent framework around the new MDR model.

Pillar 1: Core Infrastructure Fund

A defined share of MDR revenue could finance:

1. servers;
2. network capacity;
3. redundancy;
4. disaster recovery;
5. system upgrades.

Pillar 2: Cybersecurity Fund

A dedicated pool could support:

1. fraud prevention;
2. AI-based risk engines;
3. cyber threat intelligence;
4. security audits;
5. national payment security research.

Pillar 3: Research & Innovation Fund

A portion could finance university-industry research into:

• AI;
• cryptography;
• privacy;
• quantum-safe systems;
• offline payments;
• multilingual interfaces;
• cross-border payments.

Pillar 4: Inclusion Fund

A dedicated component could support:

• rural merchants;
• feature-phone users;
• low-connectivity regions;
• accessibility;
• senior citizens;
• persons with disabilities;
• small enterprises.

Pillar 5: Internationalisation Fund

India could invest in:

• cross-border interoperability;
• international standards;
• sovereign payment partnerships;
• settlement technologies;
• global fraud management.

Pillar 6: Consumer Protection Fund

A proportion of ecosystem revenues could strengthen:

• dispute resolution;
• fraud compensation mechanisms;
• awareness programmes;
• grievance redressal;
• digital financial literacy.

Such a structure would make the economics of UPI more transparent and strategically aligned with national development.

The Next UPI Must Be More Than a QR Code

The first generation of UPI was largely associated with QR codes and smartphone-based payments. The next generation can be considerably broader. India is already exploring and deploying new payment interfaces such as NFC-based tap-and-pay mechanisms, while UPI 123PAY has expanded the potential for feature-phone users.

Future UPI could increasingly include: Voice UPI

Payments initiated through Indian-language voice commands. Offline UPI

Payments in areas with weak or intermittent connectivity. Wearable UPI

Payments through watches and other devices. AI-assisted UPI

Intelligent payment recommendations, fraud alerts and personalised financial interfaces. Embedded UPI

Payments integrated into transport, commerce, government and enterprise systems. Cross-border UPI

Real-time international payments using interoperable payment rails. Programmable payments

Payments linked to contractual, institutional or business rules. Digital identity integration

Stronger authentication without increasing friction. These innovations require R&D. And R&D requires funding.

The Case for a National Digital Payments Research Network

India should consider creating a National Digital Payments Research Network connecting:

1. NPCI;
2. RBI;
3. IITs;
4. IISc;
5. IIMs;
6. IIITs;
7. central universities;
8. fintech companies;
9. cybersecurity institutions;
10. banks;
11. payment applications;
12. telecom companies;
13. global research organisations.

The network could publish an annual:

State of India’s Digital Payments Report

It could measure:

1. transaction growth;
2. cost of payments;
3. merchant economics;
4. fraud;
5. cybersecurity;
6. rural adoption;
7. financial inclusion;
8. innovation;
9. internationalisation;
10. payment infrastructure resilience;
11. consumer protection.

This would make India’s payment-policy debate more evidence-based.

UPI’s Next Challenge Is Not Adoption. It Is Resilience.

For much of the last decade, India’s digital-payment policy could be summarised as: Get more people onto digital payments.

The next decade requires a different objective: Make the digital payment ecosystem resilient enough to support a $5-trillion-plus and eventually much larger economy.

At current volumes, even a one-hour disruption has enormous economic consequences. The infrastructure therefore needs the resilience standards associated with other critical national systems.

This includes:

1. multi-region redundancy;
2. cyber-resilience;
3. disaster recovery;
4. real-time system monitoring;
5. stress testing;
6. capacity planning;
7. operational risk management;
8. independent security testing;
9. rapid incident response.

The cost of resilience should be viewed as an investment rather than an unnecessary overhead.

Why “Free” and “Affordable” Are Not the Same Thing

The public debate often presents two options: Free UPI versus Paid UPI. That is too simplistic.

There is a third possibility:

Affordable UPI with sustainable infrastructure economics.

The consumer does not necessarily have to pay. A ₹100 UPI payment can remain free to the consumer. A ₹500 payment can remain free. A person sending ₹50,000 to a family member can remain free under the P2P framework. But a large commercial transaction can contribute a small amount to the infrastructure that makes the transaction possible. That is not the same as abandoning free digital payments.

It is a move toward differentiated pricing based on use and economic capacity.

The Larger Lesson for Viksit Bharat

The UPI debate has significance well beyond payment charges. It raises a fundamental question for India’s development model:

How should Digital Public Infrastructure be financed once it reaches global scale?

India has successfully built several digital public infrastructure layers. Aadhaar created a digital identity foundation. UPI created an interoperable payment rail. FASTag transformed toll payments. DigiLocker created digital document infrastructure. ONDC is attempting to create open digital commerce infrastructure. The next stage of Viksit Bharat will require these platforms to become financially, technologically and institutionally sustainable.

The lesson is important:

Public infrastructure does not necessarily mean that every underlying service must be permanently free of economic cost.

Public interest should determine the architecture. Market mechanisms can determine part of the financing. Government support can address externalities and inclusion. Private participants can compete and innovate. The combination can create a sustainable digital ecosystem.

Five Principles for the Future UPI Economy

India’s next-generation UPI framework should be built around five principles.

1. Protect the citizen: P2P transactions and essential low-value digital payments should remain affordable and accessible.

2. Protect the small merchant: Micro and small businesses should not become unintended casualties of infrastructure financing.

3. Monetise commercial value: Large commercial transactions that derive significant economic benefit from instant digital infrastructure can contribute proportionately.

4. Reinvest in the ecosystem: Revenue should translate into better infrastructure, cybersecurity, innovation and customer support rather than merely becoming financial extraction.

5. Maintain transparency: The ecosystem should publish periodic information about how MDR revenue is distributed and what categories of infrastructure and innovation it supports.

Transparency will be essential for public trust.

From Free UPI to Sustainable UPI

India should not view the October 2026 MDR decision merely as the end of free UPI. That description misses the larger transformation. UPI itself is not becoming a conventional paid payment service. P2P transactions remain free. Small-value payments remain protected. Small merchants receive exemptions. The government estimates that approximately 96% of P2M transactions will remain unaffected.

What is changing is the economic architecture behind the system. For a decade, India prioritised adoption. The next decade must prioritise sustainability, resilience and innovation. A payment system processing more than 24 billion transactions a month cannot rely indefinitely on an economic model in which the majority of infrastructure costs are absorbed indirectly by banks, payment companies and government-supported mechanisms.

At the same time, India must avoid creating a fee structure that discourages digitalisation or disproportionately burdens small businesses. The appropriate objective is therefore neither “free at any cost” nor “monetise everything.”

It is:

Affordable access + sustainable infrastructure + continuous innovation.

The estimated ₹20,000-crore annual ecosystem cost should therefore be seen not merely as an expense. It represents the economic scale of maintaining one of the world’s most important digital payment infrastructures. The real opportunity is to convert a part of that economic value into a long-term national investment.

Imagine a UPI ecosystem in which every rupee generated from sustainable commercial transactions helps finance the next generation of:

cybersecurity, AI-based fraud prevention, quantum-safe cryptography, offline payments, rural connectivity, accessibility, cross-border payments, digital financial inclusion and payment technology research.

That would transform the debate.

The question would no longer be: “Why is UPI not free?”

It would become: “How do we ensure that India’s digital payment infrastructure remains world-class for the next 25 years?”

That is the more important question for a Viksit Bharat. India did not build UPI merely to make payments easier. It built UPI as a digital public infrastructure capable of changing how an economy functions. The first decade proved that India can build digital infrastructure at population scale.

The next decade must prove that India can finance it, secure it, continuously innovate it and take it to the world. The transition from zero-MDR to a carefully targeted MDR framework should therefore be judged not only by the revenue it generates, but by what India chooses to do with that revenue.

If the money is converted into stronger infrastructure, better cybersecurity, deeper inclusion and globally competitive payment research, MDR can become more than a transaction charge.

It can become an investment in India’s digital sovereignty and the technological foundations of Viksit Bharat 2047.

The post Beyond Free UPI: Building a Sustainable and Future-Ready UPI Economy for Viksit Bharat appeared first on VisionViksitBharat.

Visvesvaraya understood that agricultural prosperity alone could not create a modern economy. India needed industry, capital, skills, institutions and technology.

Born on 15 September 1860 at Muddenahalli, Visvesvaraya began his professional career as a civil engineer and went on to make pioneering contributions to irrigation, water supply, drainage, flood management and infrastructure. His automatic water-control gates, work on water systems and contribution to major irrigation projects demonstrated an unusual ability to combine scientific knowledge with practical problem-solving. But his contribution became much larger when he moved from engineering projects to questions of economic and institutional development. The Government of India has described him as a pioneering engineer whose work extended into industrialisation, technical education and nation building.

An Engineer Who Saw Beyond Engineering

The most important aspect of Visvesvaraya’s legacy is that he did not see engineering as an isolated technical profession. For him, engineering was an instrument of economic transformation. A reservoir was not simply a structure for storing water; it could increase agricultural productivity, support cities, generate economic activity and create the foundation for industrial growth. A factory was not merely a place of production; it could develop skills, generate employment, build domestic capabilities and reduce economic dependence. An educational institution was not simply a centre of learning; it was an investment in the human capital required by a modern economy.

This systems-oriented thinking makes Visvesvaraya particularly relevant to the idea of Viksit Bharat@2047. India’s development challenge today is also no longer about constructing individual assets in isolation. It is about creating interconnected systems of infrastructure, technology, skills, manufacturing, innovation and institutions that can raise national productivity. In that sense, Visvesvaraya’s contribution offers a remarkably contemporary proposition: the real purpose of engineering is not merely to build things, but to build the productive capabilities of a nation.

Water Infrastructure as an Engine of Development

Visvesvaraya’s work in water management provides perhaps the clearest illustration of this philosophy. His expertise covered irrigation, reservoirs, dams, drainage and drinking-water systems. He patented an automatic system of weir floodgates, first installed at Khadakvasla near Pune, designed to regulate water levels and reduce wasteful overflow. His engineering work subsequently extended to major water and flood-management challenges, including the Krishna Raja Sagara project in Mysore and flood-protection measures following the devastating 1908 Musi floods in Hyderabad. Government sources recognise these contributions as important milestones in India’s early water-management and engineering history.

The significance of these projects goes beyond engineering history. Water is one of the foundations of economic productivity. Reliable irrigation can raise agricultural output; urban water systems support industrialisation and healthier cities; flood management protects economic assets; and efficient water utilisation becomes increasingly important in an era of climate variability. Visvesvaraya’s approach therefore has direct relevance to contemporary India, where water security must increasingly be understood not only as a social requirement but also as an economic and productivity imperative. His work reminds us that infrastructure becomes transformative when it multiplies the productive capacity of society.

Krishna Raja Sagara: From a Dam to a Development Model

The Krishna Raja Sagara Dam in Mysore represents this philosophy particularly well. The project was not conceived merely as a civil engineering accomplishment. Its wider significance lay in using water infrastructure to support agriculture, urban development and the economic transformation of the region. Modern government material continues to recognise Visvesvaraya’s role in pioneering water-management solutions and the wider developmental impact associated with the KRS project.

This provides an important lesson for Viksit Bharat. India’s infrastructure investments should increasingly be evaluated not only by the physical assets created but by the economic ecosystems they enable. A highway should connect production centres to markets. A railway should reduce logistics costs and expand economic opportunity. A digital network should create new businesses and improve public services. A water project should enhance agricultural and industrial productivity. The Visvesvaraya approach was fundamentally about this multiplier effect: infrastructure should create capability, and capability should create prosperity.

Industrialisation Was Central to His Vision

Perhaps the most striking part of Visvesvaraya’s thinking was his conviction that India could not become prosperous without industrialisation. As Dewan of Mysore between 1912 and 1918, he played a significant role in promoting industrial and institutional development. His tenure was associated with initiatives such as the Iron and Steel plant at Bhadravati, Mysore Soap Factory, State Bank of Mysore and the Mysore Chamber of Commerce. Government records have specifically highlighted his role in promoting industrialisation even before India’s Independence.

His thinking was remarkably clear: an economy could not become modern simply by increasing consumption or expanding administration. It needed productive enterprises, technological capability, capital, skilled manpower and institutions capable of supporting industrial growth. The famous expression associated with his industrial vision, “Industrialise or Perish,” captured the urgency he attached to building industrial capacity. The relevance of that thinking has only increased in an era in which supply-chain resilience, manufacturing competitiveness, technological sovereignty and high-quality employment have become central to national economic strategy.

The Visvesvaraya Model of Atmanirbhar Development

There is an important distinction between self-reliance and isolation. Visvesvaraya’s approach was not about rejecting modern technology or global knowledge. It was about developing the domestic capability to use knowledge, technology and capital for India’s own economic advancement. His work at Bhadravati illustrates this orientation. Government science and technology material notes his effort to develop steel production using locally available resources and innovative methods.

This principle has direct relevance to today’s Atmanirbhar Bharat within the larger Viksit Bharat framework. A self-reliant India cannot mean producing everything domestically regardless of economic logic. It means possessing sufficient technological, manufacturing and institutional capability to remain competitive, resilient and strategically secure. The contemporary objective should therefore be to move from being a large market to becoming a global production, innovation and technology hub. In that sense, Visvesvaraya’s industrial vision can be read as an early Indian articulation of capability-based economic development.

Building Human Capital Alongside Physical Capital

Visvesvaraya’s vision also extended beyond factories and infrastructure. He understood that modernisation ultimately depends on people. His advocacy of technical education and institutional development reflected the belief that India required a trained workforce capable of operating and advancing a modern economy. Government sources have highlighted his support for technical education as well as educational initiatives during his tenure in Mysore.

This is perhaps even more relevant today. India’s demographic strength will translate into a development advantage only if it is converted into human capital. The next generation of engineers, scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs, technicians and technology professionals will determine whether India can move from technology adoption to technology creation. The Viksit Bharat vision therefore requires an education system that does more than produce degrees. It must produce capability, curiosity, innovation, research and problem-solving capacity. The Visvesvaraya model reminds us that physical infrastructure without human capital cannot sustain a developed economy.

He Was Thinking About Economic Planning Before Independence

Visvesvaraya’s intellectual contribution is often overshadowed by his engineering achievements. Yet his writings reveal the breadth of his economic thinking. His 1934 work, Planned Economy for India, advocated a systematic approach to India’s economic development and emphasised industrialisation and productive capacity. His earlier work Reconstructing India similarly reflected his concern with the institutional and economic foundations required for national progress. Government publications continue to identify these works as important components of his development philosophy.

The significance of this intellectual legacy is that Visvesvaraya was thinking about India’s development as a long-term national project. He was not satisfied with incremental improvements within existing structures. He wanted India to raise productivity, expand industry, improve education and develop the capabilities associated with advanced economies. This long-term orientation has strong resonance with the Viksit Bharat@2047 framework, which similarly places India’s development within a multi-decade horizon rather than a short-term policy cycle.

From Visvesvaraya’s Mysore to India’s Viksit Bharat

The contemporary relevance of Visvesvaraya therefore lies not in mechanically reproducing the solutions of another era, but in understanding the principles behind them. His approach connected infrastructure with productivity, industry with employment, education with economic capability, technology with national development and institutions with long-term transformation. These connections remain fundamental to India’s journey towards becoming a developed economy.

The scale of India’s present opportunity, however, is vastly different. India today has a large domestic market, a globally competitive technology sector, an expanding manufacturing ecosystem, world-class digital public infrastructure and a growing scientific and innovation base. The challenge is to integrate these strengths into a coherent development architecture. The next generation of infrastructure must be intelligent and sustainable; manufacturing must become more technologically sophisticated; universities must become stronger centres of research; and Indian innovation must increasingly move from laboratories to global markets.

Engineering the Future

The most meaningful way to remember Visvesvaraya on his birth anniversary, therefore, is not simply to celebrate his achievements but to ask what his philosophy demands from India today. He belonged to a generation that had limited resources but possessed an extraordinary belief in the possibility of national transformation. He demonstrated that engineering could solve practical problems, but he also showed that the engineer’s responsibility could extend much further: towards productivity, institutions, industrialisation, education and national progress.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while paying tribute to Visvesvaraya on Engineers’ Day in 2025, specifically noted that engineers would continue to play a crucial role in the collective effort to build a Viksit Bharat. That connection is important because the India of 2047 will require millions of professionals who combine technical excellence with a larger understanding of national development. Engineers will be needed not only to design bridges and buildings, but also to work on artificial intelligence, semiconductors, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, water security, space technology, biotechnology, digital infrastructure and climate resilience.

Visvesvaraya’s greatest legacy, therefore, may not be any single dam, factory or engineering innovation. It is the idea that a nation can consciously build its own capabilities. His life demonstrated that engineering becomes nation building when knowledge is converted into infrastructure, infrastructure into productivity, productivity into industrial capacity and industrial capacity into broad-based prosperity. As India looks towards Viksit Bharat@2047, that remains a powerful proposition: India must not merely consume the technologies of the future; it must engineer the systems, institutions and capabilities that will create the future.

