With India’s story remaining “very strong”, the economy will register double-digit growth in the current fiscal and the disinvestment climate also looks better, said NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar. He stated that India is prepared in a far better manner in case there is a third COVID-19 wave as states have also their own lessons from the previous two waves.
“We are now hopefully getting past our (COVID-19) pandemic — and the economic activities will be strengthened as we get into the second half of this (fiscal) year given what I have seen for example various indicators, including the mobility indicators,” Kumar toldtold.
The coronavirus pandemic has had a negative influence on the Indian economy, and recovery has been slow in the aftermath of the second Covid wave.
Against this backdrop, Vice Chairman of the Niti Aayog expressed optimism that the economic recovery will be “extremely strong,” and that those agencies or organisations that reduced their GDP projections downwards for this fiscal year may have to modify them again again.
“Because, I expect India’s GDP growth this (fiscal) year would be in double digits,” he said.
The economy contracted by 7.3 per cent in the financial year ended March 31, 2021.
S&P Global Ratings has lowered India’s growth forecast for the current fiscal year to 9.5 percent from 11 percent previously, while Fitch Ratings has lowered the expectation to 10% from 12.8 percent previously. The downward revisions were primarily attributable to the second Covid wave’s sluggish recovery.
The Reserve Bank has forecasted 9.5 percent economic growth in the current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2022, indicating the possibility of a substantial recovery.
When asked when private investment will take up, Kumar noted that significant capacity development is already taking place in key industries, such as steel, cement, and real estate.
(With PTI Input)
