7.8% Growth Key to High-Income Dream

India will need to raise its average annual growth rate to 7.8% between 2024 to 2047 to become a high-income country by 2047, the World Bank said in a report released Friday, but the number is achievable given the country's macroeconomic stability, demographic dividend, strong reform momentum, large market and strategic geopolitical opportunities.

- Rajeev Jayaswal

NEW DELHI:

The report cautioned that the ambitious target could not be achieved in a business-as-usual scenario. "For India to become a high-income economy by 2047 its GNI (gross national income) per capita would have to increase by nearly eight times over the current levels; growth would have to accelerate further and to remain high over the next two decades, a feat that few countries have achieved," the India report, titled Becoming a High-Income Economy in a Generation, said.

The World Bank defines a high-income economy as one with per capita income of around $14,000 dollars a year. India's was $2,540 in 2023, according to the report.