India’s 5 tn USD goal by FY25 not realistic: Economist

Moreover, Indian economy will be smaller for a considerable period of next year compared to its size in 2019, Vakulabharanam said.

He said while COVID-19 is certainly the most important factor for economic slowdown, what is notable is that India’s decline is much steeper than what other developing countries and the global economy witnessed over the last year.

“As of now, the current Indian GDP is less than $3 trillion. If this has to jump to $5 trillion in four years, the economy has to grow higher than 13 per cent per annum, on the average,” he said.

In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi envisioned to make India a $5 trillion economy and global power house by 2024-25.

“Even in the best of scenarios, this is highly unlikely,” Vakulabharanam, co-director, Asian Political Economy Program at University of Massachusetts Amherst(USA) said. Even if everything goes according to current growth projections by the RBI and IMF, Indian economy will be smaller for a considerable period of next year than it was in 2019. The IMF and the RBI have very recently revised the growth rates downward. As per the latest CSO estimate, the economy contracted by 7.3 pc last year, and as per the latest RBI estimate, the economy will grow by 9.5 pc this year. On what fiscal measures are necessary to support households in distress, he said that they have two basic needs: minimum subsistence and accessible health care. “In the wake of this unprecedented crisis in the Indian economy, the government should have taken up drastic measures to support the poor households on both these counts,” he said.