However, India has a demographic nanowindow to achieve developed country status and if missed, it may not achieve it, he added.

“There are two widely held beliefs about India over the next two quarters of the century: we need to grow 8-8.5 percent to get there (developed country status), and if we miss this quarter century with demographic dividends, we will we may be doomed to mediocrity forever,” warned Somanathan.

Although India needs to grow at an overall rate of 7-7.5% over the next 25 years, Somanathan said several countries became developed nations without their growth rate even reaching 6%.

He spoke at the G Ramachandran Endowment Lecture on “Development in Times of Change: The Role of Government Efficiency” at the Madras School of Economics.

Somanathan said there is a perception that India should grow 8-10% over the next quarter century to become a developed nation by 2047.

“While we have to be concerned about India’s growth rate, and of course India must and must grow as fast as possible, if we are not growing at a certain target growth rate or we are not necessarily growing as fast as China or Japan in theirs, there is no need to panic Growth peaks,” he added.

Somanathan said it shouldn’t be assumed that if we miss the bullet train, we’ll never get to our destination. “Maybe we can get there on a slower train. We must have a realistic approach to how India will become a developed country.”

India should have its own growth path as the Chinese model for Indian conditions cannot be widely imitated, he stressed the need for efficiency and the devolution of more powers at all levels of government.