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पिछले 5 वर्षों के दौरान भारत में एक लाख से अधिक नए स्टार्ट-अप स्थापित हुए हैं। आज भारत ने अपने आप को, अमेरिका एवं चीन के बाद, दुनिया के तीसरे सबसे बड़े स्टार्ट-अप इको सिस्टम में स्थापित कर लिया है। भारत में आज अधिक से अधिक लाभ अर्जित करने के उद्देश्य से उपभोक्ता उत्पादों को बढ़ावा देने वाले स्टार्ट अप बन रहे हैं। किराना उत्पादों से संबंधित ऐप अधिक संख्या में बनाए जा रहे हैं क्योंकि यूपीआई जैसा पेमेंट गेटवे पूर्व से ही उपलब्ध है और भुगतान प्रणाली को अलग से विकसित करने की आवश्यकता ही नहीं है। साथ ही, 140 करोड़ नागरिकों का बायोमेट्रिक डाटा पहिले से ही सत्यापित है और यह उपभोक्ता उत्पादों से सम्बंधित ऐप बनाने वाले इंजीनियरों को उपलब्ध भी है। भारत में डिजिटल लाकर में 750 करोड़ से अधिक दस्तावेज जमा हो चुके हैं। सस्ता इंटरनेट डाटा उपलब्ध है एवं 90 करोड़ से अधिक भारतीय इंटरनेट का उपयोग कर रहे हैं। इन परिस्थितियों के बीच आज 20 वर्ष के युवा एंटरप्रेन्योर को व्यवसाय स्थापना के प्रथम दिवस से ही पूरा भारत उसके उत्पाद के बाजार के रूप में उपलब्ध है। उक्त कारकों के चलते ही वर्ष 2021 में भारत में 45 नए यूनिकोन विकसित हुए थे।

भारत के पास आज दुनिया के सबसे स्मार्ट एवं कुशल इंजीनीयर तो हैं परंतु हमारे पास अपने गूगल, अपना यू ट्यूब एवं अपना फेस बुक नहीं है। क्योंकि, भारत में उच्च स्तर का तकनीकी नवाचार नहीं हो पा रहा है जिससे उच्च तकनीकी के ऐप भारत में कम बन रहे हैं। हालांकि, विकसित देशों में जो भी उच्च स्तर के तकनीकी नवाचार हो रहे हैं इनमें भारतीय इंजिनीयरों की भी महती भूमिका रहती है। इसी कारण से भारतीय इंजीनियरों की विकसित देशों में भारी मांग है। भारतीय युवाओं को दिल्ली के जंतर मंतर पर आंदोलन करने के स्थान पर भारत में उच्च तकनीकी के नवाचार करने की ओर पूरा ध्यान देना चाहिए। अब तो विकसित देश भी यह मानने लगे हैं कि वर्तमान सदी केवल भारत की है। कई विकसित देशों सहित चीन में जनसंख्या वृद्धि दर अब ऋणात्मक हो चुकी है। साथ ही, इन देशों में वृद्ध नागरिकों की संख्या तेजी से बढ़ रही है। पूरे विश्व में आज भारत एक युवा देश के रूप में उभर रहा है। अतः भारतीय युवाओं से न केवल भारत में आर्थिक विकास को गति देने बल्कि विश्व के अन्य कई देशों में भी अपना महत्वपूर्ण योगदान देने की अपेक्षा की जा रही है। कई देशों ने तो अपनी संसद में प्रस्ताव पास करने के उपरांत भारत सरकार से भारतीय युवाओं को इन देशों में भेजने की मांग की है।

भारतीय युवा आज न केवल भारत में तेजी से यूनिकोन विकसित कर रहा है बल्कि आज भारतीय अन्य देशों में पहुंच कर अपने व्यापार का विस्तार भी कर रहे हैं, इसी कारण से आज प्रतिवर्ष भारत से लगभग 7 लाख नागरिक विभिन्न देशों में जाकर बस रहे हैं। श्री लक्ष्मी मित्तल ने ब्रिटेन में आरसेलोर स्टील कम्पनी खरीद ली है। यह कम्पनी पूर्व में बीमार कम्पनी की श्रेणी में शामिल थी परंतु मित्तल समूह ने इसे आज विश्व की सबसे बड़ी स्टील उत्पादक कम्पनी बना दिया है। इसी प्रकार वर्ष 2008 में टाटा समूह ने जैग्वार एवं लैंड रोवर कम्पनी को खरीद लिया था। भारतीय मूल के नागरिक आज ब्रिटेन में जायदाद निवेशकों के क्षेत्र में सबसे बड़े निवेशक माने जा रहे है। यूरोप में आज भारतीय कम्पनियां सबसे अधिक राशि का निवेश करती हुई दिखाई दे रही हैं और यूरोपीयन कम्पनियों का अधिग्रहण कर रही है। अमेरिका में भी लगभग यही स्थिति है। अमेरिका में सबसे बड़ी एल्यूमिनियम उत्पादक कम्पनी को भारतीय ने खरीद लिया है। इसी प्रकार, गूगल, माइक्रोसॉफ्ट, आईबीएम, अडोबी जैसी बड़ी कम्पनियों को भारतीय मूल के नागरिक ही चला रहे हैं। भारतीय मूल के ही श्री अजय बांगा आज विश्व बैंक के मुख्य कार्यपालन अधिकारी बन गए हैं। भारत में आज 15 लाख इंजिनीयर प्रतिवर्ष बन रहे हैं। विश्व के लगभग समस्त देशों को आज भारतीय युवाओं की अत्यधिक आवश्यकता है। विशेष रूप से जापान एवं यूरोपीयन देशों में प्रौढ़ नागरिकों की संख्या तेजी से बढ़ रही है। चीन से आज कई देश दूर भाग रहे हैं क्योंकि चीन ने विभिन्न देशों को कर्ज दे रखा है, यदि कोई देश इस कर्ज का भुगतान समय पर नहीं कर पाता है तो चीन उस देश के संसाधनों पर अपना अधिकार जताने लगता है। इससे इन देशों के साथ चीन के सम्बंध अच्छे नहीं रहे हैं। दूसरी ओर भारत में राजनैतिक स्थिरता है, जिसके चलते आज भारत के विश्व के लगभग समस्त देशों के साथ सौहार्दपूर्ण सम्बंध हैं। भारत आज विश्व के कई देशों के साथ द्विपक्षीय व्यापार समझौते सम्पन्न कर रहा है। आज स्थिति यह निर्मित हो रही है कि भारतीय यूनिकोन अमेरिकी कम्पनियों का अधिग्रहण करने की तैयारी कर रहे हैं। भारत आज जापान, इजराईल, रूस, यूएई एवं अमेरिका जैसे देशों का रणनीतिक साझीदार है। साथ ही, भारत के सम्बंध अब चीन के साथ भी सामान्य हो रहे है। भारत आज वैश्विक दक्षिणी क्षेत्र की आवाज बन रहा है क्योंकि विश्व के कई देशों का अब चीन पर भरोसा नहीं रहा है। भारत आज जी-20 देशों के समूह का भी सदस्य है, तो जी-7 देशों के समूह एवं वैश्विक दक्षिणी क्षेत्र के बीच एक पुल का काम करता हुए भी दिखाई दे रहा है। भारत एससीओ का भी सदस्य है तो ब्रिक्स का भी सदस्य है। साथ ही, भारत क्वाड का भी सदस्य है। इस प्रकार, भारत आज विश्व के लगभग समस्त महत्वपूर्ण समूहों का सदस्य है एवं भारत के विश्व के लगभग समस्त देशों के साथ बहुत अच्छे, सौहार्दपूर्ण, व्यावसायिक एवं व्यावहारिक सम्बंध हैं। इसी कारण से ही कुशल भारतीय युवाओं की मांग आज पूरे विश्व में कई देशों द्वारा की जा रही है।

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India’s Growing PNG Infrastructure

Piped Natural Gas is delivered directly to households through the City Gas Distribution network. The CGD system consists of transmission-linked distribution infrastructure, steel and MDPE pipelines, service lines, meters, regulators and other associated facilities supplying gas to domestic, commercial and industrial consumers.
India has made significant progress in expanding this infrastructure. PNGRB data show that the country had 17,546,911 domestic PNG connections as of July 2026, while the Government of India reported approximately 1.74 crore domestic PNG connections as of 18 August 2026. PNGRB has authorised CGD entities across 309 Geographical Areas (GAs) covering the mainland of India.
However, the existing base remains considerably below the long-term potential of the sector. PNGRB’s Minimum Work Programme has set an ambitious target of approximately 12.63 crore domestic PNG connections, along with extensive pipeline and CNG infrastructure expansion.
This gap demonstrates the scale of the opportunity. India is no longer at the stage where the primary challenge is simply identifying the importance of CGD. The challenge is now to accelerate network penetration, household conversion and active consumption.

From Infrastructure Creation to Active Connections

One of the central challenges of the PNG sector is the difference between a connection being technically available and a household actually becoming an active consumer.
A pipeline may reach a residential society or neighbourhood, but individual households may not immediately begin using PNG. Delays can arise because of installation costs, consumer awareness, tenancy arrangements, household preferences, technical processes or uncertainty about the economics of conversion.
The new incentive scheme directly addresses this issue.
Under the scheme, eligible CGD entities receive an additional allocation of 200 Standard Cubic Metres (SCM) of domestically produced, lower-priced APM gas for every incremental billed domestic PNG connection achieved above the threshold prescribed for the respective Geographical Area. The scheme is structured in two tranches over a six-month performance period.
The economic mechanism is particularly important. CGD entities currently procure LNG for part of their transport-sector requirements. The additional APM gas allocation can substitute for relatively costlier LNG, thereby reducing the overall gas-sourcing cost of the participating entity. According to the government, this can potentially reduce the payback period on domestic PNG connection-related capital expenditure from around 10 years to approximately three years.
This creates an important alignment between private-sector economics and public policy objectives. In other words, the government is not merely subsidising connections. It is attempting to improve the commercial case for CGD companies to invest more aggressively in household PNG expansion.

Why the Incentive Architecture Matters

Infrastructure projects require significant upfront investment, while financial returns often accumulate gradually. This is particularly true for household gas distribution because consumption per individual domestic connection is relatively small compared with industrial consumers.
The incentive mechanism therefore addresses a classic infrastructure challenge: high initial capital expenditure combined with a long payback period.
If the additional gas allocation materially improves the economics of incremental domestic connections, CGD companies can potentially accelerate last-mile pipeline expansion, conversion of unbilled connections, household activation, customer acquisition and network utilisation.
The policy therefore has the potential to create a multiplier effect. More active customers improve network utilisation; higher utilisation improves asset economics; improved economics can support further network expansion.
This creates the possibility of a positive cycle of infrastructure → connection → consumption → better utilisation → further investment.

PNG and the Clean Cooking Transition

The household-energy dimension makes the scheme particularly relevant from a public-policy perspective.
The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 2.1 billion people globally still cook using polluting fuels and inefficient technologies, including biomass, coal and kerosene. Household air pollution was associated with an estimated 2.9 million premature deaths in 2021, with women and children facing particularly high exposure because of their greater involvement and time spent around household cooking activities.
Natural gas is recognised by WHO as one of the cleaner household cooking options, alongside electricity, LPG, biogas and other qualifying technologies.
For India, therefore, the expansion of modern cooking energy is not simply an energy-market issue. It is connected with public health, household welfare, gender outcomes, productivity and urban liveability.
PNG offers several practical advantages. Households do not need to store cylinders or arrange periodic cylinder deliveries. Gas is supplied through an underground distribution system and consumption is measured through a meter. For households with reliable network access, this can provide greater convenience and continuity of supply.
At the same time, policy communication should remain balanced. Natural gas is cleaner at the point of use than many traditional solid fuels, but it remains a fossil fuel. Consequently, PNG should be viewed as an important part of India’s energy-transition pathway, rather than the ultimate endpoint of decarbonisation.

PNG and India’s Emerging Gas Economy

The expansion of household PNG is also connected to India’s wider ambition to increase the role of natural gas in the economy.
The International Energy Agency estimates that India’s natural gas consumption could increase by nearly 60% between 2023 and 2030, reaching around 103 billion cubic metres annually by 2030. The CGD sector is expected to be one of the principal drivers of this growth.
The IEA also highlights an important structural challenge. India’s domestic natural gas production met approximately half of demand in 2023, but domestic production is expected to grow only moderately through 2030. Consequently, LNG imports are projected to increase substantially, potentially reaching around 64–65 bcm annually by 2030.
This creates an important policy consideration.
India must expand natural gas infrastructure while simultaneously ensuring that increasing gas demand does not create excessive vulnerability to international LNG price volatility.
The answer lies in diversification—greater domestic production, strategic LNG procurement, improved pipeline infrastructure, energy efficiency and the gradual integration of alternative gases such as biomethane and compressed biogas.

The Role of State Governments

The success of PNG expansion cannot depend on the Union Government and CGD companies alone.
State-level taxation, permissions, road restoration requirements, right-of-way processes and municipal approvals can substantially influence the cost and speed of network development.
The government is encouraging states to rationalise VAT on natural gas towards 5%, with several states already taking steps in this direction. Lower taxation can improve the affordability of PNG for consumers and strengthen its competitiveness with alternative fuels.
Similarly, faster regulatory approvals and standardised processes for pipeline development can reduce project delays.
This highlights a larger principle of infrastructure policy: energy transition requires institutional coordination as much as financial investment.
The Centre, states, municipal authorities, regulators and CGD entities must work within a predictable framework if India is to realise the full potential of its CGD network.

The Importance of Consumer-Centric Digitalisation

The next stage of PNG expansion should also be driven by digital public infrastructure.
The government is developing a Unified PNG Registration Portal to provide a single-window mechanism for applying for and tracking domestic PNG connections.
Such a platform can reduce friction for consumers by allowing them to monitor applications, installation status, documentation and service requests digitally.
For policy effectiveness, however, digitalisation should go beyond registration.
A future platform could provide consumers with transparent information on connection charges, applicable tariffs, monthly consumption, billing history, complaint resolution, safety guidelines, estimated conversion costs and comparative household energy expenditure.
Such transparency can increase consumer confidence and reduce uncertainty during the transition from LPG or other fuels to PNG.

Learning from PNG Drive 2.0

The incentive scheme also builds on the momentum created by the government’s National PNG Drive 2.0, conducted from January to June 2026 to accelerate domestic PNG adoption across Geographical Areas. The campaign is part of a broader effort to move the sector from network creation towards household-level adoption.
This progression is significant.
Policy campaigns can generate awareness and registrations, while economic incentives can encourage CGD entities to invest in the infrastructure required to fulfil that demand.
The most effective approach therefore combines consumer awareness + infrastructure + regulatory facilitation + commercial incentives.

Policy Priorities for the Next Phase

The new incentive scheme is a positive step, but its long-term impact will depend on how outcomes are measured.
First, policy evaluation should focus on active billed consumers rather than connections alone. A connection that remains unused provides limited economic or social value.
Second, the government should track GA-wise performance to identify regions where infrastructure expansion is commercially viable but household adoption remains weak.
Third, affordability must remain central. Lower VAT, transparent tariffs and reasonable connection charges can improve household adoption.
Fourth, safety and service quality should receive equal attention. Rapid expansion should not compromise technical standards, maintenance or consumer safety.
Fifth, India should begin preparing CGD networks for a gradually diversified gas future. Biomethane, compressed biogas and potentially hydrogen blending could become relevant components of the long-term gas ecosystem. Government-supported research has already demonstrated the technical potential of hydrogen blending in PNG networks under controlled conditions.
Finally, the scheme should be evaluated on the basis of additionality—that is, how many incremental connections were created because of the incentive rather than connections that would have occurred anyway.

PNG Within the Viksit Bharat 2047 Vision

The Viksit Bharat 2047 vision is fundamentally about building an India that is economically stronger, socially inclusive, technologically advanced and supported by modern infrastructure.
Clean and reliable household energy is an important component of that vision.
India already has a massive LPG ecosystem. PPAC reports approximately 329.95 million active domestic LPG connections and 105.73 million PMUY connections as of August 2026. Therefore, the future of household energy should not be framed as a simple contest between LPG and PNG.
Instead, India should pursue a multi-fuel clean-cooking strategy.
PNG can play a particularly strong role in cities, apartment complexes, industrialising urban centres and areas where CGD infrastructure can be developed economically. LPG will continue to remain important in areas where pipeline networks are not practical, while electricity, biogas and other clean technologies can complement both.
The objective should be to provide every household with safe, affordable, reliable and cleaner cooking choices.The Incentive Scheme for Promotion of Domestic PNG Connections represents an important evolution in India’s CGD policy. Its most significant contribution is the attempt to align the commercial incentives of CGD companies with the national objective of expanding clean household energy. By linking incremental billed connections with additional APM gas allocation, the scheme seeks to address one of the key economic barriers to domestic PNG expansion.
With approximately 1.74 crore domestic PNG connections already in place, 309 authorised Geographical Areas and a long-term PNGRB target of around 12.63 crore connections, the scale of India’s future PNG opportunity is enormous.
But the ultimate measure of success will not be the number of kilometres of pipeline laid or connections technically installed.
The real measure will be the number of Indian households that actually use PNG regularly, affordably and safely.
For Viksit Bharat 2047, that is the larger policy lesson: infrastructure becomes meaningful when it improves everyday life.
The transition from LPG cylinders and traditional fuels towards convenient piped energy, where economically and technically appropriate, can contribute to cleaner kitchens, more efficient urban infrastructure and a more resilient energy system.
The new incentive scheme can therefore be viewed not merely as a gas-sector intervention, but as part of a broader strategy to build a cleaner, connected and energy-secure India.
As India moves towards 2047, the objective should be clear: expanding access, improving affordability, strengthening energy security and ensuring that every infrastructure investment ultimately delivers measurable value to the citizen.

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This changing energy landscape makes the oil and gas sector strategically important even as India accelerates renewable energy deployment. In June 2025, non-fossil sources accounted for 50% of India’s cumulative installed electricity capacity, five years ahead of the country’s 2030 target under its Nationally Determined Contribution. Yet electricity capacity and total primary energy consumption are different measures. Coal, oil and natural gas continue to provide the majority of India’s overall energy supply.

Within this broader system, natural gas has an important role to play. It can support industrial competitiveness, urban energy access, transport diversification and the integration of variable renewable energy while India simultaneously develops solar, wind, nuclear, hydrogen, bioenergy and energy-storage systems.

Natural Gas and India’s Energy-Mix Ambition

The Government of India has set a policy objective of increasing natural gas’s share in the country’s primary energy mix from approximately 6.7% to 15% by 2030. The ambition is significant because the global average share of natural gas in primary energy has historically been considerably higher than India’s level.

