A three-day international conference on Vision 2047 – ‘Prosperous and Great Bharat’ was jointly organised by Swadeshi Shodh Sansthan, ICAR New Delhi, Kurukshetra University, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, and Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, with the University of Agder, Norway, as the Global Knowledge Partner and Organiser Weekly as the media partner, at the ICAR Pusa campus from April 24–26, 2025.
The conference sought to ignite discussions on strategies that would define Bharat’s trajectory over the next two decades, fostering an ecosystem of research, collaboration, and actionable strategies for national growth to make Bharat prosperous and great by 2047.
With eight thematic tracks addressing topics like dynamic population, full employment, global economic leadership, advancements in science and technology, and environmental sustainability, the event was a call to action for researchers, academicians, policymakers, industry experts, and social leaders to come together and reimagine Bharat’s future.
DAY one
The first day of the conference witnessed Swadeshi Shodh Sansthan signing MoUs with various educational institutions across Bharat. The exhibition from various universities attracted the participants of the conference.
Manohar Lal Khattar, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, graced the conference as the Chief Guest, and S Gurumurthy, Director, Board of Directors of RBI, delivered the keynote address. Prof Somnath Sachdeva, Vice Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, welcomed the guests and gave an outline of the three-day conference. He informed that 800 registrations had been done for this three-day conference, out of which 700 research papers and abstracts had been received. Eight technical sessions, nine offline, and one online plenary session will be organised.
Chief Guest Manohar Lal Khattar said that the Indian economy grew at a rapid pace in the last 10 years and that 18 crore people have been given employment in the last few years. Bharat will be a 5 trillion USD economy in the next two years. Bharat’s demographic dividend is favourable to realising the vision of Viksit Bharat. Driven by efforts to lower environmental pollution, India is progressing towards clean and renewable energy at a significantly fast pace. Forty-five per cent of the electricity from renewable sources is now being generated from solar energy in Bharat. By 2047, 100 gigawatts of energy will be produced from atomic energy in Bharat. There is a need to imbibe the spirit of global brotherhood and Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.
Bhagwati Prakash Sharma, former Vice Chancellor of Gautam Buddha University, pointed out that Bharat has been a prosperous country since time immemorial, and efforts are needed to bring prosperity back with the participation of the masses. He stressed the need to adopt natural farming.
Satish Kumar, Sah Sanghathak, Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), mentioned that realising the vision of Viksit Bharat rests on eight pillars, namely demographic dividend, economic legacy, full employment, invincible national security, agriculture, rural economy, and leadership in science and technology. He said that Bharat’s population is not its liability but its strength. He further mentioned that Bharat has always been the land of entrepreneurs. He contrasted the worldview of the West with that of Bharat, saying that while the West sees the world as a market (bazar), Bharat views the world as one family (parivar).
S Gurumurthy, Director, RBI, recollected that Swadeshi Jagran Manch, since the 1990s, stood firmly against the idea of globalisation while the entire world, including Bharat, was singing its tune relentlessly. He highlighted that the West follows a contractual system, while Bharat is a relationship-based system. Highlighting the importance of Bharat, he said it is Bharat’s philosophy and the lifestyle of its citizens that are making this world liveable.
DAY two
The second day of the three-day conference witnessed speakers from diverse backgrounds. The conference witnessed views encompassing different domains including decentralised development, rural development, trade, technology, and environment. RSS Sah Sarkaryavah, Dr Krishna Gopal, delivered the keynote address on Day two.
Nayab Singh Saini, Chief Minister of Haryana, graced the conference as the Chief Guest for the first session. Nayab Singh Saini, while addressing the conference said that he wishes that Haryana’s development model serves as a model for other States to emulate. He stressed quality education, skill development, an entrepreneurial mindset, and innovation as the four pillars for harnessing the demographic dividend. He assured that the NEP 2020 has provided enough flexibility for academic institutions to collaborate with the corporate world for the quality education of youth blended with skill development and education.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development, who graced the conference as the Chief Guest for the second session, stressed the legacy of Bharat in the field of knowledge as well as in technology like airplanes and said that this should motivate Bharat to realise its true potential to be Viksit Bharat by 2047. He also said that the disillusioned world is looking towards Bharat for guidance and happiness. Referring to the growth model, he emphasised that Bharat cares for nature like animals, trees, mountains, and rivers and suggested that the growth model has to be nature-friendly, climate and environment-friendly. Regarding the focus areas for Bharat’s development, he said that the core of our nation lies in rural Bharat and that apart from agriculture, other allied activities like dairy and horticulture can contribute significantly for Bharat to become a developed nation.
Speaking on the occasion, RSS Sah Sarkaryavah, Dr Krishna Gopal, who was also the keynote speaker, highlighted the prevalent paradox in Bharat. Despite GDP growing at a fast pace towards 5 trillion USD and Bharat being the top producer of agricultural commodities, the majority of women and children are anaemic, and a significant percentage of children are stunted. He suggested that the world, including Bharat, must adopt an environment-friendly development model. Since centralised development is widening income inequality, he proposed that the way forward is decentralised and MSME-centric development. He further proposed that more small urban centres must be developed to realise decentralised development. Defining the dimensions of Viksit Bharat, he said that the pursuit of Viksit Bharat must not be limited to economic growth but must also encompass intellectual development, by way of inculcating values, and
spiritual development.
