New Delhi, 20.06.26: India’s demographic advantage comes with an expiry date. According to UIDAI Chairman Neelkanth Mishra, the country has roughly 25 years to transform itself from the world’s back office into a global innovation powerhouse.

For decades, India has proudly worn the badge of the world’s technology services hub. Millions wrote software, managed IT systems and designed products that ultimately carried someone else’s logo. That model delivered jobs, exports and global credibility.

But it may no longer be enough.

Speaking at the 15th Convocation of IIT Gandhinagar on Saturday, UIDAI Chairman and Axis Bank Chief Economist Neelkanth Mishra argued that India’s next phase of growth depends on becoming a country that owns products, technologies and intellectual property instead of merely supplying talent to overseas corporations.

“We need to move away from being the back office to the world. India must become a product nation that owns technologies, builds brands and develops the capability for continuous innovation,” Mishra said.

His message wasn’t just about ambition. It was about urgency.

India’s Demographic Clock Is Ticking – UIDAI Chairman

Mishra pointed to India’s shrinking demographic window as perhaps the country’s biggest economic challenge.

Countries that today enjoy high-income status took anywhere between 150 and 200 years to complete that journey from lower-middle-income economies.

India, however, doesn’t have that luxury.

According to Mishra, rapidly declining fertility rates mean the country has only about 25 years before an ageing population begins slowing economic momentum.

That makes the coming decades decisive.

Without sustained productivity gains and innovation-led growth, India’s demographic dividend could gradually become a demographic burden.

One Industry Won’t Be Enough

Unlike smaller economies that built prosperity around a handful of sectors, India requires something much larger.

Mishra said Taiwan rose through semiconductor manufacturing and electronics. South Korea established itself through electronics, automobiles and biotechnology.

India’s size changes the equation.

He believes the country must achieve global leadership in at least 15 to 20 sectors simultaneously.

The obvious names include artificial intelligence, semiconductor manufacturing, quantum computing, drones, clean energy and advanced energy storage.

But Mishra also highlighted industries that rarely dominate headlines despite being strategically vital.

These include aircraft engines, telecommunications equipment, heavy machinery, shipbuilding, construction equipment and advanced materials manufacturing.

Building strength across such sectors would create a resilient industrial ecosystem instead of isolated pockets of excellence.

“An economy cannot innovate sustainably if it only assembles what others invent.”

The Rules of Globalisation Have Changed

Mishra also argued that the global economic order that enabled many Asian economies to prosper has fundamentally shifted.

For decades, businesses followed a simple formula.

Design products where expertise existed.

Manufacture where costs were lowest.

Move goods freely across global supply chains.

That model is increasingly breaking down.

“The world of frictionless globalisation is over,” Mishra observed.

Instead, countries are entering a period of intense strategic competition where national security increasingly shapes industrial policy.

Technology, manufacturing and supply chains have become geopolitical assets rather than purely commercial decisions.

India’s Rise Won’t Be Assisted

Many of the world’s successful industrial economies benefited from favourable geopolitical circumstances.

Japan and Germany rebuilt after World War II with American backing.

South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and Thailand received investment, technology transfer and integration into global value chains.

Even China’s manufacturing ascent benefited from decades of foreign capital and technology.

India faces a different reality.

Mishra described India’s journey as a “resisted rise.”

According to him, the United States is unlikely to repeat the strategic decisions that helped transform China into an economic superpower.

Meanwhile, China increasingly views India as a strategic competitor rather than merely a neighbour.

Citing the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Mishra noted that China currently leads in 66 out of 74 identified critical technologies, while the United States leads in only eight.

That leaves India competing against countries already well ahead across multiple frontier technologies.

IIT Gandhinagar Celebrates a New Batch

The remarks came during IIT Gandhinagar’s 15th Convocation held at the Helipad Exhibition Centre.

The institute awarded 734 degrees.

That included 107 PhDs, while one student from the integrated BTech-MTech Dual Degree programme received both degrees simultaneously.

A total of 46 students received medals.

The graduating class represented 26 states and Union Territories along with international students.

Among Indian states, Gujarat contributed the largest graduating cohort with 104 students.

It was followed by Maharashtra with 84, Uttar Pradesh with 81, Rajasthan with 74, West Bengal with 58 and Madhya Pradesh with 40.

Talent Alone Won’t Secure India’s Future

India has never lacked engineers.

It has never lacked coders.

It certainly hasn’t lacked entrepreneurs.

What has remained elusive is consistent ownership of globally recognised technologies and products.

The country’s services sector created enormous economic value, but the next phase demands stronger domestic research, manufacturing capability, design leadership and intellectual property creation.

Without that transition, India risks remaining indispensable to global companies while failing to build enough globally dominant companies of its own.

“The future belongs to countries that create platforms, not merely those that support them.”

Neelkanth Mishra’s address was less a ceremonial speech and more a strategic warning.

India still enjoys a young workforce, expanding digital infrastructure and growing technical talent.

Those advantages, however, are temporary.

The next quarter century may determine whether India becomes a nation that invents global technologies or continues helping others commercialise theirs.

On one hand, India wants leadership in artificial intelligence, semiconductor design, quantum computing and advanced engineering. On the other, recent education decisions continue pushing students toward curriculum changes that many parents believe reduce exposure to globally competitive skills.

Across the country, concerns have grown over the implementation of the three-language policy under the National Education Policy. Many families worry that students who might otherwise study globally useful languages like German, French or Japanese are instead being pushed toward Sanskrit or additional language requirements during the most academically demanding years of their education.

The debate isn’t about respecting Indian languages. Every Indian language deserves preservation and pride.

The real question is strategic prioritisation.

If India genuinely wants to lead AI, advanced manufacturing and deep technology within the next 25 years, every education reform should strengthen scientific capability, international collaboration and future-ready skills.

Innovation ecosystems are built through research funding, world-class universities, industrial partnerships, skilled teachers and globally competitive curricula.

National pride should inspire technological leadership, not become a substitute for it. If India’s goal is to build globally dominant products instead of remaining the world’s back office, education policy must prepare students for tomorrow’s industries, not yesterday’s symbolism. — shiven3197