The challenge, however, is not simply to increase gas consumption. India must develop a competitive and resilient gas ecosystem covering domestic production, LNG imports, pipelines, city gas distribution, storage, markets and end-use infrastructure.

The scale of the opportunity is illustrated by the IEA’s India Gas Market Report: Outlook to 2030, published in February 2025. The report forecasts Indian natural gas demand to rise by almost 60% between 2023 and 2030, reaching approximately 103 billion cubic metres annually by the end of the decade. Natural gas demand had already increased by more than 10% in both 2023 and 2024, according to the IEA.

India’s domestic gas market has also expanded materially. According to the Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell, natural gas consumption increased from approximately 60 billion cubic metres in 2022-23 to 67.5 billion cubic metres in 2023-24. In 2024-25, consumption increased further to approximately 72.3 billion cubic metres, while gross domestic production was around 36 billion cubic metres.

This gap between domestic production and consumption demonstrates why LNG will remain an important part of India’s energy security architecture.

PNG: Bringing Natural Gas to the Consumer

One of the most visible dimensions of India’s gas transition is the expansion of Piped Natural Gas, or PNG.

Unlike fuels delivered through individual cylinders or liquid fuels transported by road, PNG creates a continuous energy-delivery system connected directly to consumers. It can serve households, commercial establishments and industrial users.

The scale of the City Gas Distribution expansion is substantial. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board, or PNGRB, has authorised CGD development across 307 Geographical Areas, covering nearly the entire mainland of India and reaching around 784 districts across 34 States and Union Territories. The infrastructure continues to expand rapidly.

As of 31 January 2026, PNGRB reported approximately 1.62 crore domestic PNG connections and 8,616 CNG stations, together with approximately 6.30 lakh inch-km of CGD pipeline infrastructure.

By July 2026, PNGRB data indicated approximately 1.75 crore domestic PNG connections and 9,096 CNG stations.

The long-term target is much larger. PNGRB’s Minimum Work Programme envisages around 12.63 crore PNG domestic connections, 18,336 CNG stations and 5.46 lakh inch-km of CGD pipeline infrastructure by 2034.

This means that the next phase of the gas transition will be less about introducing gas only into India’s largest metropolitan centres and more about achieving reliable last-mile connectivity across emerging cities, industrial clusters and smaller urban markets.

CNG and the Transformation of Urban Mobility

CNG represents another important application of natural gas. India’s transport sector is simultaneously moving toward electric mobility, biofuels and other low-carbon technologies. CNG therefore should not be viewed as the only solution to transport decarisation.

Nevertheless, it has an important role in segments where battery-electric solutions may take longer to scale, particularly in commercial fleets, buses, taxis and high-utilisation urban vehicles.

The expansion of CNG infrastructure demonstrates the changing character of urban energy systems. More than 9,000 CNG stations were already operating by July 2026, according to PNGRB.

The policy challenge is to ensure that CNG expansion is economically efficient and does not lock capital into infrastructure that becomes underutilised as electric mobility accelerates. This calls for a differentiated approach: passenger vehicles may electrify rapidly, while heavy-duty transport, long-distance freight and other high-utilisation segments may require a portfolio involving CNG, LNG, bio-CNG, hydrogen and electricity.

LNG: The International Dimension of India’s Gas Security

Liquefied Natural Gas is strategically important because India cannot currently meet all of its natural gas requirements through domestic production. PPAC data show that LNG imports increased from approximately 26.3 billion cubic metres in 2022-23 to 31.8 billion cubic metres in 2023-24. Natural gas import dependence, based on consumption, reached around 47% in 2023-24 and approximately 50% in 2024-25.

This dependence creates both an opportunity and a vulnerability. LNG provides India access to a geographically diversified global gas market. Cargoes can be sourced from different producing regions, allowing India to reduce dependence on any single supplier. At the same time, LNG prices are influenced by global demand, weather, geopolitical developments, shipping costs, liquefaction capacity and competition from markets in Asia and Europe.

Consequently, the expansion of LNG infrastructure must be accompanied by a broader energy-security strategy. India currently has eight operational LNG terminals with combined regasification capacity of approximately 52.7 million tonnes per annum, according to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. PNGRB data also show that utilisation varies substantially among terminals, indicating that increasing capacity alone does not automatically translate into greater gas consumption.

The more important objective is therefore to create an integrated system connecting LNG terminals with the national pipeline network and demand centres.

From Regional Pipelines to a National Gas Grid

Infrastructure is the physical foundation of India’s gas economy. PNGRB data show that by December 2025 approximately 34,273 km of natural gas pipelines had been authorised, of which around 27,427 km were operational. This represents a major transformation from the fragmented pipeline network that existed in earlier decades.

The concept of “One Nation, One Gas Grid” is particularly important because India’s gas resources and demand centres are geographically separated. LNG terminals are concentrated along coastal regions, while domestic production comes from specific sedimentary basins. Major industrial and consumption centres are distributed across the country.

A national pipeline system can therefore improve connectivity between sources and consumers. The introduction of a unified tariff framework is another important institutional development. PNGRB implemented unified tariff arrangements to reduce the disadvantage faced by consumers located far from major gas sources and to support the creation of a more integrated national market.

The strategic objective is not simply to build more kilometres of pipeline. It is to improve utilisation, connectivity, market access and affordability.

Natural Gas and Industrial Competitiveness

Natural gas has applications across fertiliser, refining, petrochemicals, ceramics, glass, steel, city gas, food processing and other industries. For industrial users, energy costs directly influence international competitiveness. Reliable gas supply can also reduce dependence on more carbon-intensive liquid fuels in applications where switching is technically and economically feasible.

The IEA expects industrial activity to remain one of the principal drivers of India’s energy-demand growth through 2030. This creates a substantial potential market for natural gas, particularly where gas can substitute for higher-emission fuels without undermining cost competitiveness.

However, affordability remains critical. Imported LNG can become expensive during periods of tight global supply. Therefore, India’s gas strategy must combine domestic production, long-term LNG contracts, spot-market procurement, diversified suppliers, pipeline connectivity and efficient gas markets.

Domestic Production and Energy Security

Increasing domestic natural gas production is one of the most important requirements for India’s 15% gas-share ambition. PPAC data indicate that gross domestic natural gas production increased from approximately 28.7 billion cubic metres in 2020-21 to around 36 billion cubic metres in 2023-24. Yet production growth has not been sufficient to eliminate import dependence.

India has consequently pursued exploration and production reforms, including the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy and the Open Acreage Licensing Policy. By August 2025, 172 exploration blocks covering approximately 378,652 square kilometres had been awarded under OALP rounds I to IX, while OALP Round X offered another 25 blocks covering approximately 191,986 square kilometres.

The objective should be to improve the conversion of geological potential into commercially viable production while maintaining appropriate environmental and safety standards. Greater domestic production would strengthen energy security, reduce exposure to international LNG prices and retain more economic value within India.

Safety, Technology and Skilled Human Capital

The expansion of gas infrastructure creates another strategic requirement: safety. Natural gas pipelines, LNG terminals, CGD networks and CNG stations operate within technically complex environments. The quality of engineering, welding, inspection, corrosion management, pressure testing, emergency response and integrity management directly affects public safety and system reliability.

PNGRB has established Technical Standards and Specifications, including safety standards, covering natural gas pipelines, CGD networks, LNG facilities and other downstream infrastructure. Its framework includes pipeline integrity management, third-party conformity assessment and emergency response and disaster-management requirements.

The scale of future infrastructure therefore creates demand for engineers, inspectors, safety professionals, technicians, data specialists and skilled operations personnel.

India’s gas transition is consequently not only an energy transition. It is also a technology, infrastructure and human-capital transition.

Natural Gas and the Green Transition

Natural gas should neither be presented as a permanent substitute for renewable energy nor dismissed as irrelevant to the energy transition. Its role needs to be assessed pragmatically. India is targeting 500 GW of non-fossil electricity capacity by 2030 and has committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070. At the same time, electricity demand is growing rapidly and renewable generation is variable.

The IEA expects solar PV to meet around half of India’s additional electricity-demand growth through 2030, while coal, wind, nuclear, hydropower and gas provide the remainder. This suggests that India’s future energy system will be diversified rather than dependent on a single technology.

Gas-fired power generation may have a role in providing flexibility during periods when renewable output is insufficient, although the economics of gas-based power remain challenging when LNG prices are high.

The environmental case for natural gas must also be considered carefully. Gas combustion generally produces less carbon dioxide per unit of energy than coal, but methane leakage across the gas and LNG value chain can materially affect climate performance. The IEA has highlighted the importance of methane abatement, reducing flaring, improving process efficiency and addressing emissions across production, transmission, liquefaction, shipping and regasification.

Therefore, a credible gas strategy must include methane measurement, leak detection and repair, improved operational efficiency and stronger emissions management.

Preparing Gas Infrastructure for the Future

An important strategic question is whether today’s gas infrastructure can support tomorrow’s low-carbon economy. There is growing interest in hydrogen blending, renewable gases, biomethane and compressed biogas. PNGRB has examined regulatory and technical requirements associated with hydrogen blending in natural gas pipelines, including potential modifications to technical and integrity-management standards.

This creates the possibility that parts of the gas infrastructure developed during the 2020s could eventually become components of a broader multi-molecule energy network. Such an approach could improve the long-term value of infrastructure investment, provided technical standards, economics and safety requirements are rigorously evaluated.

Energy Infrastructure for Viksit Bharat 2047

The central lesson from India’s energy journey is that the transition cannot be reduced to a choice between fossil fuels and renewables. India needs energy security, affordability, reliability and sustainability simultaneously. Natural gas, PNG and LNG can contribute to this objective by diversifying the energy mix, strengthening industrial competitiveness, supporting cleaner urban fuel systems and providing flexibility as renewable energy expands.

But natural gas must be developed within a wider energy architecture that includes solar, wind, hydro, nuclear, bioenergy, green hydrogen, electric mobility, energy storage and energy efficiency. For Viksit Bharat 2047, the strategic priority should therefore be an integrated energy system rather than fuel-by-fuel policymaking.

The evidence already points toward a major transformation. Natural gas consumption has risen substantially; domestic production has expanded; LNG infrastructure has grown; the national pipeline network is approaching a truly integrated grid; and CGD infrastructure is reaching hundreds of geographical areas and districts.

The next challenge is quality of expansion.

India will need to ensure that every kilometre of pipeline is safe, every LNG terminal is efficiently utilised, every gas connection is economically viable, domestic production becomes more competitive, LNG procurement is diversified, methane emissions are controlled and skilled manpower keeps pace with infrastructure growth.

Natural gas is unlikely to be the final destination of India’s energy transition. Nor should it be treated as merely a transitional fuel with no strategic significance. Its more important role is as a flexible component of India’s evolving energy architecture.

As India moves toward Viksit Bharat 2047, the real objective should be to create an energy system that is resilient enough to withstand global shocks, affordable enough to support inclusive growth, flexible enough to integrate new technologies and sustainable enough to support India’s long-term climate commitments.

India’s energy story, therefore, is ultimately not just about oil, gas or electricity. It is about building the infrastructure, institutions, technology, skills and strategic capabilities required to power a large and increasingly sophisticated economy. The expansion of PNG, CNG, LNG and natural-gas pipelines represents one important chapter in that larger national journey.

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By Sanskriti Agrawal and Ashis Dikshit

Over the past decade, India’s approach to disability inclusion has undergone a quiet but deliberate transformation. The Government’s shift in public discourse from the outdated term “Viklang” to the more empowering “Divyang” reflects a larger commitment to dignity, respect and equal participation. This commitment has been backed by real measures, from the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, to the Accessible India Campaign and concessions on assistive devices. That foundation is now strong enough to support the next stage of reform. A closer look at how the tax code treats two everyday aids shows exactly where that next stage could begin.

A wheelchair and a screen reader do very different jobs: one lets a person move, the other lets a person work, study, or argue a case in court. Indian tax law treats them very differently. Wheel a chair through customs and it mostly escapes duty, protected by a standing exemption that leaves only 5% IGST to pay. But the screen-reading software that lets a visually impaired law graduate use her degree is taxed at the standard 18% rate charged on ordinary business software, the same rate you’d pay for accounting software. India’s GST framework already offers real relief: hearing aids are fully exempt, while wheelchairs, artificial limbs and specified Braille-related assistive devices attract a concessional 5% GST rate. It’s a good start that was never finished. Closing the gap doesn’t need a new philosophy, just three changes: tax assistive software at the same concessional rate as physical aids; give disability-device manufacturers faster access to the tax credit refunds they’re already owed; and free the income-tax deductions meant for disabled people and their caregivers from the Old Tax Regime, so families no longer have to trade away simplicity for a benefit that was built for them.

Look past the price tag on the finished chair, though, and a second, quieter problem appears. The aluminium, motors, microprocessors and batteries that go into a wheelchair are taxed at the standard industrial rate of 18%, while the assembled product sells at just 5%. That mismatch, an “inverted duty structure”, isn’t meant to be a crisis: manufacturers can legally claim back the difference as an input tax credit, and the GST Council has acknowledged the problem in its own refund guidance. In practice, though, refunds move slowly enough that an imported, duty-exempt wheelchair can often reach the market faster and cheaper than one assembled in Coimbatore or Pune. The Government’s underlying logic is sound: exempting the finished product outright, rather than taxing it at 5%, would strip manufacturers of the right to claim credit at all, which could push prices up rather than down. What would help most is not a change in policy design, but faster and more predictable refund processing.

Step outside the tax code, and the human cost is harder to ignore. A 2023 study in PLOS ONE, drawing on the Government’s 76th National Sample Survey, found that households with a disabled member spend, on average, ₹2,477 a month out of pocket on related care, over a fifth of everything they spend. For more than half of these families, that spending crosses into what researchers call a crisis level, and nearly one in five families that were above the poverty line before a member needed treatment fell below it afterward. It’s the poorest households, not the wealthiest, who give up the largest share of their income to this, even though richer families spend more in absolute rupees. The concessions that exist today help every family a little. They don’t yet help the poorest family enough.

There is real relief on the income-tax side too. Section 80U provides a flat deduction of ₹75,000 for a person with a disability and ₹1,25,000 for a person with a severe disability, while Section 80DD provides a corresponding deduction to taxpayers who incur expenses for the maintenance and medical treatment of a dependent with a disability. The catch is structural: these deductions only apply under the Old Tax Regime, even as the New Regime is now the default most taxpayers are nudged toward. A family raising a child with cerebral palsy has to actively opt out of the simpler, more convenient system just to keep a benefit that was designed for them in the first place.

India isn’t alone in wrestling with this, and it doesn’t have to solve it from scratch. Canada zero-rates a wide range of medical and assistive devices under its GST/HST system, so a disabled person pays no consumption tax on an eligible aid while the supplier still keeps the right to claim input credit, solving, in one stroke, the exact inversion problem Indian manufacturers face. The UK goes further on scope, extending VAT relief to goods and services bought by disabled people for personal use, treating a support worker’s help the same way it treats a wheelchair. And Australia’s GST-free list includes supports delivered under its National Disability Insurance Scheme, recognising that a service can be as essential as a device. None of this requires India to import a foreign system wholesale. It points to one simple principle: tax should never be the reason someone can’t participate. A screen reader, a physiotherapy session, a wheelchair, treated as three different categories today, are, to the person using them, the same thing: the price of equal access.

Economists have a name for part of this problem: Amartya Sen called it the “conversion handicap”, the extra resources a disabled person needs just to convert the same income into the same quality of life everyone else takes for granted. In India, that gap has been estimated at 12–26% of a household’s total spending. The Constitution asks the state to provide for the disabled “within the limits of its economic capacity”, and while that capacity has grown enormously since 1950, the fine print hasn’t kept pace. Unlike that aspirational promise, the Constitution’s guarantees of equality before the law and equal opportunity in employment are meant to be enforceable, not aspirational. A tax code that continues to treat a wheelchair and a screen reader as different categories of urgency has an opportunity to align more fully with the equal footing envisaged by the Constitution and advanced by the Government’s own policy direction.

The case for reform is ultimately practical: a tax system should make independence more affordable, not more complicated. Bringing assistive software within concessional GST treatment, ensuring timely input-tax-credit refunds for domestic manufacturers, and making disability-related income-tax deductions available under either tax regime would convert existing support into easier access in everyday life. These targeted measures would help lower costs for families, strengthen Indian production of assistive technologies, and enable more Divyangjan to study, work and participate on equal terms. In doing so, they would give concrete fiscal expression to India’s wider commitment to inclusion and help advance the promise of a Viksit Bharat in which no Divyangjan is left behind.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views, positions or policies of Vision Viksit Bharat Policy & Research Centre. The article represents the independent perspectives of the writers.

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Sanskriti Agrawal is a GRAAM Embark India Development Fellow. Her research focuses on disability-inclusive public policy, budgeting, corporate governance, and implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. 

Ashis Dikshit is a Project Coordinator at Central Square Foundation, supporting the monitoring and governance of the NIPUN Odisha programme. He is a former YLAC Breaking Barriers Fellow, where his research focused on the burden of caregiving for persons with disabilities and disability-inclusive public policy. He holds an MBA from XIM University, Bhubaneswar. 

The post The Disability Tax: Why It Costs More to Be Included appeared first on VisionViksitBharat.

Lets know how timely credit support can protect enterprises, jobs and supply chains while strengthening India’s path towards Viksit Bharat.

India’s economic ambition is no longer defined only by how rapidly the economy grows, but increasingly by how resilient that growth remains when the global environment becomes uncertain.

Geopolitical tensions, disruptions in shipping routes, volatile energy prices, supply-chain interruptions and sudden changes in global demand can transmit shocks rapidly into the balance sheets of Indian businesses. For a large company, a temporary liquidity squeeze may be manageable. For a small manufacturer, exporter, logistics operator or service enterprise, the same shock can threaten payrolls, inventories, supplier payments and ultimately the survival of the business. This is where the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) 5.0 assumes significance.

