India, the most populous country in the world, is the world’s largest democracy. Its economic development has also taken place in the last decade.
India has now emerged as a world player. The World Bank has projected the Indian economy to grow at the rate of 6.3 percent in the current financial year 2023-24 on the basis of investment and domestic demand.
The World Bank has described favorable conditions for India to take advantage of global opportunities.
India continues to show resilience in the backdrop of a challenging global environment.
Growth in 2023 is up 0.2 percentage points due to stronger-than-expected data in India.
The World Bank estimates that the region will grow faster than any other developing country region over the next few years.
It is noteworthy that India’s growth rate is the second highest growth rate among G20 countries and almost twice the average of emerging market economies.
Also, service sector activity is expected to remain strong with a growth of 7.4 percent.
Although employment indicators have been weak but with appropriate policies the country’s economic growth can create more jobs.
The World Bank expects headwinds to persist due to high global interest rates, geopolitical tensions and sluggish global demand.
As a result, global economic growth is also set to slow in the medium term against the backdrop of these combined factors.
Over the past two decades, India has made significant progress in reducing extreme poverty. Yet child malnutrition remains high, with 35.5 percent of children under the age of five stunted.
Key employment indicators have improved since 2020 but concerns remain over the quality of jobs created and real wage growth.
India’s aspiration to achieve high-income status by 2047 will therefore need to be achieved through a development process that broadly benefits the bottom half of the population.
Growth-oriented reforms must be accompanied by an expansion in good jobs that keeps pace with the number of people entering the labor market.
Additionally, there will be a need to address the decline in economic participation by bringing more women into the labor force.
Policies, institutions and investment growth need to be strengthened to create a better future for the people of the country through inclusive growth.
