India has demographic edge over other countries: Devendra Fadnavis

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said India has a demographic advantage as the average age of an Indian is less than that of people from other countries.

"India has a demographic advantage in the world, as the average age of developed countries like Japan, the US, the eastern and western European countries is much higher. Japan's average age is 48 years and that of eastern European countries is 44 years. China's average age is 36 years, while it is 39 in the US. But India's average age is less as compared to these countries," Fadnavis said.

He was speaking here at the 'Transform Maharashtra' event, his own initiative that is aimed at promoting the concept of inclusive governance in the state.

"This advantage that India has over other countries is going to be there for the next 20 years. Therefore, we can easily say that our generation can see India grow as a developed nation," he said.

"Our population is also a major resource to us. Of the total population, 65 per cent is less than 35 years, of which 50 per cent population is less than 25 years. We have to convert it into human resource, which will benefit a lot to every state in the country. Like Maharashtra, every other state can benefit from such demographic advantage," Fadnavis said.

The chief minister said, "Another advantage is that of development in technology, which is speeding up the pace of development. In the initial stage of technology, the things that used to take 15 years to achieve, can now be achieved in just two years."

"Today, 11,000 villages are no longer dependent on tankers for drinking water supply. Similarly, 29,000 villages across the state are connected with fibre optics to transform the conventional gram panchayats into smart gram panchayats," Fadnavis said.