India Needs To Grow 8-10% In 25 Years: Singapore Minister Shanmugaratnam

Tharman Shanmugaratnam Singapore's senior minister delivered the first Arun Jaitley Memorial Lecture.

Singapore's Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam

The Quint's file photo

India's economy must grow by eight to 10 percent in the next quarter century in order to raise the average income of people across the country and create more jobs, according to Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore's Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies.

The senior minister from Singapore delivered the first Arun Jaitley Memorial Lecture on Friday, 8 July. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also present at the lecture.

Shanmugaratnam added that India needs to focus simultaneously not only on the job growth but also productivity, as reported by Reuters. India would have to accelerate the speed of reforms and repurpose the role of the government in order to face the challenges that the country is likely to face in the upcoming 25 years.

According to him, globalisation poses as a great opportunity for the Indian economy however, India must be not move away from multilateralism.

Even though some economists might claim that globalisation is dwindling, they have been proven wrong because global trade has surpassed pre-COVID levels, said Shanmugaratnam.

"To do both at the same time--to lift per capita income significantly and to create many more jobs for the larger population--you need an 8-10 percent growth, that is the minimum that has to be achieved in the next 25 years."

Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore's Senior Minister

Shamugaratnam will be speaking at the Kautilya Economic Conclave and meeting business and think tank leaders on his visit to New Delhi, according to a press release published by the Prime Minister's Office Singapore.

During his visit to India that began on 4 July, he visited Assam and met Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. He was also scheduled to officiate the handover of the North East Skills Centre from ITE Education Services (ITEES) to the Assam government. Additionally, he was scheduled to visit the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati and a start-up incubator to observe social upliftment initiatives.

(With inputs from Reuters and Business Standard)