Union Budget 2023-24: Building blocks of a future-ready India

This Budget was a statement of intent – no man, woman, or child left behind. It was bold in its attempt to consolidate on the momentum of the last year, and in strengthening the building blocks of a future-ready India. It represented a dream – for all Indian citizens to walk in tandem, in economic growth and prosperity, in jobs, in health and in equity. The virtuous cycle of investment has been kicked off, and the multiplier effect will reveal itself over the next decade.

Over the last few years, India has moved up to becoming the fifth largest economy (from the tenth), and the fastest growing economy in the world in FY23 with an estimated GDP growth of 7 per cent. This has only crystallised our dream to become the world’s third largest economy.

The Budget has laid a strategic framework to make India future ready. There is tremendous thought and focus on building equity across gender and societal classes, improving access to education and skilling programmes, green energy, and planting a seed of research, innovation, and entrepreneurship across sectors. These initiatives are much like the libraries proposed in the Budget – a means to build strong habits, build muscle memory and to slowly train and grow the muscles – a sustainable growth plan.

This, combined with India’s accelerated adoption and acceptance of technology – Aadhaar, CoWIN and UPI, the Digital Health Stack – have created a treasure trove of data, and will continue to do so. The focus on AI and use of anonymised data to find solutions at scale will only help us leapfrog and take all the initiatives to the last mile with rapid learning and adjustments at an unprecedented scale.

The Budget showed us what India is about – Growth, and Potential

The writer is MD, AHEL (Apollo Hospitals Enterprise)