C. Rangarajan, Former Governor, RBI, at the MMA Annual Convention 2026, in Chennai.
| Photo Credit:
BIJOY GHOSH
India’s economy needs to grow at around 7.5 per cent consistently every year to reach its Viksit Bharat goal by 2047, and its per capita income, which is currently at about $3,000, needs to go up to $18,000, Dr C Rangarajan, former Governor, RBI, and Chairman, Economic Advisory Council, said here on Wednesday.
“It is possible; there are some countries that have achieved such a feat earlier,” he said, noting that a key requirement is to increase the levels of investment.
The economist was speaking at the Madras Management Association (MMA) ‘Annual Convention 2026- India@2035: Driving Progress in a Changing Global Paradigm’ in a session on India’s economic growth amid geopolitical flux. He was in conversation with Dr N R Bhanumurthy, Director, Madras School of Economics, Chennai.
“India needs to increase its Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) rate by 2 per cent or so. In the last 3-4 years, GFCF has been at 33.6 per cent share,” he said. While government capex is rising, private sector investments have not increased despite measures such as the Repo rate cut, he added, urging the corporates present at the event to introspect.
Listing out a few other key measures for India to improve growth levels, he noted a need to adapt and embrace new technologies, focus on sectors that are relatively more labour intensive, develop multi-dimensional strategies and look beyond domestic markets, and invest in the more long-term segments of the health and education of the citizens.
However, challenges remain as India tries to accelerate its efforts, he said. “The impact of AI on jobs is a concern, but it’s something we have seen play out since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution,” he adds. “If India has to remain competitive, we have to absorb new tech like AI,” the economist said.
Referring to the US tariffs as a “weaponisation” move, Rangarajan said recent developments around the trade deal with the US is a positive for India.
( from left ) D. Lakshminarayanan, President, MMA; Shokin Chauhan, Former DG, Assam Rifles; Gopal Srinivasan, CMD, TVS Capital Funds (P) Ltd and A.R. Unnikrishnan, Convention Chairman and Senior VP, MMA at the MMA Annual Convention 2026, in Chennai on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: BIJOY GHOSH
Speaking at the event, Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director of TVS Capital Funds (TCF), said the ₹1 lakh crore R&D commitment from the Government in the form of the RDI Fund is unprecedented. “This capital is structured in a way that it attracts private money alongside it, which means every rupee of public investment could multiply into three to five rupees of innovation capital flowing into Indian companies and research,” he said. TVS Capital is also looking to make large-scale investments in AI infrastructure and will announce these investments in a few weeks, he added.
He also pointed out that if IT services companies, that have returned nearly ₹72,000 crore through share buybacks over the past five years, had put that kind of investment into building foundational AI models, India could have had globally competitive platforms.
Shokin Chauhan, former DG, Assam Rifles, and R Vijayakumar, Executive Director MMA, Lakshminarayanan D, Managing Director, Sundaram Home Finance, and MP Surya Prakas, Executive Director, PonPure Chemicals, were among those present at the event. MMA also presented awards to the winners of the 29th MMA competition for Young Managers, a platform for young professionals below the age of 40 to display their potential and leadership skills.
The Hindu and businessline are media partners at the MMA Annual Convention 2026.
Published on February 11, 2026
