Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI Achieving a 7 per cent GDP growth rate ‘is doable’ for India despite the global environment has become more challenging since the beginning of the year, Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran said on July 22 after the Economic Survey was released.
“We were more confident of a 7 per cent GDP growth when we wrote the interim economic survey in January. Since then, the global environment has become even more polarised. Given that, we feel 7 per cent is doable, but yet we want to be not necessarily cautious but prudent,” he said on the 6.5 to 7 per cent growth rate that has been projected for India’s GDP growth in the Economic Survey.
“We are not pessimistic, we are optimistic about growth. But we are mindful of challenges — about the way the monsoon has progressed,” he added. He said that the agriculture sector still carries a huge potential to drive growth, allied sectors need to be encouraged and land consolidation is needed.
“We are facing a very challenging global environment, along with climate change, so we need to make sure we pursue all possible approaches without any ideological orientation,” he said. The Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) anticipated improved performance in the farm sector for the financial year 2024-25.
Furthermore, a widespread acceleration in industrial growth is also expected. He noted that the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes are achieving significant results as of May 2024. These schemes are gaining traction and demonstrating considerable progress in critical sectors like electronics and pharmaceuticals, with reported investments surpassing Rs 1.28 lakh crore. However, the idle capacity in China and low-skill manufactured goods can pose risks to India’s capital formation.
