From manufacturing and education to sports and space, India is blazing ahead at full throttle to realise her many dreams

India has been forging ahead and making a mark for herself in the global arena in recent years. With plenty of targets set, she is well on her path to achieving them. With that said, let’s look at her most noteworthy triumphs in 2024.

Space for growth

Whether it was The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) successful launch of the X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat), uncovering vital facets of the moon’s surface via the Chandrayaan 3 mission, or the Aditya-L1 fulfilling its first successful orbit-India took several leaps in space exploration last year. 

Sharing his thoughts on this, Ronak Kumar Samantray, founder and CEO, TakeMe2Space, says, “India has built a reputation for executing impactful space missions, balancing innovation with cost-effectiveness whilst addressing regional challenges such as disaster management and climate monitoring. India’s space achievements rest on strategic investments in technology and a skilled workforce. ISRO’s approach to building indigenous technologies alongside private-sector contributions and partnerships with global organisations is encouraging a vibrant ecosystem. This synergy is essential for exploring innovative solutions and improving the cost and accessibility of space based services.”

He also feels that investments in emerging technologies, international partnerships, collaborative research, supporting educational programmes, and creating a strong regulatory framework that encourages investment while ensuring sustainability will ensure that India continues to set benchmarks in this sphere.

Fielding for success

A remarkable year for Indian sports, India had much to be proud of in 2024. Sharing his thoughts, Prof. Mahdi Farrokh, faculty of sports and physical education FLAME University, says, “From the record medal haul at the Paris Paralympics to Gukesh Dommaraju becoming the youngest chess world champion-it has been a transformative year that will inspire the youth and promote sports as a viable career option among the masses. Government initiatives such as Khelo India, private sector investments, access to better coaching, sports science support and nutrition have elevated athletes’ performance levels.” 

While speaking about what can be done further, he mentions that sports must be made a compulsory part of the curriculum and promoting sports science through dedicated centres for research, whilst also hosting international competitive events will provide much needed exposure and propel domestic athletes further.

Green endeavours

India has made sufficient progress towards its climatic goals, for instance, its renewable energy capacity crossing 200 gigawatts (GW) in October 2024.

However, there’s still a long way to go, feels Rishi Aggarwal, an environmentalist. He says, “India has made good progress on the clean energy front and taken some strides towards sustainability, with scope to do far better. Numerous factors have led to this, like the reduced cost of clean energy, improving unit level efficiency and a greater awareness among consumers. Sustainability must be an important part of urbanisation as well. Moreover, there should be a greater focus on the efficient consumption of energy rather than just on clean energy.”

On the financial and economic front, India traversed in the right direction as well. Deep Narayan Mukherjee, partner, risk management and data science, BCG, states, “India remained among the fastest growing major economies, with its inflation in better control than most other nations. Going forward, there must be optimal control on inflation while corporates and banks must embed geopolitical risks and opportunities into their strategy and not just in the supply chain. Finally, more investments should be made in human resource training, skilling and skill upgradation with a focus on AI.”

With so many steps in the right direction, India is well on her way to achieving her targets and rising to greater heights.

In conversation with The Times of India (Bombay Times): Prof. Mahdi Farrokh, Faculty of Sports and Physical Education, FLAME University.