New Delhi [India], September 18 (ANI): Private sector financing will need to play a critical role in India's journey towards becoming a Viksit Bharat by 2047, as the scale of transformation envisaged cannot be met solely through government budgets, Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Anuradha Thakur said on Friday.

Addressing the Conference on Financing India's Journey Towards Viksit Bharat in the presence of Union Finance Minister and State and Union Territory Finance Ministers, Thakur said the conference would focus on the financing requirements for India's long-term development, covering both public and private finance.

"We all need to keep this perspective at the forefront throughout the course of our engagement during the different sessions in this conference," Thakur said, referring to the need for private-sector financing to complement government spending.

She said the conference was the first of its type organised by the Ministry of Finance with state finance ministers and had a broader and longer-term focus than the ministry's other conference on state finances, which primarily seeks suggestions on public finance and budgets.

The conference brings together participants from academia, industry, banking and policymaking to examine financing requirements for India's development towards 2047. Thakur said the Centre and states would need to work through deep complementarities and multi-tiered partnerships to achieve the country's shared goal.

She highlighted India's macroeconomic stability and fiscal prudence, saying the country had received four sovereign rating upgrades from major international rating agencies over the past 16-17 months. She also referred to India's position among the top attractive destinations for the global business environment, as highlighted in the World Economic Forum's Chief Economists Outlook of May 2026.

Against the backdrop of ongoing global difficulties, Thakur said the partnership between the Centre and states on policy, financial resources and implementation would be important in taking India's development agenda forward.

The two-day conference comprises eight sessions, including discussions on the macroeconomic outlook, agricultural transformation and energy transition. Other sessions will examine the role of new-age technology and growth rates from a GSDP perspective.

Thakur said working groups, including representatives from states, had been identified to take forward the work under individual thematic sessions. Their reports will identify sectoral requirements for India's journey towards Viksit Bharat.

She said innovative means of financing would be a central focus of the conference, with the Finance Ministry looking to identify financing modes and issues that need to be addressed to support India's long-term development. (ANI)