Viksit Bharat@2047 requires Stringent Quality Monitoring and Enforcement of Global Quality Standards

As India marches toward its centenary of independence, the vision of Viksit Bharat@2047 should outline a definitive roadmap to transform the nation into a 50 trillion US dollar developed economy. However, an economy of this magnitude cannot be built merely on the back of low-cost infrastructure development or sheer volumes of turnover from our industries and corporates.

To transition from a developing nation to a global superpower, India must undergo a cultural and structural shift, moving from a mindset of “Chalta Hai” (good enough) to a relentless pursuit of excellence backed by robust quality standards and their implementation with a steely resolve and governance with integrity. As such, achieving Viksit Bharat demands that stringent quality monitoring and the strict enforcement of quality standards become the nation’s core growth mantra for all sectors of economy and a firm resolve for the authorities in power.

Why Quality is Non-Negotiable for Viksit Bharat@2047

For decades, India’s manufacturing competitive edge relied heavily on lower labour costs and targets of low-cost production, often undermining the importance of quality. The usual mindset that quality is an expensive endeavour, brings in look-warm concern for global quality standards and their implementation from supply chain to shopfloors. But as global supply chains restructure, international markets are prioritizing capability, resilience and uncompromised quality over cheap assembly. Here the mantra for quality as propounded by the famous Quality Guru Philip Crosby that “Quality is Free” holds a specific significance now that we have understood the value and worth of quality and zero waste manufacturing, low-cost maintenance and customer satisfaction.

To accelerate decisively from the current level of Indian economy, $4,15 trillion in 2026 to $50 trillion by 2050 for the developed Bharat, India need to take on board both the quality culture as well as sustainability compliance to transform its economy to be both robust and sustainable. This can only be done by reinforcement of a culture of quality and its strict enforcement alongside with a caring commitment to sustainability and green-tech integration in all sectors of economy and human endeavours. This will make India a preferred choice for the nations around the globe for investments and for outsourcing merchandize and services.

The following measures are recommended:

1. Securing Global Trade and the USD 2 Trillion Export Target

To achieve its ambitious USD 2 trillion export target, Indian products must match or exceed global benchmarks. Stringent standards function as a passport in international trade. When Indian products face strict domestic quality filters, they seamlessly clear technical barriers to trade (TBTs) imposed by developed markets, unlocking massive value through global Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).

2. Safeguarding Public Health and Rebuilding Trust

The domestic regulatory framework carries critical ethical weight. Recent fragmented oversights in the pharmaceutical sector, where localized compliance failures led to contaminated cough syrups, highlight the high stakes of laxity in enforcement. It must be realized that quality monitoring is not just a commercial asset, it is a life-saving necessity that protects citizens and builds international trust.

3. Elevating the MSME Ecosystem

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) contribute to nearly 40% of India’s exports. However, smaller firms often bear a disproportionate burden of high friction and low-quality control, excluding them from global supply chains. Institutionalizing quality standards at the MSMEs cluster level transforms these enterprises from vulnerable survival units into world-class suppliers of goods and services.

The Core Pillars of a Modern Quality Ecosystem

To operationalize the Prime Minister’s vision of “Zero Defect, Zero Effect” (zero manufacturing flaws, zero environmental impact), India requires a structural framework that embeds quality into daily shopfloor operations and in each link of the supply chain, from materials to manufacturing and product delivery and after sales services.

Moving From Bureaucracy to a Quality Culture

Enforcement should not imply strangling industries with red tape. Instead, smart governance can make compliance a competitive advantage. The Quality Council of India (QCI) and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) are systematically shifting the ecosystem through targeted initiatives such as:

• Incentivizing Self-Regulation: Introducing a “Regulatory Trust Index” or quality seals for consistently compliant firms. Highly rated companies can be granted fast-tracked approvals, smoother export facilitation, and preference in government procurement.
• Workforce Upskilling: Investing heavily in training personnel, technicians, and laboratory staff. Quality cannot be audited into a product at the final stage; it must be built into it by design-thinking and assured at every stage of manufacturing and supply chain by modern-day skilled workforce trained as per the global quality benchmarks.
• Public and Market Oversight: Leveraging mobile applications and digital public infrastructure (DPI) to make product recalls, safety scores, and inspection parameters transparent to everyday citizens.

While these initiatives are mandatory for India to rise to the global expectations for quality products and services, a national quality movement involving all stakeholders including the people at large is absolutely necessary to develop a national mindset for quality and appreciation of the mantra that the “Quality is Free”.

While manufacturing sector requires a sea change in its quality perspective, the infrastructure sector need also to rise to the dire need of strict adherence to Global Quality Standards for capital intensive sectors like building highways and expressways, air and cargo terminals and installations of green energy infrastructure like solar and wind farms, wastewater treatment plants and ETPs for the industry. India currently spends around 22.8% of its national budget on infrastructure development, that comes to Rs 12.21 lakh crores, of which the national highways and expressways accounts for Rs 3.10 lakh crores as per the budget allocations for 2026-27.

A massive expenditure of this scale requires strict quality monitoring and compliance of Global Quality Standards from materials to the processes and means of construction to project management. It is here, India needs to recognize the urgency of establishing globally accredited Test Houses and third-party quality assurance agencies. It is matter of grave concern that while the infrastructure sector has gained a great national attention and achieved the scale as well as the speed of development, the Quality Test Houses have not grown around the country, to match the massive scale at which material testing and quality assurance is to be carried out to maintain Global Quality Standards. Perhaps the reliance is placed on the facilities for testing in national level institutions like the IITs, NITs and a select few such institutions, without realizing that the culture of global quality assurance requires totally independent Quality Test Houses and Third-Party Quality Assessors of unmatched integrity and dedication.

While each one of us greatly admires the speed with which the infrastructure has contributed to India’s rise to the glory of its developmental pathways, the quality conferment and robust project management with stringent quality monitoring and enforcement remains still a grey area for urgent attention as the infrastructure sector shall continue to grow leaps and bound in the years to come to support India’s transformation to Viksit Bharat@2047. It is however, ironical that disciplines like Civil Engineering and Public Health Engineering have been the last priority of those aspiring for professional education in engineering and technology. The prime question therefore is who shall fill this large gap of well-trained civil engineering and other core engineering skilled workforce in a nation like India, which has an ever growing need for infrastructure development.

The pathways to Viksit Bharat@2047 demand an infrastructure foundation built on unyielding quality and enduring trust, its highways of growth engineered not just for decades, but for centuries. India must never compromise on the strictest standards of safety, quality and compliance. By pivoting from reactive maintenance to proactive, technology-driven quality enforcement, we will ensure our physical connectivity mirrors our global economic ambitions, delivering infrastructure defined by the precision, integrity and excellence that a developed nation demands from all of us and more so, from those in policy planning and authorities in power.

The Authors: Prof PB Sharma is a renowned thought leader, founder Vice Chancellor of DTU & RGPV, Past President of AIU, Former Professor of IIT Delhi, currently Vice Chancellor of Amity University Gurugram;  Dr GK Arora is a renowned economist, former Principal of Delhi University College, currently Professor Emeritus at Amity University Gurugram. The Views expressed are the personal views of the authors.