Redeeming our 'Tryst With Destiny': India's road map to Viksit Bharat

India has declared its ambition to become a developed nation by 2047. What it needs now is a credible, measurable roadmap to turn that ambition into reality

I write this on our eightieth Independence Day and, as usual, my thoughts drift to the “tryst with destiny” speech

of our first Prime Minister,Jawaharlal Nehru, who described the midnight hour as the historic moment when “the soul of a nation, longsuppressed, finds utterance”. 

Nehru reminded us that freedom brought responsibility. The task ahead was to serve India and its people, end poverty, ignorance, disease and inequality of opportunity, and build a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation. Political independence was not the destination but the means to secure dignity and opportunity for every Indian. 

Forty-four years later, presenting his Budget on July 24, 1991, Manmohan Singh confronted an economic model that had reached a dead end. Forex reserves could finance barely a fortnight’s imports. Industrial licensing, import controls, high tariffs and excessive protection had constrained enterprise and weakened competitiveness. Singh did not merely articulate an aspiration. He brought about changes in industrial, trade, investment and fiscal policies. Quoting Victor Hugo, he declared that no power could stop an idea whose time had come. 

Subsequent governments followed his lead. Although the reforms were incomplete and uneven, they altered India’s direction. Businesses encountered competition,consumers gained choices,services exports flourished and foreign exchange ceased to be a perpetual national anxiety. 

On August 15, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked India to embrace five pledges for the next twenty-five years. Foremost was the resolve to make India a developed country by 2047 and “settle for nothing less”. But naming the destination is not the same as preparing for the journey. 

‘Viksit Bharat’ now adorns numerous schemes, speeches and official documents, but India still lacks a publicly accountable roadmap with measurable milestones. Experience advises caution. In 2019, Modi set the goal of making India a $5 trillion economy by 2024. That target has not yet been achieved. 

For trade, the direction should be clear. Free trade agreements can help, but a developed India cannot be built through high tariffprotection punctuated by selective exemptions. It requires competitive firms, fair administration of laws, reliable power, internationally accepted standards, predictable taxation, swift dispute resolution and easier access to imported technology and inputs. Self-reliance must mean greater capability and resilience, not trying to produce everything ourselves. 

A developed India should offer productive employment, quality education, functioning institutions and equality of opportunity. That requires faster growth and institutions that convert growth into opportunity for ordinary citizens. That brings us back to Nehru’s original pledge. 

Recent protests by young Indians over examination integrity, paper leaks and educational reform carry a larger message. A student who studies hard but doubts whether examinations are conducted fairly is confronting a modern form of inequality of opportunity. India cannot become developed while its youth distrust the systems that determine their future. 

Independence Day should inspire pride, but also honest reappraisal. Nehru articulated the purpose of freedom. Manmohan Singh changed India’s economic course when the existing framework did not deliver. Modi has named the destination. The need now is a road map to get there. The test of ‘Viksit Bharat’ will not simply be the size of India’s GDP in 2047, but also whether an ordinary young Indian can believe that ability, effort and enterprise will determine his or her future. That would be the fullest redemption of our tryst with destiny. 

Email: tncrajagopalan@gmail.com