Viksit Bharat by 2047 is India’s aspiration, and to achieve this, a massive investment in infrastructure is essential. “An annual infra outlay of Rs 15 lakh crore will be required and it has to be significantly more than the present Rs 11.5 lakh crore,” Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said while addressing the ISSA-ESIC International Seminar. Such an ambitious target, which is considered a stepping stone toward realising this vision of an economically prosperous, self-reliant, and socially secure India by 2047-the centenary of the country’s independence.
Infrastructure Investment: A Cure for Development
Infrastructure investment in the Indian economy has maintained its growth pace for several decades. Talking during the seminar on the topic “Formalization & Social Security Coverage for Workers in the Informal Sector,” Mandaviya mentioned that the Indian government has been carrying forward the effort at a consistent pace over the years. The budgetary provision was just Rs 1.2 lakh crore in 2012. It has doubled to Rs 2.4 lakh crore by 2014. The current government had increased it to Rs 11.5 lakh crore in 2024. Mandaviya said India would need to invest Rs 15 lakh crore per year to achieve Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Why It Matters:
Economic Growth: With the Indian economy growth still in progress, people have more money to spend on goods and services, which creates employment opportunities, mainly in new and emerging sectors. The rapidity of growth requires constant investment in infrastructure to create long-term progress.
Job Creation & Workforce: The new sectors- especially gig and sunrise industries-mean that governments need to ensure that there is sufficient social security for such workers, meaning healthcare, pension, and other livelihood support.
Social Security: The Foundation of Inclusive Growth
Other than infrastructure, the other major plank for India to reach a developed status is social security. Mandaviya underlined that the government had made tremendous progress in the increase of social security coverage. According to him, in 2014, it was 24%. Now, it has risen to 48%, and with food security added, the coverage reaches a significant 68%. This expansion is of utmost importance to India’s 1.4 billion population, wherein social security equates to health, pension, livelihood, and food security.
Main Achievements on Social Security:
Health Security: Now more than 600 million Indians are covered under health security, through which free treatment is available till Rs 5 lakh.
Food Security: Free food grains are being issued to around 800 million and 5 kilogram of food grains are supplied per month.
Poverty Rejuvenation: In the past decade, this social security had brought 250 million people out of poverty.
Mandaviya also mentioned that all these social security schemes cover the informal sector too, which happens to be employed nearly three quarters of India’s population. The choice benefits informal workers such as gig workers and self-employed ones by providing an insurance cover in terms of a list of schemes initiated by the government.
Increased Labor Force Participation
The Indian workforce has increased greatly over the past decade. Now, 630 million people have jobs, but women’s participation has doubled over the last decade; from 22% a decade ago, to 44%. This growth actually indicates the intention of the government to make this economy more inclusive toward women and deprived sections.
Some Other Important Growth Indicators Are:
FII and Ease of Doing Business: While India has proven to be the largest destination of FDI inflows, doing business ease rank improved from 140 to 63 in the past decade.
Startup Ecosystem: Indian is now taking the lead into a healthy thriving start-up economy. Several have already started talking of going global.
Chanakya Legacy and Social Security
He further recalled the principles of ancient Indian thinker Chanakya, who held that a rich economy is that which provides well-being to its lower strata. This principle speaks for the present-day focus of the government to provide social security to all, whether in the formal sector, informal sector, or as self-employed persons.
India is ensuring that no one is left behind in the pursuit for development by putting in policies focused on the protection of workers’ rights across sectors. Social security, according to Mandaviya, is not just the responsibility of the government but a component of dignified life shared amongst all citizens.
Conclusion: A Roadmap for a Developed India
It is very much evident that in the centenary year of India’s independence, that is, 2047, increased investment in infrastructure and an extension of social security coverage is what the market actually demands. The vision of Viksit Bharat can only be achieved if the government continues on its infrastructure growth, economic inclusion, and comprehensive social security agendas. Investment worth Rs 15 lakh crore each year for infrastructure, that is going to create a prospering, secured and developed future; social security now to all the workers in India.
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For more updates on the latest developments & Investment in the Infrastructure sector, check out our article on : India requires an investment of $2.2 trillion in infrastructure to become a $7 trillion economy by 2030