Geopolitics, China and AI will test India’s ambitions by 2047: CEA Nageswaran | Today’s news
New Delhi: The global order is increasingly characterized by power and negotiation rather than rules, requiring India to negotiate from a position of strength and build coalitions to help influence, the government’s top economic adviser said, identifying five factors that would test the country’s ambitions to become a developed economy by 2047.
These five long-term shifts, including geopolitical realignment, strategic supply chain bottlenecks, China’s manufacturing scale, climate variability and the interplay between demographics and artificial intelligence (AI), will shape India’s path to becoming a rich nation by the centenary of its independence, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V. Anantha Nageswaran said on Thursday.
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Speaking at the 2026 India Investment Seminar in Mumbai, Nageswaran said these shifts will make India’s climb harder than it was for earlier laggards, but are “reasons to move faster, not to slow down.”
On strategic choke points, Nageswaran’s presentation identified energy, wood chips, rare earths, fertilizers and sea lanes as potential sources of leverage and argued that India needs buffers and redundancy as such redundancy should be seen as insurance rather than waste, according to a press release issued by SBI Funds Management Ltd, one of the organizers of the seminar.
Scope of production
He also highlighted the scale of China’s manufacturing sector, noting that the country accounts for nearly a third of global production and that excess capacity can be cheaply exported. For India, the answer is to compete on capacity and depth rather than on cost alone, the presentation said.
Climate change was identified not only as a warming problem, but also as a problem involving greater variability in monsoons and heat with implications for insurance. The presentation said India will have to adapt domestically while challenging measures such as carbon border taxes abroad.
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The fifth shift concerns demography and artificial intelligence. With the workforce expected to peak with the advent of machines, the presentation says India cannot rely indefinitely on the traditional route of cheap labor and needs to convert its demographics into skills, making skills part of industrial policy.
Nageswaran’s remarks came at a two-day seminar organized by SBI Funds Management Ltd and European asset management company Amundi, which brought together more than 100 international institutional investors and Amundi clients to discuss India’s growth and investment opportunities. The opening day focused on India’s ambitions to become a developed economy by 2047, with Nageswaran highlighting structural reforms, productivity and capacity building as important to sustain long-term growth.
Role in promoting growth
State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman CS Setty said India’s financial system has a role to play in promoting growth and financial inclusion through digital public infrastructure and expanding access to credit, insurance and investment products. He highlighted SBI’s subsidiaries across banking and financial services, including SBI Funds Management, SBI Life Insurance and SBI Card.
Former G20 sherpa Amitabh Kant spoke about India’s manufacturing opportunities amid changing global supply chains, while Maruti Suzuki’s Rahul Bharti talked about the company’s four-year journey and long-standing international partnerships.
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Dipesh Shah, Executive Director, International Financial Services Centers Authority said India is becoming a global investment platform, with GIFT IFSC creating an internationally competitive ecosystem for global investors and institutions to access India and manage India-focused assets.
SBI Funds Management Managing Director & Managing Director (MD & CEO) Debasish Mishra said opportunities are expanding across manufacturing, infrastructure, technology and financial markets, while Amundi Deputy CEO Olivier Mariée said India’s economic transformation presents significant opportunities for long-term global investors.
