The planet can't afford another China: NITI Aayog's Suman Bery

India must follow mindful and environmentally conscious consumption and production rather than the single-minded pursuit of growth at any cost, federal policy think tank NITI Aayog vice chairman Suman K. Bery said in an interview

- Gireesh Chandra Prasad

Bery proposed that emerging economic realities, including the potential of services exports, India’s prospects of becoming an agriculture superpower, and the dwindling potential of the manufacturing sector to create jobs due to increased productivity, warrant a review of the traditional notions on which development models are built.

He acknowledged the need to enable India’s aspirational youth (69% of the 1.4 billion people below the age of 24 years, according to the United Nations) to move into higher productivity or better-paying economic activities.

Bery also said states must step up their investments for sustainable growth and be fiscally responsible, subjects into which the Sixteenth Finance Commission to be set up by November should drill down. Edited excerpts:

What is the broad direction of reforms needed to accelerate our journey to a developed country?

A very important point that the Prime Minister has stressed is that it cannot be “growth at any cost" any longer. The planet cannot afford another China. We have an aspiration, an expectation to rise up the ladder in terms of the size of the economy, but it cannot be at all costs. So, the big challenge facing India is to reconcile the legitimate aspirations of improved quality of life with fidelity to our traditional values of frugality, care for nature and sustainability.