India faces 2022 deadline for attaining economic goals

IT HAS been exactly one year since the Indian government announced its "Strategy for New India @ 75" that aims to transform the economy by 2022 by creating so-called "agripreneurs" and upgrading manufacturing to Industry 4.0 standards, among other ambitious goals.

The number @ 75 refers to the nation's age since independence from Britain in 1947. The question is whether the government will be able to attain its objectives in the short space of about two years.

The strategy, authored by the government's premier economic development organisation, Niti Aayog, adopts several objectives - the chief among them is a target of about 8 per cent economic growth during 2018-23, which would raise the economy's size in real terms from US$2.7 trillion in 2017-18 to nearly US$4 trillion by 2022-23. It expects growth to reach 9-10 per cent by 2022-23.