Approved by the Union Cabinet on 5 May 2026, ECLGS 5.0 is designed to provide additional credit to eligible businesses facing short-term liquidity pressures arising from external disruptions. Implemented through the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC), the scheme seeks to reduce the risk borne by lending institutions and facilitate additional working-capital finance. Its overall target is up to ₹2.55 lakh crore of additional credit flow, including ₹5,000 crore earmarked for airlines. The deeper policy significance is larger than the headline number.

ECLGS 5.0 represents a shift from crisis management towards institutionalised economic resilience. It recognises that maintaining productive capacity during a shock can be as important as stimulating new investment during normal times.

Why business resilience matters for Viksit Bharat

The vision of Viksit Bharat requires India to sustain high economic growth while expanding productive capacity, employment, exports, entrepreneurship and technological capability. That objective depends heavily on the ability of India’s enterprises to withstand temporary disruptions.

The MSME sector is particularly important in this equation. According to the Ministry of MSME Annual Report 2025–26, MSMEs contribute around 31.1% of India’s GDP and more than 48.5% of India’s exports. This means that an interruption at the enterprise level can become a macroeconomic problem.

A manufacturer unable to finance raw materials may reduce production. A logistics company facing a temporary cash-flow gap may reduce fleet utilisation. An exporter facing delayed receivables may struggle to pay workers and suppliers. A small services firm may postpone hiring or investment.

The chain reaction can look like:

External shock → liquidity pressure → reduced production → delayed payments → employment pressure → supply-chain disruption → slower growth

Timely credit can interrupt this chain. That is the central economic logic behind ECLGS 5.0.

From pandemic emergency to resilience architecture

ECLGS was originally introduced in 2020 under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat package, when the COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented interruption to economic activity.

The original policy problem was straightforward: otherwise viable businesses were facing an extraordinary temporary shock, but lenders were understandably reluctant to expand exposure when uncertainty and default risks were elevated.

The government therefore used credit guarantees as a risk-sharing mechanism.

Rather than directly lending to every affected business, the government enabled financial institutions to lend by providing guarantee support against specified credit risk.

The architecture subsequently evolved:

The cumulative scale of the earlier programme provides important evidence of the role of credit guarantees in a crisis. By the end of the earlier phases, 1.19 crore guarantees amounting to approximately ₹3.68 lakh crore had been issued. The schemes concluded on 31 March 2023.

An earlier government assessment also cited an SBI research finding that approximately 14.6 lakh MSME accounts were saved from distress, including restructured accounts, with about 98.3% belonging to micro and small enterprises. Another estimate indicated that around ₹2.2 lakh crore of MSME loan accounts improved, equivalent to roughly 12% of outstanding MSME credit being protected from slipping into NPA classification.

These figures illustrate an important lesson:

A credit guarantee can have an economic multiplier effect because it protects not only the borrower, but also the lender, employees, suppliers and the wider production ecosystem.

ECLGS 5.0: What has changed?

ECLGS 5.0 has been designed specifically around the liquidity challenges generated by external disruptions.

The scheme is available until 31 March 2027, or until the ₹2.55 lakh crore guarantee limit is reached, whichever occurs earlier. It covers eligible MSMEs, non-MSME business borrowers and scheduled passenger airlines.

For MSMEs and eligible non-MSMEs:

• Eligible borrowers must have existing working-capital facilities as of 31 March 2026.
• Repayments should not have been overdue by more than 60 days under the prescribed conditions.
• MSMEs across sectors are eligible subject to the scheme’s requirements.
• Certain sectors are excluded for eligible non-MSME borrowers.
• Eligible MSMEs receive 100% guarantee coverage, while eligible non-MSMEs receive 90% coverage.
• Additional credit can generally reach 20% of peak fund-based working-capital outstanding during Q4 FY2025–26, subject to a ₹100 crore ceiling per borrower.
• The scheme provides regulated pricing parameters, with the rate for eligible MSME loans linked to EBLR and eligible non-MSME loans linked to MCLR, subject to prescribed ceilings.
• The standard loan tenure is five years, including a one-year moratorium.

For scheduled passenger airlines, the structure is different because of the scale and capital intensity of the industry. Eligible airlines can receive additional credit of up to 100%, subject to a ₹1,500 crore ceiling per borrower, with additional equity requirements for amounts above ₹1,000 crore. The tenure can extend to seven years, including a two-year moratorium.

This sectoral differentiation is significant. It demonstrates that ECLGS 5.0 is not simply a one-size-fits-all credit programme. It attempts to match the financing mechanism with the scale and nature of the shock.

The speed of implementation is itself a policy achievement

The strongest evidence of early adoption comes from the programme’s actual utilisation.

As of 20 August 2026, ECLGS 5.0 had issued 6,73,979 guarantees, covering a guaranteed amount of ₹2,50,024 crore. MSMEs represented 97.3% of guarantees by number and 80.79% by guaranteed amount. This is remarkable when viewed against the programme’s overall ceiling.

The pace is particularly notable because the scheme was approved only in May 2026.

By July 2026, the government had already reported 4,11,497 guarantees worth ₹1,55,229 crore, with around 98% of guarantees by number benefiting MSMEs. The subsequent increase to ₹2.50 lakh crore by 20 August indicates how rapidly the facility was absorbed.

Why MSMEs are at the centre of the strategy

The concentration of ECLGS 5.0 support among MSMEs is economically logical. MSMEs frequently operate with thinner liquidity buffers than large corporations. Their access to capital markets is limited, and working-capital finance from banks and NBFCs can be critical for inventory, wages, receivables and supplier payments.

The broader credit environment also demonstrates strong demand. The Economic Survey 2025–26 reported that bank credit to the MSME sector increased 21.8% year-on-year in November 2025, compared with 13% a year earlier. Credit to micro and small enterprises grew even faster, at 24.6% year-on-year.

RBI data show that outstanding scheduled-commercial-bank credit to MSMEs increased from approximately ₹27.3 lakh crore in FY2023–24 to ₹31.3 lakh crore in FY2024–25, while the number of MSME credit accounts remained in the hundreds of lakhs. ECLGS therefore does not operate in isolation. It is part of a broader movement towards deeper institutional credit penetration among India’s smaller enterprises.

From collateral constraints to risk-sharing

One of the most important features of the guarantee model is that it changes the risk equation for lenders.

In conventional lending, a bank must evaluate:

Probability of default × exposure × loss given default

During a systemic or external shock, perceived default probability can rise sharply even for businesses that were fundamentally viable before the disruption.

The result can be a classic credit-market problem:

Businesses need more liquidity precisely when lenders become more cautious.

Government-backed guarantees partially bridge this gap. By absorbing specified credit losses, the guarantee reduces the effective risk borne by the lending institution. This can encourage banks and financial institutions to maintain the flow of credit rather than respond to uncertainty with a broad withdrawal of financing.

The policy therefore works through a form of public-private risk sharing:

Government guarantee → lower lender risk → greater willingness to lend → enterprise liquidity → continued production → employment and supply-chain continuity

That is why ECLGS should not be viewed merely as a loan scheme. It is a financial-stability instrument aimed at preserving productive capacity.

Credit support as supply-chain policy

The impact of ECLGS extends beyond individual borrowers. Consider a manufacturing ecosystem. A small component manufacturer supplies a larger automobile company. That manufacturer purchases steel, electronics, packaging and logistics services from other firms. It also employs workers whose incomes support local consumption.

If the component manufacturer loses working capital because of an external disruption, the initial problem appears to be one firm’s financing. But the actual economic exposure can be much larger. A liquidity shock can move backwards and forwards through the supply chain.

This is why timely working-capital support can function as supply-chain insurance. For India, this has strategic importance. The country is seeking to expand its role in global manufacturing, electronics, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, defence production, textiles, food processing and other internationally integrated sectors. A resilient domestic supplier base is essential to that objective.

ECLGS 5.0 can therefore contribute to a broader national goal:

making Indian supply chains less vulnerable to temporary external shocks.

ECLGS 5.0 and the idea of strategic resilience

The nature of economic risk has changed. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the consequences of a health emergency. The Russia–Ukraine conflict highlighted energy, commodity and food-security vulnerabilities. The disruptions associated with the West Asia situation have once again demonstrated how geopolitical events can influence transport, aviation, energy costs, trade routes and business liquidity.

For an increasingly globalised India, economic resilience cannot mean isolation from the global economy. It means having the financial, institutional and productive capacity to absorb shocks while remaining globally connected.

This is consistent with the broader emphasis of the Economic Survey 2025–26 on strategic resilience and strategic indispensability. The Survey notes that India’s growth potential has strengthened, the banking system is in good health and capital formation remains above 30% of GDP.

The implication is important:

A Viksit Bharat must be not only a larger economy, but a more shock-resistant economy.

Supporting employment without a direct employment subsidy

ECLGS does not operate primarily as an employment subsidy. Its employment effect is more indirect and potentially more durable.

A business that receives timely working capital can continue:

• paying employees;
• purchasing raw materials;
• servicing customers;
• fulfilling export orders;
• maintaining inventory;
• paying suppliers;
• operating machinery; and
• investing in recovery.

In this sense, credit continuity becomes employment continuity. This is especially important for MSMEs because their economic significance extends well beyond their direct contribution to GDP. The Ministry of MSME describes the sector as an important source of employment and entrepreneurship, particularly because it generates economic activity at comparatively lower capital intensity. Protecting the enterprise therefore protects the local economic ecosystem around it.

Digital delivery makes the programme more scalable

Another important dimension is the use of the Jan Samarth Portal and the wider digital financial infrastructure. Digital delivery can reduce information gaps between eligible borrowers and financial institutions, improve awareness and make government-supported credit easier to discover. ECLGS 5.0 has also been accompanied by structured outreach through State Level Bankers’ Committees, banks, NCGTC, PSB Alliance and industry organisations.

The first phase of outreach covered nine locations between 20 May and 6 June 2026, while a second phase is being conducted across additional locations. This matters because a credit guarantee has limited economic value if eligible enterprises do not know about it or cannot navigate the application process.

Policy design + financial infrastructure + digital access + outreach is what turns a guarantee ceiling into actual economic support.

ECLGS 5.0 and India’s broader credit transformation

ECLGS 5.0 arrives at a time when India’s financial system has become significantly more capable of supporting enterprise growth.

The Economic Survey reports that the flow of financial resources to the commercial sector increased from ₹13.6 lakh crore in FY2020 to ₹35.1 lakh crore in FY2025, representing a CAGR of approximately 20.9%. It further reported ₹30.8 lakh crore of such flows during April–December 2025, up 44.7% year-on-year.

Meanwhile, SIDBI has expanded its physical presence significantly. Government data show that SIDBI opened 71 new branches between April 2024 and July 2026, while its direct credit portfolio reached ₹51,687 crore as of 31 March 2026, up 36.8% from ₹37,781 crore a year earlier.

These developments matter because resilience requires more than one emergency scheme. It requires a financial ecosystem capable of continuously connecting enterprises with formal capital.

The macroeconomic context is favourable—but resilience remains necessary

India’s economy entered this period from a position of relative strength. MoSPI’s First Advance Estimates for FY2025–26 projected real GDP growth of 7.4%, compared with 6.5% in FY2024–25. The Economic Survey also described India’s banking system as healthy, with healthy credit intermediation and a strong underlying growth outlook.

This is precisely why targeted credit guarantees can be effective. The objective is not to replace normal market-based credit. It is to prevent an otherwise temporary external shock from permanently damaging productive enterprises. That distinction is fundamental.

Good crisis policy should be temporary and targeted while normal market financing remains the dominant mechanism.

The policy lesson: liquidity can be cheaper than reconstruction

There is a deeper economic principle behind ECLGS 5.0. When a viable business fails because of a temporary liquidity shock, restarting that business later may be significantly more expensive than keeping it operational during the disruption.

Once a firm closes:

• workers may leave;
• customers may move to competitors;
• suppliers may lose confidence;
• machinery may become underutilised;
• export relationships may be lost;
• working capital cycles may collapse; and
• lenders may classify accounts as stressed.

Rebuilding that productive capacity can take years. Providing temporary liquidity can be considerably less costly. Therefore, the policy objective should not be framed simply as “providing loans to businesses.” 

It is more accurately described as:

preserving productive capacity until normal economic conditions return.

What ECLGS 5.0 means for Viksit Bharat

The Viksit Bharat vision rests on several mutually reinforcing pillars:

1. Productive enterprises: India needs millions of enterprises capable of producing competitively for domestic and international markets.

2. Employment: Enterprise continuity supports livelihoods and broad-based income generation.

3. Manufacturing and supply chains: Resilient suppliers are essential to India’s industrial ambitions.

4. Financial inclusion: Smaller businesses must increasingly participate in formal institutional credit.

5. Export competitiveness: Businesses need the ability to withstand temporary volatility in global markets.

6. Strategic resilience: India must be able to absorb external shocks without losing its growth trajectory.

ECLGS 5.0 intersects with all six.

Its importance therefore lies not merely in the ₹2.55 lakh crore headline allocation. Its significance lies in how that credit can prevent temporary disruptions from becoming permanent economic scarring.

The road ahead: from emergency credit to permanent resilience

ECLGS 5.0 also raises several policy questions for the future. First, India should continue strengthening real-time credit assessment using verified digital business data. Second, government guarantee programmes should increasingly be linked with early-warning systems that identify temporary liquidity stress before it becomes insolvency.

Third, MSMEs should receive greater support for financial risk management, including receivables management, insurance, supply-chain diversification and export-risk management. Fourth, credit support should be accompanied by measures that improve enterprise productivity—technology adoption, quality certification, digitalisation, skilling and market access.

Fifth, policymakers should systematically evaluate the scheme not only through the amount of credit guaranteed, but through outcomes such as:

• enterprises surviving shocks;
• jobs retained;
• NPAs avoided;
• production maintained;
• exports protected;
• tax revenues preserved;
• supply chains sustained; and
• subsequent private investment generated.

This would transform ECLGS from an emergency intervention into a source of policy learning for future resilience programmes.

Building a stronger economy by protecting its productive core

India’s economic transformation will not be a straight line. External shocks will continue to emerge—from geopolitics and commodity prices to climate events, global financial conditions, supply-chain disruptions and changes in international demand.

The critical question is not whether India can avoid every shock.It is whether India can absorb those shocks without losing its development momentum. ECLGS 5.0 is an important instrument in that effort.

Its early performance—6.74 lakh guarantees covering ₹2.50 lakh crore by 20 August 2026—demonstrates substantial demand for targeted liquidity support. With MSMEs accounting for 97.3% of guarantees by number, the programme is reaching the segment that sits at the heart of India’s entrepreneurial and supply-chain ecosystem.

The larger lesson is clear. Resilience is a form of economic infrastructure. Roads, ports, power networks and digital systems enable businesses to operate. A resilient financial system ensures that those businesses can continue operating when unexpected shocks occur.

For Viksit Bharat, that resilience will matter enormously. A developed India cannot simply aspire to produce more. It must be capable of protecting productive capacity, sustaining employment, preserving supply chains, expanding formal credit and recovering rapidly from disruption. ECLGS 5.0 contributes to that architecture by putting timely credit behind a simple but powerful economic principle:

When a temporary shock threatens a viable enterprise, protecting liquidity today can protect growth tomorrow.

That is the essence of Strengthening Business Resilience through Timely Credit Support—and an important building block in India’s journey towards a more resilient, competitive and Viksit Bharat.

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Mission Mausam: Institutional Framework and Policy Vision

Mission Mausam was approved by the Union Cabinet on September 11, 2024, with an outlay of ₹2,000 crore over two years, placing the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) in charge of delivery. Rather than creating a new agency, the government chose to channel this funding through India’s existing meteorological institutions — the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) in Noida, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune, and the allied ocean-focused bodies INCOIS and NIOT. This was a deliberate policy choice: rather than build fresh bureaucracy, the mission strengthens institutions that already carry more than a century of scientific credibility and, in IMD’s case, a proven decade-long track record of modernisation since 2014.

The IMD, established in 1875, has more than 150 years of experience and operates through six Regional Meteorological Centres covering the entire country. NCMRWF focuses on medium-range forecasting, particularly relevant to agriculture, while IITM undertakes research on monsoon dynamics, climate modelling, and atmospheric processes. INCOIS and NIOT extend the mission to marine forecasting, ocean observation, and tsunami early-warning systems.

Mission Mausam provides these institutions with dedicated funding, defined targets, and a time-bound implementation framework. Its overarching vision is to make India “Weather Ready” and “Climate Smart” by improving the prediction and management of extreme weather events. Thus, the mission represents not merely a scientific programme but a critical component of national infrastructure, supporting agriculture, disaster management, urban planning, livelihoods, and sustainable development.

The Objectives of Mission Mausam

The government has set out five specific objectives for the mission, each addressing a distinct gap in India’s forecasting capability:

1. Improved forecasting of severe weather hazards at a spatial resolution of about 5 × 5 km by 2030.
2. Dynamic impact-based forecasting and risk-based warnings for all major severe weather events.
3. Strengthened last-mile connectivity to ensure dissemination of early warnings to all, with the objective of reaching each household by 2030; and
4. An improvement of about 10–15% in forecast accuracy by 2030.
5. These initiatives will significantly strengthen the operational forecasting capabilities of IMD and NCMRWF and improve the effectiveness of weather services provided to various sectors and the public.

The goal of Mission Mausam is to be achieved through comprehensive radar coverage, enhanced computing infrastructure, and improved weather and climate modelling. The mission also serves as the operational foundation for the long-term IMD Vision 2047, a roadmap designed to strengthen India weather and climate services through the centenary of independence.

Progress and Achievements Under Mission Mausam

Strip away the launch-day symbolism, and Mission Mausam is best understood as four connected streams of work.

