'Viksit Bharat' a pipe dream; at current growth rate, will remain so for a long time: P Chidambaram

Hitting out at the government, Senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047 is a pipe dream and will remain so for a long time at the current rate of growth.

Addressing a press conference on the Union Budget, Chidambaram also cited Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran to press his point.

Asked about the government's assertions of the goal of making India developed by 2047, Chidambaram said, "It is a pipe dream today and at this rate of growth, it will remain a pipe dream for a long time."

"Not only I said it, the Chief Economic Advisor has said yesterday that unless we grow at 8 per cent for 15 to 20 years, by 2047, we will not become a developed country.

At 6-6.5 per cent, it will take another 15-20 years," the former finance minister said.

Asserting that the BJP-led Centre has "no new ideas", Chidambaram said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is walking on the "worn-out path" and not willing to break free as Congress governments had done in 1991 and 2004.

He said the takeaway from the Union Budget 2025-26 is that the ruling BJP is wooing the tax-paying middle-class and the Bihar electorate.

The finance minister is "walking on the worn-out path and not willing to break free as we did in 1991 and 2004", the Congress leader added.