Experts deliberate in an International Workshop organised by NITI Aayog, IGIRD and University of California, Berkeley

New Delhi: NITI Aayog, in collaboration with the University of California, Berkeley and Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), organised a two days ‘International Workshop on India’s Multiple Transitions: Financing a big Investment Push’ that concluded in Mumbai today. The workshop brought together distinguished international scholars, Indian academics, policymakers, and financial experts to explore strategies for accelerating India's development agenda through enhanced financial mobilisation. 

Suman K Bery, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, in his inaugural remarks emphasised that the journey of growth for India over the last couple of decades has been impressive. He further added that India's journey from being the 10th largest economy in 2014 to 5th today has been an incredibly fast growth in the phase of global and domestic challenges. He said, the structural reforms have ensured that India remains a globally attractive destination for investment supported by political stability, the rising domestic consumption of the middle class, robust infrastructure push by the government, sustainable fiscal health and a vibrant class of domestic institutional investors.

In his keynote address, Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor, Government of India observed that India's journey to becoming a high-income economy by 2047 hinges on unlocking domestic savings, deepening financial markets, and driving transformative investments in innovation and sustainability. With bold policies and collective ambition, India can turn challenges into opportunities and become a global economic powerhouse, he said.

Dr. Basanta Pradhan, Director and Vice Chancellor, IGIRD participating in the deliberations said that India’s ambition to achieve developed country status by 2047 was a remarkable goal. To realize it, a sustained GDP growth of 7 to 8% would be needed for a long period of time. It requires investment to pick up and grow rapidly. Large sums would be needed for critical sectors like energy transition, infrastructure, urbanisation, and human capital development. However, for an emerging country like India with a significant proportion below the poverty line, financing these investments poses a formidable challenge, Dr Pradhan said.

The International Workshop also saw participation of Dr. Donald Hanna, acclaimed academic from University of California, Berkeley. During the course of deliberations, Dr. Hanna said India being the world’s most populous country and, now, one of its most fast-growing economies, the success of India in managing the transition to a higher level of income on a more sustainable pattern of resource use is and will be of fundamental importance to global welfare.

The technical sessions in the Workshop focused on various aspects of developing a research agenda on alternatives for financing a big investment push were organised. The conference featured four insightful technical sessions which were namely Macroeconomic management and India’s multiple transitions; Liberalising capital movements; A modern financial architecture for a fast-growing economy; and Fiscal dimensions of a big investment push, stated a press release.