Narayana Murthy: 4 steps India needs to take to become $10 trillion economy

Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, on February 6, said that India can only become a $10 trillion economy by 2030 if it implements certain steps.

Murthy was speaking at the annual event of TiE Mumbai, and was referring to the government’s 10-point economic growth plan for the coming decade that was listed out by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on February 1.

According to Murthy, here are the four steps that are needed to be taken for India to achieve the ambitious target:

Cultural transformation:

Murthy said that no economic transformation can take place without being preceded by a cultural transformation.

He listed hard work, discipline, courtesy, honesty, trust, and putting the interest of the common man ahead of private interests as the values that needed to be prioritised.

Murthy also said that this cultural transformation can take place by leading by example, and that leaders in all fields, from politics, the corporate world, civil society, bureaucracy, and even academia have to take charge.

Increasing exports’ contribution to GDP:

Murthy said that India has to enhance the contribution of its exports to the GDP. He said that although India’s GDP contribution currently averages at around 13 percent of its GDP, no country has managed to show aggressive, sustainable growth without the contribution of exports being 25 to 30 percent of its GDP.

Quality of education:

Despite a larger number of students completing their higher education, Murthy said that India has to focus on the quality of its education, as he believed it to be one of the poorest in the world.

Reducing the friction to business:

According to Murthy, though the restrictions on businesses have significantly reduced, there continues to be a lot of friction such as the imposition of the angel tax. He said that job creation is only possible through entrepreneurs, who must be "revered."