Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha on Wednesday highlighted the need for greater innovation and technology not only for boosting growth but also for attaining sustainability. He was speaking at the High level Corporate Dialogue (HlCD), which was the curtain raiser to the 15 Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2015 (DSDS), which will be held between February 5 and 7, 2015 in the national capital.
"We want to put India on a sustainable non-inflationary growth trajectory of 7-8 per cent growth," Jayant Sinha said. This growth is needed to provide employment to the young people who join the workforce every year. If partnered with increased productive capacity and supply side revolution, this rate of growth can double the size of Indian economy in the next decade. But for India to emerge as a powerful economy there must be a sustainable growth.
The Minister further said that global climate change is a real and significant challenge which every country of the world is facing. The high growth trajectory and the creation of jobs will post various challenges on the sustainability issue, Sinha added.
Water scarcity, pollution, and climate change are the main challenges that most countries, including India, face on the environmental front. "The erratic weather patterns, glaciers melting, scarcity of water. The threat is tearing us at our face here in India as well. We need to follow a low carbon trajectory and work towards a low carbon future," he added.
"We should not only 'Make in India' but also 'Innovate in India for India'," Sinha said. This innovation can help India to achieve the projected growth rate and a sustainable environment. We need entrepreneurs who can innovate to help in solving the problems related to environment and sustainability. Stressing on the point that technology and sustainable growth must go hand in hand, he added, "Innovation for sustainability is the true need of the hour and solution to many of the complex problems that we are facing today."