1. Development of physical instrumentation infrastructure:

Under the mission, the government has targeted the commissioning of 53 such radars, alongside 60 Radiosonde/Radiowind stations that sample the upper atmosphere using instrumented weather balloons, 100 disdrometers that measure the size and speed of individual raindrops to distinguish a gentle shower from the kind of intense downpour that triggers flash floods, 10 wind profilers that track wind behaviour at different altitudes, and 25 microwave radiometers that fill in atmospheric moisture and temperature detail satellites can miss. An enlarged Solar Radiation Monitoring Network, new Aerosol and Raman LiDAR installations, additional Skyradiometers, a strengthened Black Carbon Aerosol Network, and new ozone-monitoring stations both within India and at the Maitri and Bharati research stations in Antarctica. According to the government’s most recent public reporting, delivered to the Lok Sabha in March 2026, 48 of the 53 targeted radars were already operational, with the remainder of the equipment list in advanced stages of procurement.

Instrument and Infrastructure Status

2. Establishment of the computing power

India’s two dedicated meteorological supercomputers, Pratyush and Mihir housed at IITM and NCMRWF respectively, and together delivering roughly 6.8 petaflops of processing capacity since their 2018 commissioning already run the country’s seasonal, medium-range, and short-range forecasting models. Mission Mausam adds new mini–High-Performance Computing Systems, a dedicated Radar Data Centre to absorb the flood of new observational data, and Visualization and Decision Support Systems that turn raw model output into usable, real-time hazard maps.

3. Manpower development

New R&D laboratories are being established for tropical cyclones, severe weather, aviation meteorology, and mountain weather, alongside expanded training facilities for the scientists and technicians who will operate this larger, more complex network with a recognition that hardware alone does not improve forecasts without the people trained to interpret it.

4. Delivering Improved Weather Forecasts Directly to Citizens

The “Mausamgram” (Har Har Mausam, Har Ghar Mausam) platform delivering hyperlocal, village-level forecasts with hourly updates for the next 36 hours, three-hourly forecasts for the following five days, and six-hourly forecasts out to ten days searchable by PIN code, location name, or by state, district, block, and gram panchayat, and available in every official Indian language. The second is the Web-GIS based Multi-Hazard Early Warning Decision Support System, built entirely in-house by IMD rather than licensed from an overseas vendor. The government has quantified the savings from that choice explicitly: an estimated ₹250 crore avoided in acquisition costs and ₹5.5 crore in annual maintenance fees, framed directly under the Atmanirbhar Bharat banner. The system went on to win the National Award for e-Governance 2025.

Turning Weather Forecasts into Actionable Decisions

The real value of Mission Mausam lies in converting improved weather observations and forecasts into sector-specific, actionable advisories. For agriculture, better monsoon and short- to medium-range forecasts can support decisions on sowing dates, irrigation scheduling, crop management, and yield planning. They can also strengthen existing crop-insurance mechanisms that depend on localized weather observations, potentially improving the accuracy and timeliness of farmers’ compensation claims.

For water resources, improved seasonal and extended-range forecasts can assist state authorities in reservoir operations, water allocation, and irrigation planning. In disaster management, Mission Mausam’s forecasts and warnings feed into established dissemination systems involving State Emergency Operation Centres and district administrations, helping authorities prepare for events such as floods, cyclones, and severe storms.

The mission also identifies energy and public health as important application areas, although these advisory systems are comparatively less developed. Overall, Mission Mausam seeks to move beyond simply predicting weather to translating forecasts into timely decisions that protect livelihoods, infrastructure, and communities.

A Targeted Focus on the Northeast

Among India’s regions, the government has singled out the Northeast for specific attention within the mission, citing the frequency of monsoon flooding and rainfall-triggered landslides that threaten both livelihoods and infrastructure there. The response has three parts: deploying observation systems specifically adapted to hilly terrain, where standard radar coverage assumptions do not hold; delivering forecasts detailed enough to warn communities before, not after, flooding and landslides occur; and working directly with state governments to integrate weather data into their existing disaster-management planning.

The engineering reality behind this focus is straightforward: a radar placed on open, flat terrain can see storm systems developing across a wide, largely unobstructed radius, while a radar placed among ridges and mountains has its effective range broken up by the very landscape it needs to monitor. Covering the Northeast to the same standard as the Gangetic plains therefore requires either a denser radar grid or more carefully chosen sites that trade horizontal range for vertical line-of-sight with a costlier proposition per square kilometre of effective coverage than deployment almost anywhere else in the country. This region-specific commitment reflects an honest acknowledgement, echoed in the government’s own list of challenges facing the mission, that India’s geographical diversity and its uneven infrastructure gaps require deliberate, targeted investment rather than an assumption that national progress will reach every region evenly.

Mission Mausam Contributes to Viksit Bharat @2047

Mission Mausam sits inside a larger architecture. It is explicitly designed as the operational foundation for IMD Vision 2047, and through that document, it connects directly to the government’s wider Viksit Bharat @2047 framework with the national vision, coordinated by NITI Aayog. Mission Mausam contribution to this vision runs along several distinct lines.

Strengthening the Annadata: Accurate and timely weather forecasts help farmers make better decisions on sowing, irrigation, and harvesting. Mausamgram extends such information to village and gram-panchayat levels in Indian languages.

Protecting Development Gains: Improved warnings and longer forecast lead times can reduce the economic losses caused by cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other extreme events, protecting livelihoods and infrastructure.

Advancing Atmanirbhar Bharat: The development of indigenous meteorological technologies, including the in-house Multi-Hazard Early Warning Decision Support System, strengthens India’s capacity for self-reliance in advanced weather technologies.

Extending Digital India to Weather Services: Multilingual and location-specific platforms such as Mausamgram bring weather information closer to citizens, supporting the government’s vision of accessible and inclusive digital public services.

Strengthening Disaster Management: Mission Mausam integrates improved forecasts and warnings with disaster-management authorities, enabling governments and communities to prepare earlier and respond more effectively to severe weather.

Building Scientific and Industrial Capacity: Investment in research, training, indigenous instruments, sensors, and software development strengthens India’s scientific workforce while creating opportunities for collaboration among institutions, academia, and industry.

Supporting Aviation and Transport: Better forecasting of fog, visibility, thunderstorms, and other hazardous conditions can support safer and more efficient aviation and transportation operations, particularly during periods of severe weather.

Strengthening the Maritime Economy: Through ocean-focused institutions and observations, Mission Mausam supports marine forecasting and weather information for activities such as fishing, shipping, ports, and offshore operations.

An Enabling Mission for Viksit Bharat: Collectively, these interventions make Mission Mausam an enabling component of the Viksit Bharat @2047 vision by strengthening agriculture, disaster resilience, digital governance, transport, maritime activities, and scientific capacity through better weather intelligence.

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The India of the coming decade will not be shaped by one sector, one policy or one technological breakthrough. It will emerge from the convergence of multiple economic, technological, infrastructural, strategic, ecological and cultural forces. These forces can be understood as seven “Dharas”, seven powerful streams or waves, that together have the potential to create a new momentum for India.

The idea of these “Sapta Dhara” received a powerful national articulation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address from the Red Fort on 15 August 2026, when he presented seven streams of strength as a roadmap for India’s next phase of development and its journey towards Viksit Bharat.

There is a deeper significance to the Prime Minister choosing the metaphor of Dhara, a flowing stream, rather than simply calling them seven sectors or seven pillars.

A pillar stands independently. A sector operates within a boundary. But a Dhara flows, connects and gathers momentum.

 These seven Dharas are:

1. Manufacturing Power
2. Agriculture & Food Processing
3. Technology & Innovation
4. Gati Shakti
5. Defence Shakti
6. Green & Blue Economy
7. India’s Soft Power

The significance of these seven streams lies not merely in their individual potential. Their real power lies in their interdependence.

Manufacturing needs logistics. Agriculture needs technology and food processing. Technology needs energy and talent. Defence needs advanced manufacturing and innovation. The green economy needs manufacturing, finance and infrastructure. The blue economy needs ports, logistics, technology and maritime security. Soft power converts economic capability into global influence.

The strategic question for India, therefore, is no longer simply: “How fast can India grow?”

The more important question is: Can India create an integrated economic architecture in which growth in one sector continuously accelerates growth in another?

If the answer is yes, the next five to seven years can become a period in which India moves from being a large emerging economy to becoming a systemically important global economic, technological and civilisational power.

Manufacturing Power: From “Made in India” to “Made for the World”

For decades, India’s economic story was dominated by services. The next phase must be characterised by the simultaneous rise of services, manufacturing and technology-intensive production.

Manufacturing is not important merely because factories create output. It creates ecosystems. A semiconductor plant creates demand for chemicals, precision engineering, logistics, power, water management, design, testing and skilled manpower. An automobile factory creates an ecosystem of component manufacturers, software companies, battery producers, logistics providers and service businesses.

This is why India’s manufacturing opportunity should not be measured simply by the share of manufacturing in GDP. The real opportunity is the creation of globally competitive industrial ecosystems.

India’s Production Linked Incentive architecture already provides evidence of this transition. By March 2026, PLI schemes across 14 sectors had attracted more than ₹2.40 lakh crore of investment and generated more than ₹15.2 lakh crore in exports, while reported employment exceeded 14.15 lakh.

Electronics illustrates the transformation particularly well. Government data indicates that smartphones became India’s largest exported commodity in calendar year 2025, while domestic value addition in electronics manufacturing had risen to approximately 18–20%.

But this is only the beginning. The next five to seven years must move India from assembly to architecture. That means deeper capabilities in:

1. Semiconductors
2. Electronic components
3. Advanced materials
4. Machine tools
5. Robotics
6. Aerospace
7. Medical devices
8. Pharmaceuticals
9. Batteries
10. Renewable-energy equipment
11. Defence systems
12. Precision engineering
13. Biotechnology
14. Capital goods

The strategic objective should be to create Indian industrial value chains, not merely Indian factories belonging to global companies. India must therefore ask a difficult question, what percentage of the value of a product manufactured in India is actually created in India?

The answer to this question will determine whether India becomes a manufacturing power or simply a manufacturing location. The next manufacturing wave must therefore be about value addition, intellectual property, design capability, supplier ecosystems and global brands.

Agriculture & Food Processing: From Farm Economy to Food Economy

India cannot become a developed economy while treating agriculture primarily as a question of agricultural production. The next transformation must be from agriculture to an integrated food economy, where the farmer of the future is not limited to cultivation but becomes part of a larger value chain connecting production, aggregation, storage, processing, branding, logistics, exports and global retail. This is where food processing becomes strategically important. India already possesses enormous agricultural diversity, yet a substantial portion of the value generated from agricultural produce is captured beyond the farm gate.

The opportunity, therefore, is not simply to increase production but to increase the value captured from every kilogram produced. Government data shows that India’s agricultural export earnings increased from $34.5 billion in FY2020 to $51.1 billion in FY2025. More importantly, the share of processed food in agri-food exports increased from 14.9% in FY2018 to 20.4% in FY2025. This is not merely an export statistic; it is a structural signal of an economy gradually moving from the export of raw agricultural commodities towards higher-value products. The future agricultural question, therefore, is no longer simply how much wheat, rice, fruit or milk can India produce, but rather how much economic value can India create from every unit of agricultural output.

This opens opportunities in:

1. Precision agriculture
2. AI-based crop advisory
3. Climate-resilient agriculture
4. Food processing
5. Cold chains
6. Agri-logistics
7. Bio-inputs
8. Millets and nutraceuticals
9. Organic and natural products
10. Geographical indication-based products
11. Agricultural biotechnology
12. Smart irrigation
13. Export-oriented horticulture
14. Rural manufacturing

Artificial intelligence can make agriculture increasingly data-driven, while food processing can make it increasingly value-driven. The next seven years could therefore witness a shift from the traditional “farm-to-market” model to a “farm-to-global-value-chain” model.

This transformation could have a particularly powerful social consequence: creating more non-farm employment in rural India. Instead of forcing rural youth to migrate to large cities merely to find economic opportunity, food processing clusters, logistics hubs, agri-tech enterprises and rural manufacturing can create distributed prosperity.

That is the deeper meaning of this Dhara. Agriculture need not remain a low-value primary sector. It can become the foundation of India’s next rural industrial revolution.

Technology & Innovation: From IT Powerhouse to Technology Power

India’s technology story is entering its second and potentially more consequential phase. The first phase was about software services; the second phase is about technology creation. The difference is profound. India’s digital public infrastructure has demonstrated that the country can build and deploy technology platforms at population scale. The next challenge is to build frontier capabilities in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum technologies, biotechnology, robotics, advanced computing, space technology and deep tech.

The IndiaAI Mission reflects this strategic direction. Approved with an outlay of ₹10,371.92 crore, the mission is designed around compute infrastructure, indigenous AI capabilities, datasets, future skills, startup financing, and safe and trusted AI. By the end of 2025, government reporting indicated that the IndiaAI ecosystem had onboarded 38,000 GPUs, substantially exceeding the original target of 10,000 GPUs. Yet compute alone will not make India an AI power. The real competitive advantage will emerge from the convergence of compute, data, talent, research, capital, entrepreneurship, applications and governance.

India possesses an unusual advantage in this regard: scale. Its vast and diverse population provides an unparalleled environment for developing, testing and scaling technologies across multiple use cases. AI solutions developed for Indian agriculture can potentially become global agricultural technologies; AI systems designed for Indian languages can evolve into globally relevant language technologies; India’s digital identity and payments infrastructure can offer models for digital public infrastructure across emerging economies; and Indian frugal innovation can become a competitive advantage in markets where affordability, accessibility and scalability matter.

The strategic opportunity, therefore, is to move from a nation where “technology is consumed in India” to one where “technology is invented in India, scaled in India and exported from India.” The next seven years should consequently witness an accelerated shift from traditional IT services towards deep-tech entrepreneurship, indigenous intellectual property, advanced research and research commercialisation. India needs not merely thousands of startups, but thousands of companies capable of transforming university research into commercial technologies and Indian innovation into globally competitive products.

The strategic metric should therefore not simply be how many startups India creates, but rather how many Indian startups become global technology companies. That is the real innovation test—and ultimately, one of the most important tests of India’s transition from a technology-enabled economy to a technology-creating power.

Gati Shakti: Infrastructure as the Nervous System of the Economy

Infrastructure is often discussed in terms of roads, railways, airports, ports and bridges. But the deeper transformation underway is the emergence of integrated infrastructure, and this is where Gati Shakti becomes strategically important. The PM Gati Shakti framework seeks to integrate infrastructure planning across economic nodes, logistics nodes, social infrastructure and multimodal connectivity. Its national master-plan platform uses hundreds of data layers to improve project planning, identify connectivity gaps and enable better coordination across infrastructure development. This represents a fundamental shift from infrastructure projects to infrastructure networks.

The economic importance of this transformation is enormous. A road by itself has economic value, but a road connected to a railway creates greater value; a railway connected to a freight corridor creates still greater value; a freight corridor connected to a port links production with global trade; and a port connected to an industrial cluster can create an entire economic ecosystem. When that industrial cluster is efficiently connected to global markets, infrastructure ceases to be merely physical capital and becomes an integrated economic system. The next five to seven years can therefore see infrastructure becoming a powerful productivity multiplier for India. Lower logistics costs can improve manufacturing competitiveness, better connectivity can expand agricultural markets, multimodal logistics can reduce inventory and transportation costs, faster movement can improve export competitiveness, and industrial corridors can create new urban and employment centres.

The Sagarmala programme demonstrates the same logic from the maritime side. As of March 2025, 839 projects worth ₹5.79 lakh crore had been identified, while coastal shipping had expanded significantly over the previous decade and inland-waterway cargo had also grown sharply. Together, these developments point towards a broader transformation in which India’s transport infrastructure increasingly functions as a connected network linking production centres, consumption markets and global trade routes.

The future of Gati Shakti should therefore not be measured simply in kilometres of highways, railway tracks or number of infrastructure projects completed. The more meaningful question is: How much time and cost does it take to move a product from an Indian producer to a consumer anywhere in the world? If India can substantially reduce that distance—economically, digitally and physically—Gati Shakti can become far more than an infrastructure programme. It can become one of the most powerful engines of national productivity, industrial competitiveness and global economic integration.

Defence Shakti: From Strategic Autonomy to Defence Industrial Power

For much of independent India’s history, defence capability was viewed primarily through the lens of national security and strategic preparedness. The next phase requires a broader perspective. Defence can no longer be seen only as a matter of protecting national borders; it can also serve as a powerful industrial, technological and export ecosystem. Modern defence is no longer simply about tanks, aircraft and missiles.

It increasingly encompasses artificial intelligence, drones, cybersecurity, semiconductors, electronic warfare, space systems, autonomous platforms, advanced materials, sensors, robotics and precision manufacturing. This convergence of defence with advanced technology creates an opportunity for India to build not only greater strategic autonomy, but also globally competitive industries, high-value employment, indigenous intellectual property and a new generation of technology companies.

It encompasses:

1. Artificial intelligence
2. Drones
3. Cybersecurity
4. Semiconductors
5. Electronic warfare
6. Space systems
7. Autonomous systems
8. Advanced materials
9. Sensors
10. Robotics
11. Naval technology
12. Precision manufacturing

Consequently, defence investment can create significant spillovers into the civilian economy, making national security and economic development increasingly interconnected. India’s defence-industrial transformation is already becoming visible: defence exports reached a record ₹38,424 crore in FY2025–26, representing a 62.66% increase over the previous fiscal year, while India’s defence production reached a record ₹1.54 lakh crore in FY2024–25, according to government data. The next challenge, however, is to move decisively from import substitution to global competitiveness. Self-reliance should not mean merely producing domestically what was previously imported; true Atmanirbharta means that India possesses the capability to design, manufacture, upgrade, maintain and export critical technologies and strategic systems. The defence sector can therefore become an anchor customer for India’s emerging deep-tech ecosystem, creating demand for technologies that can subsequently find applications across the civilian economy.

