Statistics Ministry Secretary Saurabh Garg said on Friday that to achieve the target of becoming a developed nation by 2047, India will have to maintain an annual economic growth rate of 8-9% for the next two decades. This will require continuous reform and policy intervention. India aims to grow its current economy from $4 trillion to $30 trillion by 2047. The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew at a rate of 7.8% in the June quarter, much better than expected.

India’s next 20 years

Garg said that we are the fastest growing economy. There is no reason why our growth rate cannot be the fastest in the coming times. He further said that the next 20 years will be years of tremendous growth for India. Earlier this week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised India’s growth forecast for FY2027 to 7% from 6.4%, citing robust domestic demand and robust services activity. The World Bank has also raised its estimate from 6.6% to 7.1%.

All these three sectors will be included in the economy

Speaking at a program on ‘Pathways to Developed India’ at Sri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), Garg said the government is exploring ways to include three new areas in economic measurement under the updated framework of ‘System of National Accounts’ (SNA), including data as an asset, depletion of natural resources and people’s well-being. Garg said work on developing methods to measure these areas is expected to continue for the next two to three years, so that it can be implemented by 2029-30.

The ‘SNA 2025’ approved by the United Nations Statistical Commission was adopted in March 2025. It is expected that various countries will start adopting this framework from 2029-30. Lavish Bhandari, president and senior fellow at the Center for Social and Economic Progress, said GDP is an important metric for measuring economic performance, but human progress is much more than that. He said that happiness, health, stability and quality of life are also very important to achieve the goal of ‘Developed India’.