40After40 Retirement Expo: Arvind Virmani Shares His Vision Of India Becoming A High Income Country By 2050’

The second edition of the two-day Outlook Money 40After40 Retirement Expo opened in New Delhi on October 4, 2024. This unique event, a first-of-its kind, dwells on the ever important topic of retirement planning – but rather than being just a platform for information, it celebrates the exciting phase of retirement that one can look forward to after the grind of working years.

Arvind Virmani, economist and full-time member, Niti Aayog, who was also the chief guest, spoke of his vision of India becoming a high income country by 2050, and an upper middle income country by 2030.

“There is a vision of Viksit Bharat. It is shared by everybody. It’s is not the government’s vision. It is my vision. But we are well placed to become a high income country by 2050. We are on way to improving our relative gross domestic product (GDP), GDP per capital, employment, reducing poverty and income distribution.”

Also Read: Not Having Steady Income Compounds Problems Post-Retirement: V. Vaidyanathan, IDFC First Bank

New Opportunities

Virmani said there are lots of opportunities in India now as compared to earlier. The working population ratio is also growing, which means that there are more jobs available. In comparison, the working population in other high income countries, such as Japan, Germany and the US is declining.

He said India must take the advantage of a growing working population and the increasing working opportunities to improve its GDP, GDP per capita, while simultaneously reducing poverty and distributing income.

He added that multinational corporations (MNCs) are also important as they create and support an entire ecosystem, adding that globalisation is now an outdated concept.

Challenges Ahead

As with any journey to growth, there were challenges in India’s growth journey too, and some of them still remain, however old, he said.

He added that the quality of basic education and skilling needed to be improved. “There was not enough focus on actual teaching. Skilling has to be improved,” he said.

He further said that bureaucratic hurdles as a remnant of socialist legacy still remained, however negligible.