‘ONOP could lead to 1.5% point rise in GDP growth’

Simultaneous elections in India could lead to a 1.5 percentage point rise in real GDP ‘growth, higher capital expenditure and increased investment activity, former finance commission chairperson NK Singh and another economist told the joint parliamentary committee on One Nation One Election on Wednesday.

- Saubhadra Chatterji [e-mail]

In a joint presentation, Singh and Prachi Mishra, director of Isaac Centre for Public Policy at ‘Ashoka University, said the uptick in growth would amount to Rs4.5 lakh crore in FY24 figures, according to people familiar with the matter. This would be almost half the total health budget or a third of the education budget, they pointed out.

But the two economists also cautioned that the fiscal deficit may rise by 1.3 percentage points due to higher post-election spending.