Viksit Bharat 2047 – A suggested Model

25 August 26

Introduction

India intends to become a developed country by embarking upon comprehensive national development as can be culled out from our Constitution. If that be the aim we need to define as to what level national development we intend to achieve and by what date. We need to have an aim as to where we need to be, say 50 years hence. Then we need to have a plan to reach that aim. The plan may be divided into ten-year plans, further broken down to five-year plans so that the process is focused. Each five-year plan can be further divided into yearly plans so that the revenue that is collected can be budgeted and spent in a calibrated manner.

These could be roll on plans as it may be difficult to spend the allocated funds in the time frame. Comprehensive national development can be divided into the following sectors which contribute to the aim when integrated. The sectors being Internal Administration which includes Governance, law & order, judiciary, public services, External Affairs which include diplomacy, global engagement and trade missions, Armed Forces which includes defence readiness and modernization, Economy which includes welfare, industry, services, agriculture, economic support, job creation, subsidies and reforms, Infrastructure which includes transportation, energy and digital infrastructure, Education or Human capital development.

Current Allocation

The budget is essentially a control measure intended to control how expenditure is managed within the departments. It gives an indication as to which sectors mentioned above is the focus of the Government. The current dispensation is as shown below.

Sector	Approximate Amount
Internal Administration	~10–12%
External Affairs	~1% or less
Armed Forces	13–15%
Economy	30–35%+
Infrastructure	22–24%
Education	~3–4%

Comprehensive national development requires balanced growth. Immediate governance needs must be aligned with long-term growth and strategic security. Long-term economic growth must be protected by strong security, as security is a prerequisite for development. Besides security, greater emphasis should generally be placed on infrastructure, education, and economic development because these sectors drive sustained growth. A practical allocation could be as shown below.

Sector	Percentage Allocation	Rationale
Internal Administration	15%	Governance, law & order, judiciary, public services including all pensions. Needs efficiency but not over-expansion.
External Affairs	5%	Diplomacy, global engagement, trade missions. Important but relatively low-cost area.
Armed Forces	15%	Defence readiness, modernization. India’s strategic environment requires steady investment but not at the expense of development.
Economy (incl. welfare, industry, agriculture)	20%	Direct economic support, job creation, subsidies, reforms—critical for near-term stability.
Infrastructure	25%	Airports, Roads, railways, energy, digital infra—key driver of productivity and investment.
Education	20%	Human capital development; long-term growth multiplier.

Why will this balance work?

The primary factors that will boost growth are Infrastructure as it enhances productivity and private investment and Education which will builds skilled workforce that will lead to higher GDP potential that fuels growth. We need to combine Infrastructure (25%) and Education (20%) adding up to 45%. Developing nations that sustained growth (e.g., South Korea, China) prioritized these heavily.

During the growth process we need Economic stability. An allocation of 20% is suggested for Agriculture, MSMEs and Social safety nets. This will keep inequality and shocks under control while growth efforts mature.

Nonproductive expenses are essential to ensure an environment that will promote development. Armed Forces (15%) and Internal Administration (15%) contribute toward this totalling to 30%. This would ensure Sovereignty, Stability (law & order), and Disaster Response capability so that development can take place without any hindrance. Too little here leads to instability and too much will drain funds for development.

Global positioning deals with Trade agreements, Strategic partnerships and Diaspora engagement. External Affairs is a low cost but high-leverage component for which a 5% allocation would be adequate.

India is in the mid-stage development and for this stage the above balanced allocation is ideal. This allocation should not be static. It evolves with national maturity. When we move to an advanced economy, we may need to allocate more to Research & Innovation and towards Welfare.

Where we are and where we need to be

Sector	Suggested Model	Actual (approx)	Gap
Internal Administration	15%	~10–12% (Home Affairs, judiciary, admin)	Slightly lower
External Affairs	5%	~1% or less	Much lower
Armed Forces	15%	13–15%	✔ Well aligned
Economy (incl. subsidies, welfare)	20%	30–35%+ (incl. subsidies, transfers)	Too high
Infrastructure	25%	22–24%	Slightly lower
Education	20%	~3–4% (central govt)	Very low

Internal Administration. The allocation is slightly leaner than the suggested allocation which is good for effectiveness.

External Affairs. Even though the actual expenses are lower commensurate with allocation globally, there is no major concern as it is a low cost, high impact arm of the Government.

Armed Forces. The allocation is close to what is suggested. It maintains strategic balance and is well calibrated.

Economy (incl. subsidies, welfare). Food & fertilizer subsidies, State transfers and Debt servicing take up about 35% now. Most of this is nonproductive expenditure and we need to reduce this to 20%. The current level of expenditure crowds out infrastructure and education sectors.

Infrastructure. The current allocation is about 23%. A strong push is needed for development. This sector needs sustain increase for the next 10 -15 years.

Education. Education is severely underfunded. Allocation is roughly ₹1.3–1.5 lakh crore (~3–4%). Total education spending including States is about 6-7% of the budget only. We need to enhance it to 20%. This is the biggest structural weakness today.

There is a big structural distortion in our budget. A huge portion is committed spending which includes interest payments, subsidies and pensions. Only 30-35% is available for development. We spend 25-30% on infrastructure and education whereas we need to allocate 45%. This will drive growth. Welfare, subsidies and interest need to come down to 20%. At present we are consumption heavy and not investment heavy.

We are giving a strong push to infrastructure. We are approaching a balanced spending for Armed Forces. Fiscal discipline is improving gradually. Where we are digressing from the optimal model is education, skilling and research. We have excess expenditure in subsidies and interest payments. Infrastructure needs sustained high capital expenditure. The suggested allocation is forward-looking and growth optimised.

How do we reach there?

Efficiency and effectiveness matter more than allocation percentages. Leakage reduction and governance reform can outperform higher spending. Education must include skilling and research, not just schooling, but employability. Infrastructure must prioritize logistics and energy as these give the highest economic return. Defence spending should focus on modernization where technology is more important than manpower-heavy expansion. We spend too much on sustaining the present and too little on building the future.

Conclusion

We have heard of Viksit Bharat 2047. However, there is no public articulation of what it means. What is the definition of Viksit Bharat 2047, a century after our independence. Once that is defined by the highest political leadership, all the departments can plan to reach there. When all these plans are integrated with the suggested allocation above, tweaking it as we go along, hopefully we will have Viksit Bharat in 2047.