Viksit Rajasthan @2047: How the Desert State Is Recasting Itself as a Tech and Green Growth Engine

Anyone driving from Delhi into Rajasthan on the new Delhi–Mumbai Expressway can sense the shift underway. New roads, industrial clusters, solar parks, and urban expansions are not isolated projects but markers of a deeper transformation. Rajasthan today offers a window into India’s broader development strategy — one that treats states as the primary engines of growth, innovation, and execution.

Rajasthan as a microcosm of the Viksit Bharat vision

The transformation unfolding in Rajasthan closely reflects the national vision articulated by Narendra Modi of achieving a developed India — Viksit Bharat — by 2047. The emphasis is unmistakable: technology-led growth, data-driven governance, sustainability, and large-scale infrastructure.

Rajasthan’s roadmap, branded as “Viksit Rajasthan @2047”, positions the state not as a peripheral beneficiary of national growth, but as a proactive architect of it. The strategy rests on four interlinked pillars: technology adoption, smart infrastructure, renewable energy, and institutional reform.

Factories of the future and AI-led manufacturing

A central ambition of the roadmap is to turn Rajasthan into one of the world’s preferred destinations for AI-optimised manufacturing and Industry 4.0. This is not about abandoning traditional sectors, but upgrading them.

Textiles, handicrafts, and marble processing — long-standing pillars of the state’s economy — are being targeted for modernisation through automation, artificial intelligence, and digital supply chains. At the same time, advanced manufacturing sectors such as automotive components, electronics, and pharmaceuticals are being actively courted.

This aligns Rajasthan with national manufacturing priorities under the Make in India programme, positioning the state as a competitive node in global value chains while embedding sustainability and smart production practices.

Renewable energy: from advantage to global leadership

Perhaps the most striking pillar of the Rajasthan vision is renewable energy. The state’s natural endowments are formidable: around 325 sunny days annually, high solar radiation levels, and vast tracts of sparsely populated land across its western districts.

Leveraging these advantages, Rajasthan has set out a phased but ambitious plan — targeting 125 GW of renewable capacity by 2030, 225 GW by 2040, and 290 GW by 2047. If achieved, this would place Rajasthan among the world’s largest renewable energy hubs.

The economic implications are equally bold. Projections suggest that renewable-led growth could propel Rajasthan into the top three state economies in India, with an estimated annual GDP of $4.3 trillion by 2047.

Beyond solar: storage, wind, and green hydrogen

The renewable push is not limited to solar. Large-scale wind projects are planned across multiple districts, complemented by solar–wind hybrid installations to smooth generation cycles. Advanced storage solutions — including lithium-ion and flow batteries — are being integrated to stabilise grids and manage peak demand.

A key frontier is green hydrogen. Under the state’s Integrated Clean Energy Policy 2024, Rajasthan aims to produce 2,000 kilo tonnes per annum of green hydrogen by 2030. The first 500 kTPA project benefits from significant transmission and wheeling charge waivers, while over 70,000 MW of renewable capacity has already been registered to support hydrogen production.

Building a GCC ecosystem beyond metros

Another strategic thrust is knowledge-driven growth through Global Capability Centres (GCCs). As India emerges as the world’s GCC capital, Rajasthan is positioning itself as a competitive alternative to traditional metro hubs.

The newly approved Global Capability Centre Policy 2025 aims to attract over 200 GCCs by 2030, generating employment for around 1.5 lakh professionals. Cities such as Jaipur, Udaipur, and Jodhpur are being developed as GCC hubs, supported by modern office infrastructure, digital connectivity, and single-window clearance systems.

Incentives range from financial subsidies to infrastructure support, all aimed at embedding Rajasthan into global corporate value chains for R&D, digital services, analytics, and customer operations.

Economic ambition with institutional reform

What distinguishes the Rajasthan roadmap is its attempt at coherence. Manufacturing, energy, urban development, skills, and digital governance are not treated as siloed initiatives but as mutually reinforcing components of a single long-term vision.

By integrating infrastructure planning, renewable energy expansion, industrial policy, and talent development, the state seeks to create an ecosystem where innovation compounds over time — echoing the Schumpeterian idea of “creative destruction” through continuous technological upgrading.

A long journey, but a clear direction

Rajasthan’s transformation is still a work in progress, and execution challenges remain. But the direction is unambiguous. The state is attempting to convert geographic constraints into strategic advantages, and scale into sustainability.

Like the camel that has long symbolised Rajasthan — steady, resilient, and adaptive — the state’s development strategy is built for endurance rather than spectacle. If sustained, Viksit Rajasthan @2047 could become not just a state success story, but a template for India’s journey toward becoming a developed nation.