Davos 2023 | India may beat $26 trillion economy estimates by 2047: Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

India might clock better numbers than the $26 trillion dollar economy envisaged by Ernst & Young by the year 2047, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishaw said during an interaction with CNBC-TV18 on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday.

Vaishnaw outlined that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, India has taken a very consistent path towards growth, which is investment driven and provides you long-term productivity gains.

“We have also coordinated monetary policy very well with the fiscal policy and our focus on bringing the poorest of the poor into the middle classes, that further improves the prospects for the country and of course the digital story is for all of us we all know about it very well,” he said, announcing that India’s Telecom stack will be the talk of the town in 2023.

Ernst and Young, one of the top four professional services organisations, on Wednesday said it projects the Indian economy to reach GDP size of US$26 trillion (in market exchange terms) by 2047, the 100th year of the country’s independence.

This would also raise the per capita income of the countrymen to US$15,000, putting the country among the ranks of developed economies, Ernst and Young predicted in the report India@100: Realizing the potential of a US$26 trillion economy, launched by Ashwini Vaishnaw, Railway and IT Minister, during the EY panel session hosted by CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland.

The report said that India would have a significant advantage owing to its strong domestic demand, digitalisation, large global talent pool, financial inclusion, global competitiveness, and sustainability transition.

Minister Vaishnaw noted that telecom and railways would be the key drivers in the coming years and lead India to become a global export hub in railway and telecom technology and equipment.

Key to these were policy clarity and stability of policy, which PM Modi has consistently given by repealing over 20,000 statues and 1,500 archaic laws.

Another aspect that takes growth forward was using the domestic demand as a big driver for attracting the supply chain, Vaishnaw said.

EY’s Global Chairman and CEO Carmine Di Sibio said they are extremely bullish about India because of the huge and highly skilled talent that is highly skilled in technology and in a lot of the areas that are needed today.

Saurabh Agrawal, CFO, Tata Sons, said he has “never felt more positive than I feel today on the momentum that we are building up”.

A 180 billion dollar IT industry that provides 5 million jobs and several ancillary jobs that got created as a result and an extremely proactive government were some of the factors he highlighted.

Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran, who has written the foreword for the India @100 report, has said that the estimate was achievable as global geo-politics has realigned in favour of India and the country is well positioned to disrupt in nearly every sector.

He too highlighted India’s strength in technology that would drive development in various sectors and also drive exports.

Sumant Sinha, founder and CEO of ReNew, noted that world is diversifying away from China and that brings a huge opportunity for India. Renewable energy sector is poised for rapid growth and India is at the cutting edge of the renewable energy revolution, he said.

Rajiv Memani, Chairman & Managing Partner, EY India, said that India’s youngest demographic base among all G20 countries will enable it to form 25% of the global workforce and digital infrastructure will be a force multiplier.

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