Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu on Tuesday said the state is poised to transform itself into a catalyst for accelerating growth as it looks to achieve the ambitious goal of becoming a $3 trillion economy when India celebrates 100 years of independence in 2047.
“We are ready to move from being a mere regulator to a catalyst, a risk-sharing partner to reap the rewards for our people,” said Mr. Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu, who is also the Finance and Power Minister, in a panel discussion on “The $3 Trillion Economy – Leveraging Capital and Productivity” at the Telangana Rising 2047 Summit.
Acknowledging that one of the biggest challenges to achieving this goal is to release the capital needed to drive innovation, promote inclusive and technology-led growth, he said Telangana is set to reach $3 trillion by 2047, from about $185 billion now, “we need to grow about 16 times in just 22 years. Mathematically, that requires a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 13% of the dollar. 17-18% in rupees, which takes into account currency depreciation.
No major Indian state has maintained this level of dollar growth for two decades in a row. Even during India’s best growth phases, states like Gujarat or Karnataka averaged 11-12% nominal (rupee) growth for long periods.
Unprecedented in India
Therefore, Telangana is trying to do something unprecedented in India’s economic history, the Deputy CM said, declaring that the ‘Telangana Rising 2047’ vision is not “just a document. It is our commitment to the future”.
However, the usual growth approach of around 10% will get Telangana to maybe $1-1.2 trillion, not $3 trillion. The gap between $1 trillion and $3 trillion is what economists call the ‘Productivity Gap’, he said, adding that the target cannot be reached by working harder.
“We can’t get there just by building more roads or building more buildings, although we will do that too. To achieve this exponential growth, we have to change the basic equation of our economy. The equation of capital plus innovation equals productivity. And productivity is the only sustainable way to raise the wages and dignity of the common citizen in Telangana,” he said, pointing out how Indian governments have seen themselves as India’s Indian authorities for decades. They focused on permissions, licenses and files, and patted themselves on improving “ease of doing business”.
However, the world has changed. In the era of Deep Tech, AI and Quantum Computing, “easy business” is only a baseline. It’s a minimum requirement. “If we want to become the innovation capital of Asia, we need to move from EODB to easy innovation. We need to move from just deleting files to creating ecosystems,” said Mr. Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu, referring to the state vision document and spatial strategy CURE (Urban), PURE (Peri-Urban) and RARE (Rural).
While the state has a plan in place and talent available, innovation is expensive. “More importantly, innovation is risky. Banks love safety. But innovation requires failure,” he said, underscoring the need for measures to free up the necessary capital.
Published – 09 Dec 2025 21:32 IST