A drone developed for defence can be adapted for precision agriculture; secure communication systems can support civilian networks; navigation technologies can strengthen logistics and transportation; and sensors developed for military applications can find uses in industrial automation and smart infrastructure. In this way, the Defence Dhara can generate a broader technology-spillover economy, strengthening both strategic autonomy and industrial capability. The ultimate objective should be to establish India not merely as a nation capable of defending itself, but as a trusted global supplier of advanced defence systems, strategic technologies and critical technological solutions.

Green & Blue Economy: India’s Next Resource Frontier

The sixth Dhara is perhaps the most underappreciated, yet it could become one of the most consequential for India’s long-term economic and strategic future. India’s next economic frontier will not exist only on land; it will increasingly extend across energy, oceans, climate technology, maritime infrastructure and the circular economy. The green economy is already moving from aspiration to industrial reality.

India crossed the milestone of 50% of its installed electricity capacity coming from non-fossil sources in June 2025, five years ahead of the timeline associated with its Paris Agreement commitments, while by March 2026, non-fossil installed capacity had reached 283.46 GW. The next challenge, however, is much bigger than expanding renewable-energy capacity. India must build a complete industrial ecosystem around clean energy, encompassing manufacturing, energy storage, grid modernisation, green hydrogen, electrolysers, electric mobility, advanced materials, recycling and other climate technologies. The objective should be to ensure that India is not merely a major consumer or producer of clean energy, but becomes a global designer, manufacturer and exporter of the technologies that will power the green economy of the 21st century.

That means:

1. Solar manufacturing
2. Wind manufacturing
3. Battery storage
4. Electric mobility
5. Grid technology
6. Green hydrogen
7. Electrolysers
8. Carbon management
9. Recycling
10. Green steel
11. Green ammonia
12. Sustainable aviation fuels
13. Climate-smart infrastructure

The National Green Hydrogen Mission, with an outlay of ₹19,744 crore, aims to position India as a global hub for green hydrogen production and utilisation, with a target of 5 million metric tonnes per year by 2030. But the opportunity extends far beyond energy. India has a coastline of more than 7,500 kilometres and an enormous maritime geography, giving it the potential to develop a powerful blue economy encompassing shipping, ports, fisheries, offshore renewable energy, marine biotechnology, coastal tourism, aquaculture, shipbuilding and maritime services.

The convergence of the green and blue economies could be particularly transformative. Green hydrogen + Indian ports + Indian shipbuilding + renewable energy + maritime logistics + coastal industrial corridors can together create an entirely new economic ecosystem along India’s coastline. This is not simply an environmental strategy; it is an industrial strategy, a trade strategy and a strategic-economic strategy. India can potentially build a new economic geography around its coastline, linking clean energy, advanced manufacturing, maritime commerce and global supply chains. The next seven years should therefore see the oceans increasingly treated not as geographical boundaries, but as economic gateways through which India connects its industries, energy systems and enterprises to the world.

India’s Soft Power: When Economic Strength Acquires Cultural Meaning

The seventh Dhara is fundamentally different from the first six. The first six build material capabilities, economic strength, productive capacity, technological prowess, infrastructure, strategic autonomy and sustainable resource systems. The seventh transforms these capabilities into influence, attraction and global goodwill. This is the realm of India’s soft power. In the 21st century, national power is not determined only by the size of an economy, the strength of its military or the sophistication of its technology; it is also shaped by how a nation is perceived, trusted and admired by the world. For India, soft power offers the opportunity to convert its civilisational heritage, cultural diversity, knowledge traditions, democratic experience, technological achievements and contemporary economic rise into a distinctive form of global influence.

India possesses an extraordinary cultural asset base:

Yoga.
Ayurveda.
Buddhist heritage.
Indian languages.
Classical music and dance.
Cinema.
Cuisine.
Literature.
Spiritual traditions.
Democratic institutions.
Diaspora networks.
Digital public infrastructure.
Space achievements.
Science and technology.

The strategic mistake would be to treat India’s cultural and civilisational assets merely as symbols of the past. They can become powerful instruments of international engagement, economic value and global influence. India’s Ministry of Culture operates the Global Engagement Scheme to strengthen cultural ties, promote India’s cultural identity internationally and encourage inbound tourism. But the next phase of India’s soft power must go far beyond cultural festivals and symbolic diplomacy abroad. India needs to create a global ecosystem of Indian knowledge, culture, innovation and enterprise, where the world encounters India not through a single dimension but through the breadth of its contemporary identity. Imagine an international student experiencing India through Indian philosophy + Indian technology + Indian cuisine + Indian cinema + Indian universities + Indian startups + Indian tourism + Indian wellness. Such an integrated experience can be far more powerful than cultural diplomacy in isolation because it connects India’s civilisational heritage with its contemporary capabilities and economic opportunities.

India’s soft power will become strongest when the world begins to associate the country not merely with its ancient civilisation, but with a distinctive combination of civilisational depth, technological modernity, democratic confidence and economic opportunity. This is where India’s uniqueness lies. Many countries possess economic power; many possess military power; and many possess cultural influence. India, however, has the possibility of combining civilisation with scale, democracy with development, and tradition with technology. That combination could become one of India’s greatest strategic assets in the 21st century, enabling Bharat not merely to participate in the global order, but increasingly to shape global ideas, institutions, markets and aspirations.

The Seven Dharas Are Not Seven Separate Waves

The real power of Sapta Dhara lies not in the individual strength of these seven streams, but in their interdependence and ability to reinforce one another. Manufacturing without efficient logistics cannot achieve its full potential; agriculture without technology and food processing cannot generate maximum value; technology without energy, talent and capital cannot scale; defence without advanced manufacturing and research cannot deliver genuine strategic autonomy; green energy without domestic manufacturing capacity cannot evolve into a complete industrial ecosystem; and the blue economy without ports, shipping, logistics and maritime security cannot realise its full potential. Similarly, economic and technological strength without soft power cannot automatically translate into global influence. The seven Dharas must therefore be understood as a connected national growth architecture, in which progress in one domain creates opportunities in another. Manufacturing generates demand for technology; technology transforms agriculture; agriculture feeds food-processing industries; Gati Shakti connects these industries to national and global markets; defence accelerates advanced technologies; green energy powers the next generation of manufacturing and digital infrastructure; the blue economy deepens India’s integration with global trade; and soft power converts economic, technological and cultural capabilities into international influence. This interconnectedness creates a powerful compounding effect, where the success of one Dhara strengthens the others and, in turn, accelerates the entire national ecosystem. The ultimate vision of Sapta Dhara, therefore, is not seven separate waves moving independently, but seven streams converging into one powerful national current — creating the momentum for a stronger, more self-reliant, technologically advanced and globally influential Bharat.

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This transformation has not occurred in isolation. It is the outcome of an ecosystem shaped by a decade of institutional reforms, digital public infrastructure, financial inclusion, innovation-driven governance, and targeted startup policies under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. While entrepreneurial success ultimately depends on founders, investors, employees, and markets, public policy has played a substantial enabling role in lowering barriers, expanding digital markets, and strengthening the innovation ecosystem.

For Vision Viksit Bharat 2047, this evolution is strategically important because profitable startups are not merely private business successes; they become engines of employment generation, technological sovereignty, tax revenues, export competitiveness, and long-term national productivity.

The Great Shift: India’s Startup Story Has Entered Its Second Phase

The first decade of India’s startup revolution (2013–2022) was primarily characterized by hyper-growth, abundant venture capital, aggressive cash burn, customer acquisition at almost any cost, and strategies focused on rapid market dominance. During this period, success was largely measured by funding rounds, valuation milestones, and user growth, while profitability often remained a secondary consideration. This approach enabled Indian startups to scale rapidly and establish a strong global presence, but it also created business models that were heavily dependent on continuous capital inflows.

Today, India’s startup ecosystem has entered a fundamentally different phase of evolution. According to the ET Prime Unicorn 100, the country’s leading startups are increasingly prioritizing sustainable cash flows, operational excellence, disciplined capital allocation, stronger corporate governance, efficient unit economics, and long-term shareholder value. This shift reflects a defining moment in the maturity of India’s innovation ecosystem, where financial sustainability is becoming as important as rapid expansion. Rather than celebrating billion-dollar valuations alone, India is beginning to nurture enterprises capable of creating enduring economic value through profitable and resilient business models. This distinction is significant: valuations may generate headlines, but profitability builds institutions, strengthens economies, and creates long-term national wealth.

Why Profitability Matters More Than Unicorn Status

A unicorn is defined by its valuation of more than one billion dollars, but a profitable unicorn creates something far more valuable, real and sustainable economic surplus. The difference is substantial. Profitable companies are able to reinvest their earnings into research, innovation, and technological advancement without excessive dependence on external funding. They generate durable employment, contribute significantly to government revenues through corporate taxation, attract long-term institutional investors, and demonstrate greater resilience during periods of global economic uncertainty. Most importantly, profitable enterprises strengthen national economic competitiveness by creating lasting productive capacity rather than relying on speculative capital. For an emerging economy with the ambition of becoming a Viksit Bharat by 2047, profitability is therefore a far more meaningful indicator of success than valuation alone. It signals that India’s innovation economy is increasingly being built on commercial fundamentals, operational efficiency, and sustainable value creation rather than speculative optimism.

The Modi Government’s Enabling Role: Building the Institutional Foundations of India’s Innovation Economy

The growing profitability of Indian unicorns cannot be attributed solely to government policy. Entrepreneurial capability, market dynamics, technological innovation, investor discipline, and global competition remain the primary drivers of business success. However, these capabilities flourish only within a supportive institutional environment. Over the past decade, India has transitioned from a regulator-centric to an ecosystem-enabling state by investing in digital public infrastructure, regulatory modernization, financial inclusion, and entrepreneurship promotion. These reforms have reduced transaction costs, expanded market access, improved investor confidence, and created the conditions for startups to evolve from capital-intensive growth to sustainable profitability.

Startup India: Institutionalizing Entrepreneurship

Launched in 2016, Startup India transformed entrepreneurship into a national development priority. Beyond regulatory simplification and tax incentives, it introduced faster company incorporation, intellectual property support, self-certification mechanisms, and easier access to public procurement and institutional finance through the ₹10,000 crore Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) and the ₹945 crore Startup India Seed Fund Scheme. The results have been significant: as of March 2026, India had over 2.23 lakh DPIIT-recognized startups, up from fewer than 500 in 2016, generating more than 23 lakh direct jobs. Nearly 48% of these startups have at least one woman director or partner, reflecting the ecosystem’s growing inclusiveness.

Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI): Lowering the Cost of Innovation

India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) has emerged as one of the country’s greatest competitive advantages. Platforms such as Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, GSTN, Account Aggregator, FASTag, CoWIN, and ONDC have dramatically reduced the costs of identity verification, payments, compliance, and digital transactions. Rather than building foundational infrastructure, startups can innovate on publicly available digital rails, enabling faster scaling and lower customer acquisition costs. In FY 2024–25, UPI processed over 16,500 crore transactions worth nearly ₹240 lakh crore, making it one of the world’s largest real-time payment systems and providing a robust backbone for India’s digital economy.

Financial Inclusion: Expanding the Digital Consumer Market

India’s financial inclusion strategy has significantly expanded the market for digital businesses. Through the Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) architecture, over 500 million Jan Dhan accounts have integrated millions of previously unbanked citizens into the formal financial system. Combined with the rapid adoption of UPI, this has created one of the world’s largest digital consumer markets, enabling fintech, e-commerce, and digital service startups to scale rapidly. The growth of companies such as PhonePe, Razorpay, Groww, and Paytm demonstrates how public investment in financial infrastructure has catalyzed private innovation.

Regulatory Modernization and Ease of Doing Business

Structural reforms including the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), digital compliance systems, simplified company registration, and faceless tax administration have modernized India’s business environment. GST unified the domestic market, while the IBC strengthened investor confidence by improving exit mechanisms. Together, these reforms have reduced regulatory complexity, improved transparency, and enhanced the ease of scaling businesses across India.

Public Procurement as an Innovation Catalyst

The government has also repositioned itself from being merely a regulator to becoming an anchor customer for innovation. Through reforms in the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) and startup-friendly procurement policies, innovative firms have gained greater access to government contracts. This has reduced commercialization risks, strengthened startup credibility, and accelerated the adoption of indigenous technologies. By creating demand alongside enabling supply, public procurement has become an important instrument of India’s innovation policy.

Why Indian Unicorns Are Becoming Profitable

The growing profitability of Indian unicorns reflects more than improved corporate performance; it signals the structural maturation of India’s startup ecosystem. While supportive public policy has strengthened the enabling environment, profitability has been driven by deeper market and institutional shifts. According to the ET Prime Unicorn 100 (2026), nearly one in three Indian unicorns reported profits in FY25, while many others significantly reduced losses, indicating a decisive shift from growth-at-all-costs to sustainable value creation. Five interrelated factors explain this transition.

Capital Discipline and Investor Maturity

The global correction in venture capital following the post-pandemic investment boom fundamentally altered startup financing. After record funding of nearly US$42 billion in 2021, venture investments in India normalized sharply during 2022–24 as interest rates rose and investors shifted their focus from aggressive growth to profitability and positive cash flows. This “funding winter” compelled startups to rationalize costs, optimize customer acquisition, improve unit economics, and pursue sustainable business models. Rather than rewarding gross merchandise value (GMV) or user growth alone, investors increasingly evaluated companies on EBITDA, free cash flow, contribution margins, and operational efficiency.

Technology-Led Productivity Gains

Rapid advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), cloud computing, automation, data analytics, and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) have significantly improved operational efficiency across Indian startups. AI-driven customer support, automated financial management, predictive analytics, digital marketing optimization, and intelligent supply-chain management have reduced operating costs while enhancing productivity. According to industry estimates, AI-enabled automation has reduced customer service and back-office costs by 20–40% in several digital businesses, enabling startups to generate higher revenues with leaner organizational structures and improved operating margins.

Digital Consumer Maturity and Market Expansion

India’s digital economy has entered a new phase of consumer maturity. With over one billion mobile connections, 900+ million internet users, and 600+ million smartphone users, India now possesses one of the world’s largest digital consumer bases. The widespread adoption of UPI, which processed transactions worth nearly ₹240 lakh crore in FY2024–25, has normalized digital commerce across income groups. Consumers are increasingly willing to pay for premium services in fintech, healthcare, education, travel, entertainment, and enterprise software. This shift has improved revenue quality, increased customer lifetime value, and reduced dependence on unsustainable discount-driven growth strategies.

Stronger Corporate Governance and Operational Discipline

The startup ecosystem has also witnessed a significant evolution in governance standards. Following several high-profile governance failures and increased regulatory scrutiny, founders, boards, and investors have placed greater emphasis on financial transparency, compliance, risk management, independent oversight, and capital allocation. Companies preparing for public listings are increasingly adopting governance standards comparable to listed firms, while venture capital and private equity investors now prioritize sustainable profitability over valuation expansion alone. This transition has strengthened investor confidence and improved the long-term resilience of India’s startup ecosystem.

Scale Economics and Business Model Maturity

Many Indian unicorns have now reached sufficient operational scale to benefit from economies of scale and network effects. As customer acquisition costs stabilize and repeat usage increases, fixed costs are spread across significantly larger revenue bases, leading to improved operating leverage. Mature digital platforms benefit from higher customer retention, greater cross-selling opportunities, lower marginal transaction costs, and stronger pricing power. Consequently, businesses that previously prioritized rapid market expansion are now able to convert scale into sustainable profitability without compromising growth.

The Macroeconomic Significance

The increasing profitability of Indian unicorns has implications that extend far beyond corporate balance sheets. It represents an important structural shift in India’s transition toward an innovation-driven economy and aligns closely with the objectives of Viksit Bharat 2047.

Employment Generation

Profitable startups create more resilient and higher-quality employment than firms dependent on continuous fundraising. India’s DPIIT-recognized startups have already generated over 23 lakh direct jobs, while financially sustainable companies are better positioned to invest in workforce expansion, employee upskilling, and long-term talent retention.

Higher Tax Revenues and Fiscal Capacity

As startups achieve profitability, they contribute directly to corporate income taxes while expanding indirect tax collections through GST, payroll taxes, and formal employment. Greater tax revenues enhance the government’s fiscal capacity to invest in infrastructure, education, healthcare, and research, creating a virtuous cycle between private-sector growth and public investment.

Accelerating Innovation and R&D

Unlike firms dependent solely on external financing, profitable companies can reinvest retained earnings into research and development, intellectual property creation, artificial intelligence, semiconductor design, biotechnology, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing. This strengthens India’s technological self-reliance and reduces long-term dependence on imported technologies.

Global Competitiveness and Export Growth

Indian startups are increasingly emerging as global technology providers rather than domestic market players alone. India’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) industry alone is projected to contribute US$50 billion in revenue by 2030, while fintech, health-tech, deep-tech, and enterprise software companies are expanding across international markets. Profitability enhances credibility with global customers, investors, and regulators, strengthening India’s position in global value chains and supporting the country’s ambition of becoming a leading innovation economy.

Deepening India’s Capital Markets

A pipeline of profitable startups improves the quality of India’s public equity markets. Institutional investors increasingly favour companies demonstrating consistent earnings, robust governance, and sustainable business models over speculative growth narratives. Successful listings of financially disciplined startups broaden domestic capital markets, attract long-term pension and sovereign wealth funds, and reduce excessive dependence on foreign venture capital. As more profitable unicorns transition into publicly listed enterprises, they will strengthen India’s financial markets and contribute to long-term wealth creation for domestic investors.

The Evolution of India’s Innovation Model

India’s startup ecosystem has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past decade, evolving from a capital-driven entrepreneurial ecosystem to one increasingly anchored in innovation, operational efficiency, and sustainable value creation. This evolution mirrors the maturation of India’s broader economy, from an emerging digital market to one of the world’s leading innovation ecosystems. Today, India is the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, with over 2.23 lakh DPIIT-recognized startups generating more than 23 lakh direct jobs, while nearly 50% of these startups originate from Tier-II and Tier-III cities, reflecting the democratization of entrepreneurship beyond traditional metropolitan hubs.

