Get out of the way of business to speed up growth, CEA tells govt

Need 8% growth for at least a decade to hit Viksit Bharat goal; private firms must step up with investments, good pay

- Gireesh Chandra Prasad

India must fire up domestic growth engines with deregulation and private investments to stay the course at a time when the tide of globalization has gone out, the Economic Survey for 2024-25 said. If India has to achieve its goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047, it must grow at a rate of 8% for at least a decade, the crucial pre-budget document said, amid worries of a slowdown in the backdrop of an uncertain world.

As aggressive trade policies rear their heads overseas, the government should "get out of the way of businesses" to support higher investments that would unleash growth potential and support sustained growth close to 8%, the Survey presented in the Parliament on Friday showed.

Scripted by Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran and team the Survey did not mince words about the possibility of Indian exports getting walloped by the evolving trade stance of a few major economies. It pointed to the threat of China remaining the world's manufacturing powerhouse lording over key resources, and India dependent on single sources for key imports.

All these call for a growth strategy focusing on domestic growth, the Survey pointed out. With net exports in the negative zone, the only engines still firing are government and household spending, and investment in factories.

Achieving 8% growth will require an increase in the investment rate to around 35% of GDP from the current level of around 31%, the Survey said, referring to the growth models of Japan after the Second World War and with China in the last four decades.