'Trade deals can supercharge India'

Trade deals can spark a manufacturing renaissance for India, and a consistent, moderately high annual growth rate of 6%-7.5% over an extended period of time without any macroeconomic instability can transform the country, Franziska Ohnsorge, chief economist, South Asia Region, World Bank, said.

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Merchandise and service exports offer India significant investment potential and scope to raise their share in gross domestic product (GDP), driven by trade deals as well as artificial intelligence (AI)-led productivity gains in the service sector, Ohnsorge said at a select press interaction on Saturday on the sidelines of the Kautilya Economic Conclave 2025 organized by the Union finance ministry.

Sustained growth at a respectable rate, as India has managed in the past 25 years, can take the country far over a period of time and pull many people out of poverty, she said.

"That is, a consistent 6-7.5% growth annually for years on end without any major crisis.