Modi's Plans for India@100: Mission, Goal, Resolution and Roadmap For 2050

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A vision for India is not about what I think or what you think. What people need is what needs to happen. Right now, what people need is at least reasonably decent levels of living. So, the most important thing is nourishment, which must happen. Today, sixty percent of the Indian population is considered malnourished-even the reasonably well-to-do-because their skeletal systems are not growing to full size. If your body does not grow to full size, your brain will also not grow fully. We are producing an underdeveloped humanity, which is a very great risk for the future. If you have 1.3 billion people, healthy, active, focused and trained for something, you can make a miracle out of it. But if you have 1.3 billion people unhealthy, un-nourished, uneducated, unfocused and uninspired, you have a major disaster on your hands.

In a 2011 report, Citigroup predicted India would be the world's biggest economy before 2050. "We expect India's real per capita GDP to grow at 6.4% pa over the 40-year period between 2010 and 2050 (7.2% pa over the next 10 years and at rates of 7.7% pa between 2020 and 2030 and 5.2% pa between 2030 and 2050). As a result, we expect India to become the largest economy in the world by 2050, overtaking China and the US in the process."

The beauty of India is that it is resilient. A large percentage of the Indian population is self-employed. That means everyone is an entrepreneur by himself. There is a difference between taking up a job and being an entrepreneur, even if you are just selling peanuts on the street. You still need to understand where the cheapest resource is, where the market is good, what the right kind of marketing is, what you have to say according to the season there is a lot of mind-sets involved, even in selling a heap of peanuts. However small an entrepreneur he is, he has an active intellect going on within him. He is a small entrepreneur only because of the situations in which he exists, not because of his capabilities. If you give him an opportunity and he finds the necessary exposure, he will propel himself. When such an effervescent intellect is there, we must harness it. If you create a conducive atmosphere, people will do incredible things in this country. For example, there is a whole educational revolution happening in some parts of India. If you go to small towns and look, huge educational institutions have come up all private. These were not there just five years ago, but they have come up on such a large scale, you cannot believe it! Not all of them may be top-level in their quality, but quality will improve over a period as competition comes. One thing about India is, it is a nation where the sense of loyalty is very big. If you do something for them, they always stay with you. Another thing I always see is that an average Indian crowd is intellectually much more effervescent than most people on the planet. I have spoken in all kinds of groups, to the highest level of academics, scientists and economic leaders. There are brilliant people, no question about it, but there is a certain level of intellect in the general population in India. This is the effect of thousands of years of culture. And it has to be harnessed. If you leave it unharnessed for too long it will dive down and become static. Right now, it is still an effervescent intellect. If you give a person a little support, he will climb. Today, India is on the threshold of an economic upsurge. Various things that we did not even dream were possible for a larger segment of the population could be possible in the next few years if we handle things right. Large segments of the population could benefit hugely. We are right on the threshold, and if we handle the situation smartly, we can be a tremendous power because we are a population of 1.3 billion. A population of 1.3 billion with the necessary intellect, is as good as anything can be. If we handle ourselves right, we can be a tremendous power.