Over the past few years, the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision has been a key aspect of policy discussion. The Prime Minister has outlined his government’s action plans to transform India into a developed country by 2047. The roadmap for Viksit Bharat is a result of two years of intensive preparation and involves a holistic approach involving all ministries and wide-ranging consultations with state governments, academia, industry, civil society, and scientific organizations. The desire to transform the system is laudable, but it has to be accompanied with an equally serious attempt to uplift our agricultural sector, which still constitutes the backbone of our economy. While innovative ideas have been proposed to bring about Viksit Bharat in many areas of socioeconomic activity, our primary sector has been relatively overlooked. This must change.

While the idea of moving to a higher growth trajectory by focusing on raising the share of industry in national output is understandable and widely accepted, it may not be enough to feed the world’s largest population. If there is truly an instrument for sustained socioeconomic transformation in India, it has to be our agricultural sector. It has myriad linkages with key sectors of the economy, including sunrise sectors like food processing, which alone contributes 11.6% of Gross Value Added (GVA) in the agricultural sector, and 10.5% of GVA in manufacturing, apart from contributing significantly to employment and investment in the economy. With rapid urbanization and lifestyle changes, the demand for processed foods will keep rising. This is an important sector which policymakers cannot afford to ignore.  

There is surely room for improvement in income inequality in India. The poor may not be as badly off as they used to be, but the gap between them and the rich still remains unacceptable. Upward social mobility in India continues to remain sticky, and a rising primary-sector income will have a better equalizing effect on the distribution of total income. A 1% rise in primary-sector income is seen to reduce income inequality in India, while the same increase in the industrial and (especially) services sector contributes to a rise in inequality. Reducing overall income disparities requires our agricultural sector to perform well, and so, the development of suitable reforms to boost its output through strategic infrastructure development (including technology infusion) and inclusive policies are imperative.

Policymakers need to particularly pay attention to global warming and climate change. Appropriate technological, institutional and socioeconomic interventions do matter in better understanding the issues faced by Indian farmers, especially the marginalized ones. The aim is to enhance agricultural production while adapting to climate realities. Farming at all levels must become more sustainable. Apart from feeding over a billion people, agriculture remains the mainstay of inputs for high value-addition industries like food processing. Make no mistake – without our agricultural sector joining India’s growth story wholeheartedly, a successful Viksit Bharat will remain just a dream.




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