DNA Edit: Planning big – PM needs backing to make India a $5 trillion economy

It is perfectly justified for the prime minister to lay out a road map and present his vision for the country. That, indeed, should be considered the principal objective of a head of government and PM Narendra Modi has done well to visualise ahead. He told chief ministers gathered for the Niti Aayog’s fifth Governing Council meeting that each state must aim to double its economy if the country is to achieve its target of $5 trillion by 2024. 

The prime minister was candid enough to admit that it was indeed a challenging target, but achievable if all are on board. There are two things that are of note here. One, the target of $5 trillion comes from the BJP manifesto and no one can fault the prime minister of dreaming big - it is certainly better than not dreaming at all. Two, such a statement coming from the highest office in the land, reflects a break from old-fashioned crony socialism that prospered in this country at the back of poverty and deprivation. To keep socialism going, it was important to keep India in the economic doldrums. 

Now, finally, the country has a prime minister who is speaking the language that behoves a modern nation-state on the cusp of big economic strides, apart from being one of the fastest growing large economies of the world. In a federal entity like India, it is critical that states prosper, as that is the way forward to upward mobility. For India to touch this magic target - its gross domestic product (GDP), the current worth of the economy, is placed at $2.6 trillion, according to the database of the IMF’s World Economic Outlook for April 2018 - is an objective that is worth aspiring for. 

Modi said that the states need to recognise their core competence and aim to increase their economy by 2-2.5 times, which is roughly the size of the current deficit. Any upscaling of the Indian economy is only possible when agriculture is given priority and there are drastic reforms in this sector. To that extent, any agricultural transformation would need improved logistics, efficient supply chains, upgraded marketing, more free moment of agricultural goods within the Union of states and overhauling the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and the Agriculture Produce Marketing Act.  

A Niti Aayog forum is the ideal platform to air views and throw up genuine concerns, which the states did in ample measure. Some chief ministers present, suggested changes in working of the Niti Aayog, which was not playing the role of a facilitator, as expected. If there is a case of streamlining the Aayog, the government would be well advised to look into the bottlenecks. After all, there can be no case of ‘one size fits all’ in centrally-sponsored schemes, which also goes against the concept of democratic centralisation. Having said that, the prime minister’s vision needs to be lauded. It is incumbent upon state governments - across the political divide - to aspire to reach the target, which is aimed at taking India ahead.