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The tentative journey of a poor, underfed, ill-clothed newborn nation that emerged from a rapacious colonial rule 76 years ago is now aspiring to take decisive steps towards reaching a developed nation status with SBI economists saying that India can achieve a 7.5-time rise in current per capita income by the time it reaches the 100th anniversary of Independence by 2047. It might be mentioned that the current per capita income of the country is about Rs 2 lakh ($2,500) in 2022-23 and number crunching by the SBI Research team has put the figure at Rs 14.9 lakh ($12,400) by 2047, turning it into a magic year India’s economic journey as well.

The study by the country’s largest bank also projected that the weighted mean income of the income tax filers in India would rise from Rs 13 lakh in 2021-22 to about Rs 49.9 lakh in 2046-47. It is hoped that tax buoyancy and the graduation from a lower-income group country to an upper-income group country will turbocharge this rise in mean income.

The study also underscored that a rise in formalisation of the economy, the rise in GST collection, the UDYAM portal for MSMEs were continuously taking revenues northwards. The number of tax filers rose from 21 lakh in 2012-13 to 8.5 crore in 2022-23. The study also projected that the number of tax filers giving no tax at all would go down by 25% by 2047. A lot of people will shift to the next higher income group, it said.

By 2047, the number of tax filers is expected to zoom to 48.2 crore. The report said it would result in the share of the taxable workforce to 85.3% from a low 22.4% in 2022-23.

As many as 13.6% of the people shifted from the lowest income group of ‘below Rs 5 lakh’ with 8.1% joining the Rs 5-10 lakh group and 3.8% rising to the Rs 10-20 lakh bracket.

The government has set 2047 as a target to earn a ‘developed nation’ status for the country. In this journey, the next five years are crucial for the country to reach that goal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his Independence Day speech. “When we move forward with the dream of a developed India by 2047, it’s not just a dream but a resolve of 1.4 billion citizens,” Modi said.

Many economists point out that though GDP figures are used as headline grabbers, per capita income is a far more reliable mark of economic development.