New Delhi: The government think tank NITI Aayog has envisaged a new India in which all citizens in 15 years will have houses with toilets, two-wheelers or cars, power, air conditioners and digital connectivity. This is a glimpse of Vision 2031-32 presented by the NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya to the body’s governing council, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at a meeting held on Sunday in the presence of chief ministers.
The India 2031-32: Vision, Strategy and Action agenda also visualises a fully literate society with universal access to health care. It also calls for having a much larger and modern network of roads, railways, waterways and air connectivity and a clean India where citizens would have access to quality air and water. It is envisions that per capita income would increase three fold to Rs 3.14 lakh in 2031-32 from Rs 1.06 lakh in 2015-16.
Besides, it states that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) or economy would rise to Rs 469 lakh crore in 2031-32 from the Rs 137 lakh crore level in 2015-16. The vision says that the central and state expenditure will rise by Rs 92 lakh crore in 2031-32 to Rs 130 lakh crore, from Rs 38 lakh crore in 2015-16. The work on the Fifteen Year Vision and Seven Year Strategy document spanning 2017-18 to 2031-32 is in progress.
The three-year action agenda covering 2017-18 to 2019-20 was circulated to the governing council members on Sunday and would be finalised shortly. According to the vision presentation, all efforts had to be made to realise the vision of a vibrant India by 2031-32. “We must transform India into a prosperous, healthy, secure, corruption-free, energy abundant, environmentally clean and globally influential nation,” the presentation added. In an unrelated development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will review the performance of seven infrastructure sectors including roads, transport and railways at a meeting on Tuesday with the officials of the ministries concerned.
Other areas to be reviewed are Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), ports, airport and coal. Officials of Niti Aayog will also attend the meeting, sources said. They said Mr Modi will review the performance of sectors such as energy, housing, petroleum, power and renewables at another meeting to be held on May 8. The review is expected to focus on identifying the problems and clearing the bottlenecks that have been hampering development of the infra sector. Infra sector is a major focus area for the NDA government, a senior official said, adding that “in 2016-17, many of the infrastructure sectors have performed well but there are areas that needed to be addressed”.
