New Delhi, Oct. 29 -- An ambitious vision for a $30 trillion Indian economy by 2047 has been laid out in an approach paper from Niti Aayog, 'Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat @ 2047.' The paper argues that the path to this goal's realization runs through India's states, several of which-such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana- have formally declared their intention to become trillion-dollar economies by or before 2047.

The trillion-dollar milestone, however, is not an end in itself. It is more notional, meant to signal investment potential and the promise of growth. By their very geography, coastal and inland states will require different strategies for economic expansion. Coastal state...