Iu2019m fairly certain that India can become a developed country in the next 3 decades. I will cover the progress in every major sector below (request your help to fill in the statistics I have missed)What is done for overpopulation and basic health?Indiau2019s birth rates has been falling and the fertility rate is getting close to the ideal rate of 2.1 births per woman. Most nations around the world have it either too high or too low than that ideal rate. Given the trend below in 2024 we should be somewhere around 2.2 and getting close to the perfect fertility rate.We are getting to compact 2 children families. A stabilising population with small families without any real force upon them would make available a lot of spare resources of the family and the government to raise the next generation better. The children coming of age in the next 20 years will thus be far smarter than us. Families are already educating their children better (Gross enrolment ratio, gender parity in higher education goes up) and more children survive u2024 Sharp decline in maternal, infant mortality rates in India u2024 all of these have multiplier effects for economic growth.What is done for population to get the essentials?India is also just months away from having universal access to household electricity (15 states have 100% household electrification now), cooking gas (Govt now extends LPG scheme to all poor households) and toilets (With Over 9 Crore Toilets, India Inches Towards Becoming ODF). Those basic necessities in the families could turbocharge their life and put a huge momentum to the economy as a whole.Indian families are now getting more financial inclusion u2024 India at the forefront of global growth in financial inclusion: World Bank and India is pushing heavily towards universal healthcare u2024 India launches u2018Modicare,u2024 the worldu2019s biggest government health program.With right incentives, there is now a huge growth in affordable housing and the home prices are a lot more affordable than a decade ago u2024 Affordable housing racing ahead in realty sector.When families get access to good education, housing, healthcare and financial support, great things happen.Unlike a small country, a large countryu2019s growth neither goes up rapidly nor comes down rapidly. Think of a big vessel with hot water. It is not going to get cold too soon nor it is going to boil too soon. Indian vessel being quite big took a lot of time to get warm u2024 while its neighbouring small vessels got quite hot u2024 but being a big vessel it is also going to maintain its economic temperature better.What is done to secure future industries?India has hands on key sectors of the future u2024 including IT, space, consulting etc. It also has good universities u2024 that might not rank at the top in R&D u2024 but are quite adept in building world class students.We are also rapidly preparing for the future in these ways:India has the highest number of organic farmers globallyIndia is now a world leader in renewable energyGovt approves 100% electrification of railways by 2021-22 u2024 unlike other major countries, India is betting its future not on electric cars, but on electric trains, metro transits and bullet trains running on clean power and accessible to most of the population.India has made great strides in communication and by some measures India is now world's top mobile data consuming nation. While many of those would be for useless chitchat, India has a real opportunity to move education, governance, healthcare and many other sectors into a data heavy application rich future.Tapping Indiau2019s human capital world wide.Unlike many other developing countries, Indiau2019s growth is not built on exports (those are fickle and dependent on vagaries of world trade) nor on raw materials. It is built on human capital u2024 in sectors such as software, jewellery, automobiles, petrochemicals etc and primarily driven on local consumption. This aspect could get it through the middle income trap better than many other developing countries.India has built a huge network of professionals who lead worldu2019s top companies and this is a strength India has slowly started to tap now: Google India: Ruling The InternetMany global companies including Microsoft, Google, Form 8812 , FedEx, DBS, Diageo, Deutsche Bank, Mastercard have Indian educated CEOs. It would be hard to find many global companies without Indian executives.Their expertise, their closeness and their familiarity with Indian conditions would help India build far more talent for the industries of the future.Rebuilding Indiau2019s infrastructure:We all know that Indiau2019s infrastructure sucks and drags down the country. What is being done on that? India is planning to build 83,000 km of roads. It has taken the biggest infrastructure push ever, by building a huge network of roads (What is Bharatmala project?), rails (These two freight corridors will change the way India transports goods) and metro trains across the country.In another decade, almost every major city will have its own viable metro train system, an expressway and those would free our cities considerably to do economic explosion. 15 more cities are going to have metro rails soon u2024 15 more cities will soon have metro rail in India u2024 and we will be second only to China in having the longest and most numerous metro transit network.The weight of all this new infrastructure will be apparent only a decade from now. Already you can see early effects of these when you land in Bangalore airport, take Delhi metro or drive Mumbai-Pune expressway. And it is getting better: India Roads & Highways Sector Forecast to Grow at CAGR 36% till 2025Focus on the basics and core, to consolidate the advantage:Historically, India was quite adept at doing the hard things and missing the simple things. It was the only country to send an object to Mars on the first try, but it was poor at building toilets. Its education institutions could produce students would go on to lead companies like Microsoft, Google & FedEx, but it failed on basic literacy.However, in the past