Every country needs a vision statement which stirs the imagination and motivates all segments of society to greater effort. It is an essential step in building a political consensus on a broad national development strategy, which encompasses, inter-alia, the roles and responsibilities of different agents in the economy, such as Central, State and local government, the private corporate sector, the small and tiny sector, people’s organisations etc. It must identify the potential risks and bottlenecks and their possible solutions in order to mobilise efforts in a focussed manner. It is clear, therefore, that to meet these objectives, a vision statement has to operate at several levels of generality and specificity.

In order to address these issues, among others, the Planning Commission constituted a Committee on Vision 2020 for India in June 2000 under the chairmanship of Dr. S.P. Gupta, Member, Planning Commission. This initiative brought together over 30 experts from different fields. Their deliberations, extending over a period of more than two years, has helped to throw up a range of interesting possibilities, critical issues and crucial decision-points for government and private bodies for future action.