Indian economy witnessed profound positive transformation in last 10 years: FM

NEW DELHI: The Indian economy has witnessed a profound positive transformation in the last 10 years, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday.

Sitharaman in her pre-election Budget, which is technically a vote on account and popularly termed an interim Budget, said people of India are looking ahead to the future with hope and options. She further said the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi covered all aspects of inclusivity.

Structural reforms, pro-people programmes and employment opportunities helped the economy get new vigour, the finance minister said.

After contracting by 5.8 per cent in 2020-21, the economy recorded a growth of 9.1 per cent in 2021-22.

The finance ministry in its latest monthly economic review said the Indian economy will become third largest in the world in the next three years with a GDP of 5 trillion from the current 3.7 trillion. It also said India can aspire to become a USD 7 trillion economy in the next six to seven years (by 2030). In December, the Reserve Bank of India raised the GDP growth projection for the current fiscal to 7 per cent from 6.5 per cent earlier on buoyant domestic demand and higher capacity utilisation in the manufacturing sector.

The Washington-headquartered International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that economic growth in India to remain strong at 6.5 per cent in 2023-24 and 2024-25, an upgrade of 0.2 percentage points for both years from earlier forecast.

The World Bank has projected a growth rate for India at 6.4 per cent for the current financial year, and a marginally higher expansion in the GDP at 6.5 per cent for 2024-25.

Another leading multilateral agency ADB has raised the growth outlook for India to 6.7 per cent for 2023-24 from 6.3 per cent, following faster-than-expected expansion in July-September, driven by double-digit growth in industry.