few years India has been fixing the basics too u2024 with record increases in toilets, electricity connections and rural roads.Unlike many other developing countries India doesnu2019t have very many external threats, external debts, demographic crisis or huge political uncertainties. It has a well oiled political system (chaotic as it may appear from outside it is a solid democracy) that is fairly stable. It is poor political systems and over dependence on raw materials that brought down many promising developing economies like Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Malaysia, Venezuela etc. India doesnu2019t have those.Get the population healthyBeing a densely populated tropical country, India has had its share of epidemics and diseases. However, many states in India are now focusing on health. India has taken a huge push to be healthy with major measures:HIV Cases Halved Since 2024. How India Plans To Become AIDS-Free by 2024How India managed to defeat polioSharp decline in malaria in India as cases rise globally: WHO reportCan India eliminate TB by 2025?Life expectancy in India has increased by 11 years since 1990India is not only getting healthy, but is also working hard to become a key healthcare hub for the world u2024 4 things to know about India's next crown jewel, Medical Tourism u2024 if you were treated by an Indian doctor in US or UK, you might already know that India produces great doctors. It is time to convert that advantage and replicate the IT services success. Some case studies:Narayana Hrudayalaya: A Model for Accessible, Affordable Health Care? - Knowledge@WhartonHow India became a leader in low-cost, high-quality eye careWhat is done for pollution?India is among the most polluted nations in the world now. No doubts about that. Every developed economy was seriously polluted when they were growing. Dickensian England was filled with smoke. Japan in the lead up to the World War was bellowing smoke and waste. New York was filled with horse shit. Every great economy including Europe, US, Japan and China went through their phase of pollution.What is being done now for future?India is not only meeting clean energy targets, but is beating so handsomely that it had to revise its ambitious targets upward u2024 India Increases Its Massive 2024 Renewable Energy Target By 28%. India is cancelling many of the coal projects now u2024 India coal plant cancellations are coming faster than expected.Cooking with dung & wood is a big cause of pollution Indian cook-stoves are contributing heavily to air pollution u2024 and there is a big push on clean cooking gas. A record leap: LPG cylinder now used by 89% households in India. It will take a while for this to become a habit and completely wipe out old cooking habits.As I told before India is completely electrifying its tracks and moving a lot of the people and goods through tracks with growth in metro transits and dedicated freight corridors. The roads are also getting better and that would reduce the road dust. Clean electricity? Full transit on electric? Everybody taking rails.India is rapidly curbing its usage of disposable plastic u2024 Why India Passed One Of The Worldu2019s Toughest Anti-Plastic LawsYou will not see effect of all these immediately, as rapid growth would appear to neutralise some of these measures. But, over time the growth will prmore resources and things will improve.What factors help India in avoiding a middle income trap?It is not too dependent on producing raw materials. Big swing in commodity prices have screwed emerging economies like Russia, South Africa, Brazil and Malaysia.Its growth is not too dependent on world trade. Global trade goes through period of huge swings and we are entering a phase with trade wars. This had historically impacted trade oriented countries in South East Asia. China also is suffering from trade wars. Most of Indiau2019s economy is local consumption driven.Its political system is quite stable. Unstable politics had screwed promising economies like Venezuela, Iran, Libya, Mexico, Argentina etc. While most emerging economies start in dictatorship and look to transition to democracy as they get developed, India has already prepaid its due and has nothing to change in political system.It is rise is not seen with worry by major powers. When communist nations got richer, the capitalist nations got worried and led to regime toppling etc. As China got rich, US got nervous and trade war started. India doesnu2019t have powerful enemies who will look to block its rise.Its demographics have not been skewed by rapidly falling fertility rates. Chinau2019s population might age faster than it could get developed.Summary:In summary, India has started fixing the basics and there has been a huge stride in many key sectors u2024 from dropping AIDS infections to improving financial inclusion that successive governments have done. Key reforms like Aadhar and GST have come, and from nowhere India is leading the world in mobile data usage that could have major implication on access to key services. There is a huge growth in infrastructure and in every key sector India is showing long term progress.Growth is at the top of major economies (Q2 growth slows to 7.1%, but India still leads world)FDI is at record levels (With $38 billion FDI in 2024. India pips China for the first time in 20 years)The only country in the South Asia and one of the few developing countries (Indiau2019s First Moodyu2019s Upgrade in 14 Years Bets on Reforms) with good credit ratingThere is a huge new push on industrialisation u2024 An industrial policy to create investments worth $100 billion? Modi plans big move ahead of polls.While there could be short term hiccups caused due to banking sector NPA etc, in the long term Indiau2019s future looks quite bright due to the investment in underlying roots as can be seen from the data above. You cannot see all of that from the surface, but you are going to see the full weight of progress over the next 2 decades.The woods are lovely, dark and deep,But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleepu2014Robert Frost