Viksit Bharat 2047 envisions India as a $30-trillion economy with per capita income of $18,000–21,000, implying developed-nation status. Achieving this would require sustained nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth of about 10% annually through structural transformation, higher productivity, and major investments in human capital, infrastructure, and innovation. Let us set aside the fact that India has never achieved such a high growth rate for more than a year at a time. Even with a $21,000 per capita GDP, will India be considered a developed country?

A developed country is one whose wealth rests primarily on human capital rather than natural resources. Its people are educated, healthy, and productive, forming the foundation for innovation and sustained economic growth. Such nations have diversified economies built on ideas, research, and services, supported by strong institutions and equitable access to health care, education, and opportunity. Governance is stable, and prosperity is widely shared, allowing creativity and productivity to reinforce each other. In essence, development means shifting from extracting value from the land to generating value from human potential — the transformation of natural wealth into enduring human capability.

Economic growth without parallel investment in health is possible, but is almost always temporary and uneven. Several countries — particularly resource-rich or trade-driven economies — have achieved rising GDP per capita even as public health systems remained underfunded. In such........

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