GOVT BANKS ON INDIA'S REFORMS, INFRA GROWTH, DPI TO GET TO 3RD LARGEST GDP GLOBALLY OF $5 TRN

The PM Jan Dhan Yojana has increased the proportion of women having a bank account that they themselves use, from 53 per cent in 2015-16 to 78.6 per cent in 2019-21

- NIVEDITA MUKERJEE

Even as India country prepares for the Interim Budget 2024 ahead of the general elections in April/May amidst increasing international economic interest and scrutiny, India looks set to sustain a resilient growth trajectory in the next three years, defying the Covid induced contraction in FY21 to record two years of above-7 per cent growth and leveraging the journey of reforms to stay on the course of becoming the third-largest economy in the world, with a GDP of USD 5 trillion by 2027, says the Finance Ministry.

The Government has, however, set a higher goal of becoming a ‘developed country’ by 2047 and this goal looks achievable given a robust backdrop a growth of 7.6 per cent in real terms in the first half of the current financial year -- compared to the first half of FY23 – and with the financial year FY24 marking the third successive year of 7 per cent plus strong growth of the Indian economy even as the global economy struggles to grow at more than 3 per cent. The view is reinforced by the National Statistical Office’s First

Advance Estimates, pegging India’s real GDP to grow at 7.3 per cent in FY24, higher than the forecast made by various national and international agencies, observes a review by the Finance Ministry, of the state of the Indian economy and its journey in the last 10 years.