Phase I (2010–2016): The Era of Valuation-Led Entrepreneurship

The first phase of India’s startup revolution was characterized by the emergence of a vibrant venture capital ecosystem, rapid digitization, and the rise of internet-based consumer platforms. Success was primarily measured by funding raised, valuation growth, and customer acquisition, with investors prioritizing market capture over profitability. Companies focused on scaling rapidly through venture capital-backed expansion, often operating with negative cash flows in anticipation of future market dominance. During this period, India witnessed the birth of several iconic startups, laying the foundation for what would eventually become the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem. However, business performance was largely assessed through valuation multiples rather than sustainable financial outcomes.

Phase II (2016–2023): The Era of Scale-Led Entrepreneurship

The launch of Startup India in 2016, coupled with the rapid expansion of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), including Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, GSTN, and the JAM architecture, fundamentally transformed India’s innovation landscape. Entrepreneurship became increasingly institutionalized through policy support, improved ease of doing business, enhanced access to capital, and nationwide digital connectivity. Startups shifted their focus toward market expansion, platform scalability, and nationwide digital adoption, leveraging India’s large domestic market of over 1.4 billion people. During this period, India emerged as the third-largest startup ecosystem globally, while the number of DPIIT-recognized startups grew from a few hundred in 2016 to more than 2 lakh by the end of 2025, supported by one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies.

Phase III (2023 Onwards): The Era of Value-Led Entrepreneurship

The post-pandemic global funding correction marked the beginning of a new phase in India’s innovation journey. As venture capital became more selective, startups shifted from prioritizing valuation and hyper-growth to emphasizing profitability, capital efficiency, operational excellence, and strong corporate governance. According to the ET Prime Unicorn 100 (2026), one in three Indian unicorns is now profitable, while many others have substantially reduced losses, signalling a decisive shift toward sustainable business models. Artificial intelligence, automation, cloud computing, disciplined capital allocation, and improving unit economics have enabled startups to generate higher revenues with leaner organizations. Increasingly, success is measured not by the amount of capital raised but by the ability to create enduring economic value through innovation, productivity, and resilient business models.

This transition represents the emergence of a mature innovation economy. India’s startup ecosystem is evolving from producing high-valued companies to building high-value enterprises that generate employment, invest in research and development, contribute to tax revenues, strengthen capital markets, and compete globally. For Viksit Bharat 2047, this marks a strategic inflection point: the future of India’s innovation economy will be defined not by the number of unicorns it creates, but by the number of globally competitive, profitable, and innovation-led enterprises capable of driving long-term national productivity and economic resilience.

Challenges That Still Require Policy Attention

Despite the remarkable progress of India’s startup ecosystem, several structural challenges must be addressed if the country is to emerge as a global innovation powerhouse by 2047. While consumer internet, fintech, and e-commerce have driven the first generation of unicorns, the next phase of India’s innovation journey must increasingly be led by deep-tech and knowledge-intensive sectors. This will require stronger commercialization of research in areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum technologies, biotechnology, climate technology, advanced manufacturing, robotics, and next-generation materials. India currently spends only around 0.6–0.7% of its GDP on research and development (R&D), significantly lower than innovation leaders such as South Korea (over 5%), Israel (around 6%), the United States (about 3.5%), and China (over 2.5%), highlighting the need for substantially greater investment in science and technology.

Equally important is strengthening university-industry collaboration to accelerate the commercialization of academic research and intellectual property. On the financing side, India must deepen the availability of domestic patient capital, encourage greater participation of pension funds and insurance institutions in venture capital, and reduce dependence on foreign risk capital for scaling innovation-led enterprises. Furthermore, India must significantly enhance its capacity for global patent generation and intellectual property commercialization, as sustainable technological leadership will increasingly depend on owning frontier technologies rather than merely adopting them. Addressing these structural gaps will be essential to ensuring that the next generation of Indian unicorns emerges not only from digital consumer platforms but also from globally competitive deep-tech industries capable of driving productivity, exports, technological sovereignty, and the long-term objectives of Viksit Bharat 2047.

The finding that one out of every three Indian unicorns is now profitable is more than a business milestone, it is an economic signal that India’s startup ecosystem is maturing. It reflects a transition from valuation-driven ambition to value-driven execution, where innovation is increasingly measured not only by capital raised but by durable business models and productive contribution to the economy.

For Vision Viksit Bharat 2047, this shift is strategically significant. Profitable startups are better positioned to generate high-quality employment, invest in research, expand globally, and strengthen India’s technological and economic resilience. If India continues to combine entrepreneurial dynamism with supportive public institutions, robust digital infrastructure, regulatory reforms, and investments in frontier technologies, today’s unicorns can evolve into tomorrow’s global champions.

The true measure of success for a developed India will not be the number of billion-dollar startups it creates, but the number of globally respected, innovation-led enterprises that consistently create wealth, solve societal challenges, and enhance India’s standing in the world economy.

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While public discourse often focuses on renewable energy, an important reality remains: India’s economic growth over the next two decades will still require substantial quantities of oil and natural gas. Every developed economy has ensured energy security before achieving sustained industrial growth.

As India aims to become a Viksit Bharat by 2047, energy availability, not merely energy transition, will determine the pace of manufacturing expansion, logistics, digital infrastructure, defence preparedness, and urbanisation. Samudra Manthan seeks to address precisely this challenge. Rather than merely increasing hydrocarbon production, the scheme aims to create an integrated offshore ecosystem involving exploration, data analytics, AI, infrastructure, manufacturing, and technological innovation.

India’s Energy Challenge: A Structural Vulnerability

India today is simultaneously:

World’s 5th largest economy
World’s 3rd largest energy consumer
World’s 3rd largest crude oil importer
One of the fastest growing major economies

This combination creates a strategic paradox. According to government estimates,

India imports nearly 88% of its crude oil requirement
Around 50% of natural gas demand is met through imports.
Annual crude oil imports cost nearly USD 144 billion (around ₹13 lakh crore).

This import dependence exposes India to multiple external shocks:

geopolitical conflicts
supply chain disruptions
sanctions
shipping bottlenecks
exchange rate fluctuations
global crude price volatility

Events such as the Russia–Ukraine conflict, Red Sea shipping disruptions, and instability in West Asia have demonstrated that energy security has become a national security issue.

Why Exploration Has Become a Strategic Imperative

India’s mature onshore oil and gas fields are experiencing a natural production decline of nearly 6–7% every year, making sustained exploration essential to maintain domestic hydrocarbon output. In the absence of new discoveries, domestic production will continue to fall, forcing the country to increase its dependence on imported crude oil and natural gas. This would not only widen India’s import bill but also exert pressure on the current account deficit, increase fiscal vulnerabilities, and expose the economy to global energy price volatility. For a country aspiring to become a developed economy by 2047, ensuring a secure and diversified energy supply is therefore not merely an economic objective but a strategic necessity.

While India’s conventional onshore reserves have matured, the country’s future hydrocarbon potential lies predominantly offshore. Frontier basins such as the Krishna-Godavari, Cauvery, Mahanadi, Andaman Offshore, and the Western Offshore Deepwater are believed to contain substantial untapped reserves of oil and natural gas. However, these basins remain significantly underexplored when compared with leading offshore producing regions across the world. The principal reasons are economic and technological. Offshore exploration, particularly in deepwater and ultra-deepwater environments, requires highly sophisticated technologies, specialised drilling equipment, and substantial upfront capital investment, while commercial success remains inherently uncertain. A single deepwater exploratory well can cost USD 125–150 million, and there is no assurance that such an investment will lead to commercially viable discoveries. Consequently, private operators have often been reluctant to invest aggressively in frontier exploration. It is this market failure—where high exploration risk discourages private investment despite significant national benefits—that the Samudra Manthan initiative seeks to address through strategic government intervention and risk-sharing mechanisms.

Evolution of India’s Exploration Policy

The approval of Samudra Manthan should not be viewed as an isolated policy announcement but as the culmination of a decade-long process of structural reforms aimed at revitalising India’s hydrocarbon exploration and production (E&P) sector. Over the past several years, the Government has undertaken a series of legislative, regulatory, and institutional reforms designed to improve investor confidence, expand exploration opportunities, and modernise the governance framework of the petroleum sector. The National Offshore Exploration Scheme represents the operational extension of these reforms, translating policy changes into mission-mode implementation.

Opening India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)

One of the most significant reforms has been the opening up of India’s offshore exploration acreage. Historically, large portions of India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) remained designated as “No-Go” areas, limiting exploration activities and restricting access to potentially resource-rich offshore basins. This policy has undergone a fundamental transformation. Today, more than 99% of India’s Exclusive Economic Zone, covering nearly one million square kilometres, is available for hydrocarbon exploration, dramatically expanding the country’s exploration frontier. By unlocking previously inaccessible offshore regions, India has created new opportunities for both domestic and international exploration companies to undertake systematic geological surveys and exploration activities.

Transition to Revenue Sharing Contracts

Another major policy shift has been the transition from the earlier Production Sharing Contract (PSC) regime to a Revenue Sharing Contract (RSC) framework. The previous PSC model often resulted in prolonged disputes relating to cost recovery, regulatory oversight, and administrative complexities, leading to delays in project implementation and investor uncertainty. The Revenue Sharing Model simplifies the fiscal framework by reducing administrative intervention, enhancing transparency, and providing greater predictability in contractual arrangements. By offering a clearer and more investor-friendly regulatory environment, the new framework is expected to improve the ease of doing business and encourage greater participation in India’s upstream petroleum sector.

Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Act, 2025

The enactment of the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Act, 2025 represents another important milestone in India’s exploration policy. The legislation modernises the legal architecture governing the sector by strengthening contractual stability, recognising integrated petroleum operations, improving dispute resolution mechanisms, and establishing a contemporary regulatory framework aligned with global industry practices. Together with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Rules, 2025, these reforms provide greater legal certainty, streamline regulatory procedures, and reinforce India’s credibility as an attractive destination for long-term investment in offshore exploration and production.

Understanding Samudra Manthan: An Integrated Strategy for Offshore Energy Development

Unlike conventional exploration programmes that focus primarily on drilling, Samudra Manthan adopts a comprehensive ecosystem approach to offshore hydrocarbon development. The scheme is structured around four interrelated pillars that address the entire exploration and production value chain—from geological data acquisition and risk-sharing in exploration to infrastructure development and domestic manufacturing. This integrated design reflects a shift from project-based interventions to a mission-mode strategy aimed at strengthening India’s long-term energy security and reducing dependence on imported hydrocarbons.

Advanced Seismic Mapping (₹28,534 crore)

The first pillar of the scheme focuses on building a robust geological knowledge base through modern offshore seismic surveys. High-quality subsurface data is the cornerstone of successful hydrocarbon exploration, as it enables more accurate identification of prospective reserves while reducing geological uncertainty. Under Samudra Manthan, investments will be made in basin-wide 2D seismic surveys, advanced 3D seismic acquisition, modern imaging technologies, and the enhancement of the National Data Repository (NDR). The programme also envisages the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and advanced data analytics for processing and interpreting seismic data. By improving the quality, accessibility, and analytical capability of geological information, the scheme is expected to increase exploration success rates, optimise drilling decisions, and significantly reduce exploration risks for operators.

Deepwater Exploration (₹43,200 crore)

The second pillar addresses one of the biggest challenges in offshore exploration—the high financial risk associated with deepwater drilling. Recognising that exploration in frontier offshore basins involves substantial upfront investment with uncertain commercial outcomes, the Government has adopted a risk-sharing model to encourage greater participation by exploration companies. Under the scheme, financial support of up to 50% of the eligible drilling cost, subject to a maximum assistance of ₹675 crore per exploration well, will be provided for deepwater exploration. During the first phase, approximately 60 deepwater exploration wells are proposed, making it India’s most ambitious offshore drilling programme to date. By reducing the financial burden on operators, the initiative aims to accelerate exploration activities in deepwater and ultra-deepwater basins that have remained underexplored despite their significant hydrocarbon potential.

Shared Offshore Infrastructure (₹10,000 crore)

A major impediment to offshore hydrocarbon development in India has been the delay between the discovery of commercially viable reserves and the commencement of production, often due to the absence of supporting infrastructure. To address this challenge, Samudra Manthan provides for the development of common offshore infrastructure, including production platforms, subsea pipelines, evacuation systems, and processing facilities. Rather than requiring each operator to create independent infrastructure, the shared infrastructure model seeks to optimise capital expenditure, improve operational efficiency, and accelerate the commercialisation of new discoveries. This approach is expected to enhance project viability, reduce development costs, and shorten the time required to bring offshore resources into production.

Manufacturing and Services Zones (₹2,000 crore)

The fourth pillar extends beyond exploration by seeking to develop a domestic industrial ecosystem that supports offshore exploration and production. The scheme proposes the establishment of dedicated Oil and Gas Manufacturing and Services Zones to promote indigenous capabilities in offshore engineering, subsea equipment, drilling technologies, fabrication, maintenance services, and other specialised industrial activities. By encouraging localisation of critical technologies and equipment, the initiative complements the broader objectives of Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India. In addition to reducing dependence on imported equipment and specialised services, these manufacturing and services clusters have the potential to generate high-skilled employment, foster technology transfer, strengthen domestic supply chains, and position India as a competitive hub for offshore engineering and energy services in the Indo-Pacific region.

Economic Significance

The economic rationale underpinning Samudra Manthan extends well beyond increasing domestic oil and gas production. If exploration efforts translate into commercially viable discoveries, the scheme has the potential to significantly strengthen India’s long-term energy security while improving key macroeconomic indicators. According to government projections, successful implementation could increase India’s domestic hydrocarbon production from the current level of approximately 62 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent (MMTOE) to around 80 MMTOE annually by the end of the programme period—representing an increase of nearly 29%. At the same time, India’s estimated hydrocarbon resource base is expected to expand from 1.6 billion tonnes of oil equivalent (TOE) to approximately 2.2 billion TOE, reflecting an increase of almost 38%. Although these outcomes remain contingent upon exploration success and subsequent commercial development, they indicate the significant untapped potential that India’s offshore basins hold. A larger domestic resource base would not only enhance long-term production capacity but also improve the country’s ability to meet its growing energy demand through indigenous resources.

Reducing the Import Bill

One of the most significant macroeconomic benefits of the scheme lies in its potential to reduce India’s dependence on imported crude oil. As the world’s third-largest importer of crude oil, India remains highly exposed to fluctuations in international energy prices and geopolitical disruptions affecting global supply chains. The Government estimates that additional domestic production resulting from Samudra Manthan could reduce crude oil imports by nearly ₹1 lakh crore annually. Such savings would have implications far beyond the energy sector. Lower import dependence would help narrow the current account deficit, reduce pressure on foreign exchange reserves, improve fiscal stability by lowering the economy’s exposure to volatile global oil prices, and contribute to greater exchange rate resilience. Over the long term, reducing the structural burden of energy imports would strengthen India’s macroeconomic fundamentals, enhance investor confidence, and provide greater fiscal space for investments in infrastructure, social development, and the clean energy transition. In this sense, Samudra Manthan should be viewed not merely as an exploration initiative but as a strategic economic investment capable of reinforcing India’s long-term growth trajectory.

Contribution to Viksit Bharat

Energy Security: The Foundation of Sustainable Economic Growth

Energy security is one of the fundamental pillars of a developed economy and an indispensable prerequisite for achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047. Sustained economic growth, industrial expansion, urbanisation, and technological advancement all depend on the availability of reliable, affordable, and uninterrupted energy supplies. Domestic production of oil and natural gas plays a critical role in supporting key sectors of the economy, including manufacturing, transportation, agriculture, defence, digital infrastructure, and large-scale public infrastructure projects. History demonstrates that every major industrial economy—from the United States and Norway to China and South Korea—prioritised energy security as an essential component of its development strategy. By strengthening domestic hydrocarbon production and reducing dependence on imported fuels, Samudra Manthan has the potential to enhance India’s energy resilience, improve strategic autonomy, and provide a stable energy foundation for sustained economic growth.

Industrial Growth and Economic Multipliers

The significance of Samudra Manthan extends well beyond hydrocarbon production. Offshore exploration and production have strong backward and forward linkages with a wide range of industries, creating multiplier effects across the broader economy. Increased investment in offshore exploration is expected to stimulate demand for steel, heavy engineering, shipbuilding, fabrication, offshore construction, subsea engineering, robotics, geoscience, logistics, and digital technologies. These industries, in turn, support a vast network of suppliers, service providers, and technology companies, generating value addition throughout the industrial ecosystem. Studies by the International Energy Agency indicate that investments in upstream oil and gas projects generate significant spillover demand across manufacturing, engineering, transport, and business services, amplifying economic activity well beyond the energy sector. In this context, Samudra Manthan can serve as a catalyst for industrial diversification and strengthen India’s ambitions of becoming a globally competitive manufacturing economy.

Strengthening High-Technology Capabilities

Deepwater and ultra-deepwater hydrocarbon exploration represent some of the most technologically sophisticated industrial activities in the world. Successful exploration requires advanced geophysical surveys, AI-enabled reservoir modelling, underwater robotics, autonomous inspection systems, digital twin technologies, remote sensing, high-performance computing, and sophisticated data analytics. Developing indigenous capabilities in these technologies would not only strengthen India’s offshore exploration ecosystem but also create technological spillovers into other strategic sectors such as defence, space, maritime engineering, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing. By promoting research, innovation, and technology adoption, Samudra Manthan can contribute to building a knowledge-driven industrial ecosystem aligned with India’s long-term objective of becoming a global technology leader.

