India Vision 2020 is a plan proposed by former Indian president Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to make India a developed country by 2020.
Overview
India Vision 2020 was initially a document prepared by the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) of India's Department of Science and Technology under the chairmanship of Kalam and a team of 500 experts. The plan is further detailed in the book India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium, which Kalam coauthored with Dr. Y.S. Rajan.
Kalam described the plan as follows:[1]
"Transforming the nation into a developed country, five areas in combination have been identified based on India's core competence, natural resources and talented manpower for integrated action to double the growth rate of GDP and realize the Vision of Developed India.
These are:
• Agriculture and food processing — with a target of doubling the present production of food and agricultural products by 2020. Agro food processing industry would lead to the prosperity of rural people, food security and speed up the economic growth;
• Infrastructure with reliable and quality electric power including solar farming for all parts of the country, providing urban amenities in rural areas and interlinking of rivers;
• Education and Healthcare: To provide social security and eradication of illiteracy and health for all;
• Information and Communication Technology: This is one of our core competencies and wealth generator. ICT can be used for tele-education, tele-medicine and e-governance to promote education in remote areas, healthcare and also transparency in the administration; and
• Critical technologies and strategic industries witnessed the growth in nuclear technology, space technology and defence technology".