Viksit Bharat 2047 Is a Restoration, Not a New Ambition, Says FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the 1991 economic reforms under the P V Narasimha Rao government were driven by a severe balance-of-payments crisis rather than a voluntary policy decision. She made the remarks during the CD Deshmukh Memorial Lecture at the 23rd India Policy Forum in New Delhi.

What Did Sitharaman Say About India’s 1991 Economic Reforms?

Sitharaman placed the 1991 liberalisation programme in the context of India’s economic history. Her central point was that the Narasimha Rao government’s reforms emerged from an external-financing emergency, not from a position of confidence or a deliberate choice.

“Born of compulsion rather than of choice.”

— Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister

She said this of the reforms, drawing a clear distinction between crisis-led liberalisation and reform pursued from strength.

How India’s Policy Priorities Shifted Under the Vajpayee Government

Sitharaman said India’s development trajectory accelerated around the turn of the millennium, pointing to the reform momentum during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance government. She described this as a fundamental shift in national priorities.

According to the Finance Minister, three areas moved to the top of the policy agenda during that period:

• Economic development
• Physical connectivity
• Digital infrastructure

She added that the United Progressive Alliance government, in office from 2004 to 2014, rode on the momentum built during that period.

How India Responded to Global Shocks Over the Last 12 Years

Listing measures taken over the past 12 years, Sitharaman said India had built momentum to accelerate before the external environment became more difficult. She said rare black swan events became recurring features as the world faced successive disruptions and unprecedented uncertainty. Even then, India did not allow those shocks to become a reason for policy drift.

What Is Viksit Bharat 2047 and Why Sitharaman Calls It a Restoration

Sitharaman connected the government’s Viksit Bharat initiative, which aims to make India a developed country by 2047, to a broader argument about the long-term economic direction. She said the goal was not an unprecedented ambition but a restoration.

To achieve it, she said India must:

• Dismantle remnants of its colonial mindset
• Reject the psychology of victimhood
• Build a grand society anchored in civilisational heritage

FM Sitharaman’s View of the Indian Economic Model

The Finance Minister described the Indian model as neither consumerist nor mercantilist. She said wealth gains meaning when it strengthens society, and that a philosophy focused only on individual rights without collective responsibility would affect future generations.

She framed India’s destiny as becoming prosperous without becoming consumerist, wealthy without becoming materialistic, and globally successful without losing its civilisational character.

Final Outlook

Source: Business Standard