Employment Generation and Skill Development

Although offshore exploration is not as labor-intensive as sectors such as construction or traditional manufacturing, it generates substantial demand for highly skilled professionals across multiple disciplines. The expansion of offshore exploration activities is expected to create employment opportunities in petroleum engineering, marine engineering, geology, geophysics, artificial intelligence, offshore logistics, environmental sciences, fabrication, digital technologies, and specialised technical services. More importantly, the indirect employment generated through ancillary industries, including equipment manufacturing, marine services, engineering consultancies, logistics, research institutions, and technology providers, is likely to be significantly larger than direct employment at exploration sites. Consequently, the scheme has the potential to foster a highly skilled workforce capable of supporting India’s growing offshore energy and maritime industries.

Driving Regional Development and the Blue Economy

The development of offshore hydrocarbon resources has the potential to transform India’s coastal economy by creating new centres of industrial and maritime activity. States such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Gujarat, and Maharashtra, along with the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, are well positioned to benefit from increased exploration and production activities. The establishment of offshore infrastructure, fabrication yards, logistics hubs, research institutions, specialised service clusters, and port-based industrial ecosystems can stimulate regional economic development, attract private investment, and generate new employment opportunities. These developments would also complement India’s broader Blue Economy strategy by strengthening maritime infrastructure, enhancing coastal industrialisation, and integrating offshore energy development with port-led economic growth under initiatives such as Maritime India Vision 2030 and PM Gati Shakti. In this manner, Samudra Manthan has the potential to contribute not only to national energy security but also to more balanced regional development and the emergence of globally competitive coastal economic corridors.

Strategic and National Security Dimensions

Energy security has increasingly become a critical component of national security and strategic autonomy. For a country like India, which imports nearly 88% of its crude oil requirements, excessive dependence on overseas energy supplies can constrain foreign policy choices and expose the economy to geopolitical uncertainties. Recent global developments—including the Russia–Ukraine conflict, instability in West Asia, and disruptions to key maritime trade routes such as the Red Sea—have underscored the vulnerability of import-dependent economies to external shocks. In this context, increasing domestic hydrocarbon production is not merely an economic objective but a strategic imperative. Greater indigenous production would reduce India’s exposure to supply disruptions, lessen dependence on politically volatile regions, strengthen energy resilience, and provide greater flexibility in responding to international crises. Furthermore, expanding offshore exploration and production will reinforce India’s maritime presence in the Indian Ocean Region by enhancing offshore infrastructure, surveillance capabilities, and maritime logistics, all of which have important implications for national security. A stronger offshore energy ecosystem also supports defence preparedness by ensuring more secure and reliable fuel supplies for military operations and strategic infrastructure. In this regard, Samudra Manthan aligns closely with India’s maritime vision under the SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) doctrine, which seeks to strengthen India’s role as a responsible maritime power while promoting regional security, stability, and economic cooperation across the Indian Ocean.

Alignment with the Modi Government’s Vision for Viksit Bharat

Samudra Manthan is not a standalone exploration programme; rather, it complements several flagship initiatives that collectively underpin the Government’s vision of Viksit Bharat 2047. The scheme reinforces the objectives of Atmanirbhar Bharat by reducing dependence on imported hydrocarbons while simultaneously strengthening domestic technological capabilities, industrial capacity, and energy resilience. It also advances the goals of Make in India by promoting indigenous manufacturing of offshore equipment, subsea technologies, fabrication facilities, engineering services, and specialised industrial supply chains that are essential for deepwater exploration and production.

The initiative further aligns with the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) by supporting the development of integrated offshore infrastructure, including platforms, pipelines, processing facilities, and evacuation systems that complement India’s expanding energy and logistics networks. At the same time, it contributes to India’s broader Blue Economy Vision, which seeks to harness ocean resources sustainably for economic growth while strengthening maritime infrastructure, coastal industrialisation, and India’s strategic presence across the Indian Ocean Region.

Samudra Manthan also complements the objectives of PM Gati Shakti, which emphasises integrated infrastructure planning through seamless connectivity between ports, industrial corridors, logistics networks, and energy infrastructure. By integrating offshore production facilities with multimodal transport systems, the scheme has the potential to improve operational efficiency, reduce logistics costs, and accelerate the commercialisation of offshore discoveries. Equally important is its alignment with the Digital India initiative through the adoption of artificial intelligence, digital subsurface modelling, advanced seismic analytics, and data-driven decision-making. These technologies will modernise exploration processes, improve operational efficiency, and support the development of a digitally enabled upstream energy sector. Taken together, these synergies position Samudra Manthan as a strategic enabler that not only strengthens India’s energy security but also advances the broader objectives of industrial competitiveness, technological self-reliance, infrastructure development, and sustainable economic growth envisioned under Viksit Bharat.

The Bigger Picture

India’s aspiration to become a USD 30 trillion economy by 2047, a target often discussed in long-term policy analyses, will require vast amounts of reliable energy even as renewable capacity expands. Oil and natural gas are expected to remain integral to sectors such as aviation, shipping, heavy industry, petrochemicals, and fertilisers for decades. At the same time, India has committed to ambitious climate goals, including achieving net-zero emissions by 2070, which means hydrocarbons must be developed alongside accelerated deployment of renewables, energy efficiency, and low-carbon technologies.

In this context, Samudra Manthan is not a departure from the energy transition but a strategy to ensure that the transition is economically secure, reducing exposure to external supply shocks while domestic clean-energy systems continue to scale.

The approval of Samudra Manthan marks a decisive shift from incremental exploration to a mission-mode approach that integrates policy reform, public investment, advanced technology, and industrial development. With an investment of ₹84,084 crore, the programme has the potential to expand India’s hydrocarbon resource base, raise domestic production, reduce import dependence by an estimated ₹1 lakh crore annually, and catalyse a domestic ecosystem spanning offshore engineering, AI, manufacturing, and maritime infrastructure.

For Viksit Bharat 2047, the scheme’s significance extends beyond oil and gas. It strengthens macroeconomic stability, supports industrial competitiveness, enhances strategic autonomy, and fosters technological capability, all essential pillars of a developed nation. If implemented effectively, Samudra Manthan could become one of the foundational energy initiatives that enables India to sustain high economic growth while advancing toward a more secure, self-reliant, and resilient future.

The post Samudra Manthan: A Strategic Leap Towards Energy Security for Viksit Bharat appeared first on VisionViksitBharat.

भारतीय वित्तीयकरण के तीन चरण

भारत के वित्तीयकरण को समझने के लिए इसकी यात्रा को तीन चरणों में देखना होगा। ‘पहला चरण’ स्वतंत्रता से लेकर 1990 तक का है। यह वह भारत था जो राजनीतिक रूप से स्वतंत्र तो था, लेकिन आर्थिक रूप से सीमित संसाधनों, कम आय और छोटी बचतों वाली अर्थव्यवस्था था। उस समय अधिकांश भारतीयों के लिए आर्थिक सुरक्षा का अर्थ रोटी, कपड़ा और मकान हुआ करता था। इस दौर की एक महत्वपूर्ण विशेषता यह थी कि घरेलू बचत की दर भी अपेक्षाकृत निम्न स्तर से धीरे-धीरे बढ़ रही थी। 1950-51 में घरेलू बचत सकल राष्ट्रीय आय के लगभग 6 प्रतिशत के आसपास थी, जो 1989-90 तक बढ़कर लगभग 18 प्रतिशत तक पहुंच गई। इन बचतों का बड़ा हिस्सा सोना, भूमि, नकद बचत, डाकघर योजनाओं और बैंक जमाओं में केंद्रित रहा। यानी इन चार दशकों में बचत की संस्कृति तो विकसित हो रही थी, पर वह अभी पूंजी बाजार आधारित निवेश संस्कृति से कोसों दूर थी।

हालांकि यह दौर केवल सीमाओं का नहीं, बल्कि भारत की आधुनिक वित्तीय व्यवस्था की नींव रखे जाने का भी था। 1955 में एसबीआई का गठन, 1956 में जीवन बीमा क्षेत्र का राष्ट्रीयकरण कर भारतीय जीवन बीमा निगम की स्थापना, तथा 1969 और 1980 में बड़े वाणिज्यिक बैंकों के राष्ट्रीयकरण जैसे कदमों ने वित्तीय सेवाओं का विस्तार गांवों और छोटे शहरों तक पहुंचाया। इस दौरान सरकारी नीतियां भी पूंजी बाजार के विस्तार की अपेक्षा वित्तीय समावेशन, बैंकिंग नेटवर्क के निर्माण और लोगों में बचत की आदत विकसित करने पर अधिक केंद्रित रहीं। इसका परिणाम यह हुआ कि 1990 तक भारत में बैंकिंग और बचत की संस्कृति तो विकसित हुई, लेकिन पूंजी बाजार में निवेश की यात्रा अभी बाकी थी।

भारत के वित्तीयकरण के ‘दूसरे चरण’ की शुरुआत 1991 के आर्थिक सुधारों के साथ होती है। इसी दौर में सेबी को पूंजी बाजार का एक मजबूत और सशक्त नियामक बनाया गया, विदेशी निवेशकों के लिए दरवाजे खोले गए और एनएसई की स्थापना हुई। साथ ही, बड़े स्तर पर निजी वित्तीय सेवा कंपनियों का उदय हुआ। पूंजी बाजार को आधुनिक बनाने की दिशा में कई भी महत्वपूर्ण कदम उठाए गए। 1996 में नेशनल सिक्योरिटीज डिपॉजिटरी लिमिटेड (एनएसडीएल) और 1999 में सेंट्रल डिपॉजिटरी सर्विसेज लिमिटेड (सीडीएसएल) की स्थापना के साथ भारत में ‘डीमैट प्रणाली’ (शेयरों को कागज के बजाय इलेक्ट्रॉनिक खाते में सुरक्षित रखना) की शुरुआत हुई। बाद में सेबी ने इलेक्ट्रॉनिक रूप में शेयर रखने को चरणबद्ध तरीके से अनिवार्य कर किया। अंततः 2019 में सेबी ने भौतिक रूप में रखे गए शेयरों के हस्तांतरण पर रोक लगाते हुए उन्हें डीमैट रूप में परिवर्तित करना अनिवार्य कर दिया। इस प्रकार भारत का शेयर बाजार कागज आधारित व्यवस्था से पूरी तरह डिजिटल व्यवस्था में परिवर्तित हो गया।

उदारीकरण के बाद हुए इन बदलावों की झलक शेयर बाजार में भी दिखाई देने लगी। 1990 में सेंसेक्स ने पहली बार 1,000 अंकों के स्तर को पार किया, और फिर अगले ढाई दशकों में यह 26,000 अंकों से ऊपर निकल गया। वर्ष 2000 में 6,000 अंक, 2010 में 20,500 अंक और 2015 में 26,000 अंकों का स्तर पार करना इस बात का संकेत था कि भारत की अर्थव्यवस्था, पूंजी बाजार और निवेशक आधार लगातार विस्तृत हुआ। लेकिन अभी ‘निवेशक भारत’ के उदय की सबसे महत्वपूर्ण कहानी बाकी थी।

भारत की वित्तीय यात्रा का वास्तविक और चमत्कारिक परिवर्तन 2016 के बाद दिखाई देता है। यही भारत के वित्तीयकरण का ‘तीसरा चरण’ है। इस दौर में कई वित्तीय घटनाएं एक साथ घटीं, जिन्होंने शेयर निवेश को अभिजात वर्ग की गतिविधि से निकालकर आम नागरिक तक पहुंचा दिया। पहला बड़ा परिवर्तन जनधन योजना के रूप में आया, जिसने करोड़ों लोगों को पहली बार औपचारिक बैंकिंग प्रणाली से जोड़ा। इसके बाद आधार और ई-केवाईसी ने वित्तीय पहचान को सरल किया, जबकि यूपीआई क्रांति ने भुगतान व्यवस्था को पूरी तरह बदल दिया। यूपीआई का एक बड़ा लाभ यह हुआ कि भारत में डिजिटल साक्षरता चमत्कारिक रूप से बढ़ी और इसने लोगों को वित्तीय रूप से अधिक जागरूक बना दिया। इसी दौरान सस्ते इंटरनेट और स्मार्टफोन के प्रसार ने इस परिवर्तन को नई रफ्तार दी। परिणाम यह हुआ कि डीमैट खाता खोलना किसी सोशल मीडिया अकाउंट बनाने जितना आसान हो गया। बैंक खाता, आधार और पैन कार्ड के माध्यम से अब यह प्रक्रिया कुछ ही मिनटों में पूरी की जा सकती है। नतीजतन शेयर बाजार जो कभी बड़े शहरों तक सीमित था, वह अचानक से देश के छोटे कस्बों और ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों तक पहुंच गया।

इस डिजिटलकरण ने देश के करोड़ों आम निवेशकों को पूंजी बाजार में ‘वेल्थ क्रिएटर’ बनने की हिम्मत दी। आज किसी छोटे कस्बे का निवेशक भी अपने मोबाइल फोन के माध्यम से वही शेयर खरीद सकता है, जिसमें मुंबई का कोई पेशेवर निवेशक निवेश कर रहा है। यही भारत के वित्तीय लोकतंत्रीकरण की कहानी है। आज भारत में 25 करोड़ से अधिक ट्रेडिंग खाते हैं। म्यूचुअल फंड उद्योग का आकार 80 लाख करोड़ रुपये से अधिक हो चुका है। पिछले लगभग सात वर्षों में 1,000 से अधिक आईपीओ के माध्यम से कंपनियों ने पूंजी बाजार से लगभग 6 लाख करोड़ रुपये जुटाए हैं। वहीं, जून 2026 तक सेंसेक्स रिकॉर्ड 77,000 अंकों के आसपास कारोबार कर रहा है। यह प्रमाण है कि कैसे भारत के आम निवेशकों ने अपनी बचत को पूंजी बाजार की ओर मोड़कर भारतीय शेयर बाजार को नई उंचाइयों तक पहुंचाया है।

सन 1991 में जब भारत आर्थिक संकट से जूझ रहा था, तब शायद ही किसी ने कल्पना की होगी कि कुछ दशकों बाद भारत दुनिया की प्रमुख अर्थव्यवस्थाओं में शामिल होगा और उसका पूंजी बाजार वैश्विक निवेशकों के लिए आकर्षण का केंद्र बनेगा। आज जियो और एनएसई के प्रस्तावित रिकॉर्ड आईपीओ हमें उसी यात्रा की याद दिलाते हैं। यह उस ऐतिहासिक परिवर्तन का प्रतीक है जिसमें भारत धीरे-धीरे एक ‘सेविंग नेशन’ से ‘इन्वेस्टिंग नेशन’ में बदल चूका है।

भारत के शेयर बाजार का भविष्य

भारत के वित्तीयकरण की यह कहानी जितनी उत्साहजनक है, उतनी ही सावधानी की भी मांग करती है। पिछले कुछ वर्षों में ‘आईपीओ’ भारतीय निवेशकों के बीच अत्यधिक लोकप्रिय हुए हैं। अनेक निवेशकों के लिए वे त्वरित लाभ कमाने का माध्यम बन गए हैं। लेकिन पूंजी बाजार का इतिहास बताता है कि ‘अच्छी कंपनी’ और ‘अच्छा निवेश’ हमेशा एक ही बात नहीं होते। पेटीएम, नायका, ओला इलेक्ट्रिक और फर्स्टक्राइ जैसी कंपनियों के अनुभव बताते हैं कि लोकप्रियता, मीडिया चर्चा और निवेश प्रतिफल के बीच सीधा संबंध नहीं होता। कई कंपनियां सूचीबद्ध होने के बाद अपने ‘लिस्टिंग प्राइस’ से काफी नीचे चली गईं, जबकि कुछ अन्य ने बेहतर प्रतिफल दिया। इसलिए निवेश करते समय केवल कंपनी की कहानी या बाजार में बने उत्साह के आधार पर निर्णय लेना पर्याप्त नहीं है। निवेशक को कंपनी के मूल्यांकन, लाभ, प्रतिस्पर्धात्मक स्थिति और दीर्घकालिक संभावनाओं को समझना आवश्यक है।

हालांकि इन जोखिमों के बीच भारत के शेयर बाजार के भविष्य को केवल शेयर मूल्यों या सूचकांकों के आधार पर नहीं समझा जा सकता। इसके पीछे भारत की वास्तविक अर्थव्यवस्था में हो रहे परिवर्तन को भी देखना होगा। आज भारत में अभूतपूर्व स्तर पर एक्सप्रेसवे, मालवाहक रेल गलियारे, बंदरगाह, हवाई अड्डे, औद्योगिक कॉरिडोर, डिजिटल अवसंरचना और विनिर्माण क्षमता का विस्तार हो रहा है। एआई, डिजिटल भुगतान, इलेक्ट्रॉनिक्स निर्माण, रक्षा उत्पादन, हरित ऊर्जा और सेमीकंडक्टर जैसे क्षेत्रों में निवेश बढ़ रहा है। यह परिवर्तन केवल आर्थिक गतिविधियों को नहीं बढ़ा रहे, बल्कि आने वाले दशकों के लिए नई कंपनियों, नए उद्योगों और नए निवेश अवसरों की नींव भी तैयार कर रहे हैं।

यही कारण है कि भारतीय पूंजी बाजार की विकास यात्रा अभी पूरी नहीं हुई है। आज भी भारतीय परिवारों की बचत का बड़ा हिस्सा सोने, अचल संपत्ति और बैंक जमाओं में लगा हुआ है। यदि आने वाले वर्षों में इन बचतों का एक छोटा हिस्सा भी पूंजी बाजार की ओर प्रवाहित होता है, तो भारतीय शेयर बाजार का आकार और गहराई दोनों उल्लेखनीय रूप से बढ़ सकते हैं। बेशक, अत्यधिक सट्टेबाजी, सोशल मीडिया आधारित निवेश सलाह, डेरिवेटिव कारोबार का विस्तार और वैश्विक आर्थिक झटके भविष्य की चुनौतियां बने रहेंगे। लेकिन इसके बावजूद एक तथ्य निर्विवाद है कि भारत का वित्तीय ढांचा पहले की तुलना में कहीं अधिक मजबूत, व्यापक और समावेशी हो चुका है।

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