Business
India Needs 500 New Cities, ‘A Chicago Every 5 Years’ To Drive Jobs, Says Amitabh Kant
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If India has to move from $4 trillion to over $30 trillion, its GDP must grow 9x, per-capita income has to grow 8x, manufacturing has to grow 16x, says Amitabh Kant
Kant said that after the ease of doing business, India needs to focus on the cost of business.
India must dramatically accelerate urbanisation, manufacturing and adoption of new technologies to sustain high growth and generate jobs, former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said, outlining an ambitious blueprint for the country’s next economic phase.
Cities Must Become Growth Engines
Kant said India has historically been cautious about rapid urban expansion but can no longer afford that approach. “Cities are centres of growth. India had been a reluctant. Huge thrust and impetus to urbanization. India needs 500 new cities of 1 million each. India’s challenge is to create 2 Americas,” he said, highlighting the scale of transformation required.
Drawing a global benchmark, he added, “We need to create a Chicago every 5 years,” underscoring the pace of urban infrastructure and industrial expansion needed to absorb India’s growing workforce.
Labour Shift From Farms To Factories
Kant pointed to a structural imbalance in employment that has worsened since the pandemic. “41.6% people in agriculture have increased to 46% post covid which is too high. People need to move to manufacturing,” he said, stressing that surplus agricultural labour must transition to industry for productivity gains.
Technology-Led Manufacturing Push
He emphasised that emerging sectors will play a decisive role in job creation and exports. “India needs to accelerate pace in New technologies like EVs, solar manufacturing, critical mineral processing, which will lead to job growth. It will be export led manufacturing growth in next 3-4 years,” he said.
Avoiding The Middle-Income Trap
Kant warned that sustaining long-term growth is historically rare and requires structural transformation.
“If you look at the post-World War 2 order, only three large countries, Japan after WWII, South Korea later, and China most recently, had a long spurt of growth over an extraordinary period of time. All the other countries got caught up in the middle-income trap. Today, over 108 countries are caught in the middle-income trap. So, if India has to move from $4 trillion to over $30 trillion, its GDP must grow 9x, per-capita income has to grow 8x, manufacturing has to grow 16x, and it means the saving rate has to go up enormously and the investment rate has to go up very sharply, while credit-GDP growth has to jump. We need sustainable urbanisation, we need manufacturing and exports. We need our 12 states to grow more than 10 per cent for three decades,” he said.
‘Must Bring Down Cost Of Doing Business’
Kant said that after the ease of doing business, India needs to focus on the cost of business.
“Our cost of doing business is still much higher than the competing nations like China. Power rates are high, interest rates are high; we need to focus on that now,” he said.
PM-EAC Member Gaurav Vallabh Says
PM-EAC Member Gaurav Vallabh on Friday acknowledged that employment remains a key concern, particularly the quality of jobs being created in the economy.
“I admit creating jobs is an issue. More important is quality of jobs is an issue,” the PM-EAC member said, underlining that the focus must now shift from merely generating employment to improving productivity and income levels.
The member pointed to India’s structural transition over the decades. “From agriculture we directly jumped to services economy. We didn’t focus in manufacturing economy,” he said, suggesting that a stronger manufacturing base could have supported broader job creation.
Highlighting progress in specific sectors, he noted that India’s defence production has seen a turnaround. “Defence equipment manufacturing, has now moved to exports,” he said, indicating the sector’s growing global competitiveness.
Looking ahead, the PM-EAC member said the next phase of expansion will be driven beyond the metros. “Next level of growth drivers will be in tier 2, 3 cities which will take us to Viksit Bharat,” he said, pointing to smaller cities as engines of inclusive growth and long-term economic transformation.
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February 27, 2026, 18:55 IST
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