Polaris bags ₹2,452-crore deal for smart meters
New Delhi: Polaris on Wednesday said it has been awarded a ₹2,246 cr contract to install 2.2 million smart meters in West Bengal alongside another contract worth ₹206 crore for the installation of over 1.6 lakh smart meters in Imphal, Manipur. The project aims to reduce Discom losses, empower consumers by introducing smart prepaid meters, the company said. Polaris Smart Metering will supply, commission, install and maintain smart meters.
India could record a growth rate of over 7 per cent during the current fiscal (2024-25) and 8 per cent during the last fiscal (2023-24), Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said on Wednesday. The government will come out with provisional estimate for FY24 on May 31.
“The IMF has projected a growth rate of 7.8 per cent for FY24. But if you look at the trajectory of growth in the first three quarters, obviously, the possibility that the growth rate touches 8 per cent is quite high,” he said at an event organised by National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER).
If you look at trajectory of growth in first three quarters, the possibility of the growth rate touching 8 per cent is quite high
V ANANTHA NAGESWARAN
Chief Economic Advisor
‘DOMESTIC STRENGTHS’
He said with supply-side investments on both physical and digital infrastructure, Indian economy is better placed to pursue non-inflationary growth and could achieve a GDP growth rate of above 7 per cent this year, based on its domestic strengths. “We need to recognise the geo-political and geo-economic context. We can achieve moderate to high growth over a long term,” he said.
However, he noted , a lot would depend on how the monsoon shapes up. Although the expectations are that there will be an abovenormal monsoon, spatial and temporal distribution will matter. On the growth beyond FY25, he said, there is a possibility of India growing between 6.5-7 per cent because the key dierence this decade compared to the last is the one of balance sheet strength in the financial sector and the non-financial sector in the corporate sector as well.
SUPPLY-SIDE INFRA
He highlighted the role of small and medium sector in the economy while calling for more measures. “We need them to grow their share in manufacturing. We also need to strengthen the supply-side infrastructure to have longer economic cycles and prevent overheating of the economy every 4-5 years, besides having financial inclusion, skilling, and electricity reforms,” he said.
Annual retail inflation rate eased in March to a fivemonth low of 4.85 per cent,