Govt sticks to $5 trn economy target, relies on infra push

NEW DELHI: The government is sticking to the target of becoming a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024-25 and emphasis on infrastructure sector and other initiatives taken in Budget 2021-22 are aimed at achieving the goal, Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj has said.

The Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday has given a big push to infrastructure spending, monetisation of assets, ramping up of capacities in healthcare sector and agriculture sector, among others.

These initiatives are aimed at reviving the economy ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We have not revised the target. We are pushing for it. The various initiatives of the government including emphasis on infrastructure are targeting towards achieving that goal," Bajaj told PTI in an interview.

The spending on infrastructure has gone up from Rs 4.12 lakh crore to Rs 5.54 lakh crore while on the health sector it has risen to Rs 2.23 lakh crore from Rs 94,000 crore in the Budget Estimate for 2020-21.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 envisioned making India a USD 5 trillion economy and a global economic powerhouse by 2024-25. With this, India would become the third largest economy in the world.

Although the Indian economy is estimated to contract by 7.7% during the current fiscal, it is projected to record a growth rate of over 11% in 2021-22.

Last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected an impressive 11.5% growth rate for India in 2021.

This expected growth rate would make the country the only major economy of the world to register a double-digit growth amid the coronavirus pandemic.

China is next with 8.1% growth in 2021 followed by Spain (5.9%) and France (5.5%). With the latest projections, India regains the tag of the fastest developing economies of the world.