India's growth to be led by women, says NITI vice-chairman Suman Bery

India's growth going forward will be “female-led”, as it strives for a consistent 8 per cent growth in the coming 25 years, NITI Aayog’s Vice Chairman and economist Suman Bery said on Thursday.

“The direction from the prime minister is clear. Inclusive growth, and particularly, female-led growth,” Bery said at the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) Global Economic Policy Forum 2023.

The remark assumes significance as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has been pushing for women's empowerment as a major agenda in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Recently, the party won the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, and experts credited its push for the Laadli Behna Yojana, an economic welfare scheme for women, as a driver for its victory.

Moreover, the Centre expects its push for growth to help India achieve 8 per cent growth in the coming years.

"So 8 per cent growth or something approximating that means continuous change that needs to be politically managed,” the central think-tank’s VC said.

He added that this momentum would be required to transcend the middle-income trap as it aims to become a high-income country by 2047.

NITI is presently working on a vision document for 2047 which will be released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of the think tank, BVR Subrahmanyam, not getting stuck in the middle-income trap is a core concern of the government as it prepares the 25-year vision.

The rapid momentum may also manifest itself in “spatial inequalities”, according to Bery, who added that a distinction in the performance of northern states viz-a-viz southern states could create tensions in a federal polity.