Sridhar Vembu, founder of Zoho Corporation, stressed that our entire lives revolve around technology. He mentioned that the market capitalisation of the top six tech companies is more than three times Bharat’s GDP. Further, highlighting the significant role of technology, he said that on the one hand a significant share of value addition, profit share, and market capitalisation is going towards technology, and on the other hand, technology poses a challenge to employment. He suggested treating rural brainpower as national assets, that the diaspora must be brought back for nation-building, that talent should be retained, and finally Bharat must transform from passive consumers of technology to creators of technology.
Sanjeev Sanyal, Member, Economic Advisory Council to the PM, said that the world is currently witnessing a change in the global order and not a tariff war. He mentioned that Bharat will be least affected due to Trump’s tariffs as two-thirds of trade with the US is services and that many sectors concerning the goods trade are exempt from higher tariffs. He asserted that Bharat should not be protectionist and must pursue deregulation as exhorted by PM Shri Narendra Modi so as to tap the western markets.
Professor Ashwani Mahajan, National Co-Convenor of SJM, mentioned that the current global economic turbulence impacts greatly those who took the side of globalisation. He further said that Bharat’s tariffs are one-tenth of bound tariffs and it’s unfortunate that US President Donald Trump labelled Bharat as the Tariff King. He expressed confidence that the policy of Atmanirbhar Bharat is yielding results and that Bharat could benefit from Trump’s tariff policy provided Bharat safeguards itself from the threat of higher dumping from China, which is much greater today than before. He expressed that despite Bharat’s relatively lower share in global GDP, Bharat will eventually race towards becoming a 40 trillion USD economy.
The second day of the conference also witnessed Swadeshi Shodh Sansthan signing MoUs with various institutions across Bharat like NIPER Hyderabad, in addition to those signed on the first day of the conference.
DAY three
On the concluding day, Rekha Gupta, Chief Minister of Delhi, graced the conference as the chief guest for the first session. During the session titled “Unlocking Women Power”, Rekha Gupta said that women are equal partners in nation-building. Referring to ancient Bharatiya practices, she reminded that Bharat has no history of discrimination against women as they enjoyed equal status, including in administration and decision-making. The CM mentioned that there is no gender for talent and efficiency. She also highlighted the Modi Government’s initiatives like constructing toilets, providing cylinders, and tap water for the social and financial empowerment of women.
Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, graced the conference as the chief guest for the second session and observed that Gandhi’s and Deendayal’s ideology of Swadeshi and Swavalamban continues to be relevant. He emphasised that the fruits of development must reach the last man and that human exploitation must end. He suggested that there must be policies that promote the rural economy. The Hon’ble Minister detailed the thought process and challenges in launching the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana during the Vajpayee Government. He noted that agricultural waste can provide additional income to farmers and turn them from annadaata to indhandaata. The Minister further suggested that increasing exports will foster rural development and that knowledge-to-wealth creation is the way forward. Suresh Soni, National Executive Member of the RSS, delivered the keynote address on the final day of the three-day conference. In his address, he said that Bharat would once again become a Vishwaguru by the time it celebrates the centenary of its Independence, just as it had been in ancient times.
He mentioned that development is frequently alluded to in different forms while mentioning the Earth Summits since 1972. He highlighted that the goals outlined in Rio de Janeiro’s Earth Summit in 1992 are witnessing an undesirable reality today—global peace transformed into global terrorism, sustainable development into increasing inequality, and environmental protection into global warming. He noted that the world is going through the worst crisis and suggested that the only solution is the Bharatiya model of development and that Bharat must derive guidance from the glorious past and customise it to suit the current situation.
Kashmiri Lal, National Sanghathak of SJM, mentioned that the conference is practical in nature and the thoughts that emerged would provide direction to Bharat and would change the course of the world as well. He referred to Kautilya’s shloka that succinctly captured the idea of economics and mentioned that Swadeshi Jagaran Manch and Swadeshi Shodh Sansthan adopted Arthasya Moolam Dharmam as their motto. He observed that Bharat had negligible contribution in the four industrial revolutions so far but expressed confidence that Bharat will provide an environment-friendly growth model for the impending fifth industrial revolution.
Swadeshi Shodh Sansthan signed 46 MoUs with various universities and institutions during the three-day international conference. These MoUs will aid in impactful research and outcomes for Bharat in realising its potential.
Many actionable insights emerged from the conference that policymakers must consider in their future policy formulations or amendments. The conference unanimously and unequivocally suggested that only an integrated, decentralised, and inclusive model of development complemented by a value system and spiritual development would aid Bharat in her transformative journey towards Viksit Bharat.
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