India's rise from 10th rank to world's 5th largest economy engineered by people power: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday asserted that India's prospects of emerging as the world's third-largest economy could not be summed up as just "a fait accompli", rather, a work in progress spearheaded by the people of the country who have moved the Indian economy from the 10th position to the 5th and who will take it to the 3rd position as well.

- NIVEDITA MUKHERJEE

"To say that there's no effort of the people is to undermine the efforts of our entrepreneurs, farmers and other sections which are pushing India upwards," Sitharaman said, addressing students, faculty and the audience at the 96th and 97th Annual Day celebrations of Shri Ram College of Commerce.

Sitharaman's comments a day after the World Bank's latest India Development Update lauded India's continuity to show resilience against the backdrop of a challenging global environment. The Bank's flagship half yearly report on the Indian economy, observes that India was one of the fastest-growing major economies in FY22/23 at 7.2 per cent, the second highest among G20 countries and almost twice the average for emerging market economies, underpinned by robust domestic demand among other factors. This finds an echo in Sitharaman's assertion that "only political stability, policy consistency and decisiveness will guarantee India's economy moving upwards".