‘Double digit growth is not easy for India’

India needs to grow at 8 per cent and it is important for the country, said Swami Vigyananand, Joint General Secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and initiator of World Hindu Economic Forum (WHEF). He was in Mumbai to promote WHEF, which is official in India for the first time.

Commenting about the Indian economy, Vigyananand said, “It is important for the country to grow at 8 per cent. People are talking about double digit figure but it is not an easy task. So, we hope at least the growth is at 8 per cent.” At present the growth of India has slowed down which makes it difficult for India to grow at double digit, he added.

He affirmed that at the rate at which India is growing, the country will not be able to achieve the USD 5 trillion economy aim by next five years. “But it can be possible in ten years.”

Vigyananand stressed the need for the government to help business in terms of policies and not destroy the eco-system. He said there is a need to rationalise taxation in the country. Vigyananand, also the Founder and Global chairman of World Hindu Foundation said that the total taxation should not be more than 16 per cent. “We should have rational taxation policy,” he added. “This will discussed at the WHEF as well.”

Officially, WHEF has come to India for the first time, Vigyananand claimed. “We always have this conference overseas. But this time, we decide to hold it in India.” The next WHEF conference will be in Netherlands in July. “We are looking at Auckland and Bangkok for 2021 and 2022 respectively. We have planned for four years already.” He hopes to be back in India in the year 2026.

The three-day conference will be held in Mumbai and will have 14 sessions and see 354 foreign delegates and 650 Indian delegates from 37 countries, comprising of business stalwarts and policy makers discussing the need and relevance of entrepreneurship to make India a USD 5 trillion economy. WHEF, a business networking platform, encourages action to promote enterprise and entrepreneurship amongst the Hindus globally.

Along with other issues, employment generation will also be discussed at the forum. “The focus on employment generation should not be at the cost of technology. “There are newer technologies that are coming in and to handle them you need skill manpower and we should train them there. This will increase employment opportunities for the youth in the country,” Vigyananand said.