India needs reforms to unleash its growth potential

Without rapid improvement in infrastructure to a level comparable with China, India’s GDP growth is likely to remain range-bound between 6.5 per cent and 7 per cent over the next two-three years.

Also, Indian govt needs to focus urgently on implementation of training to upgrade labour force skills comparable to international standards of major industrial economies. Graduate apprentice schemes and appropriate vocational training ought to be prioritised in key sectors if India desires to rapidly achieve the manufacturing sector’s 35 per cent contribution to its annual GDP growth.

In India’s rural agri-economy, consumer spending needs an immediate boost. Putting cash in the pockets of the vast rural population is the quickest way to boost consumption and hence attain the GDP level well beyond 7 per cent in the fiscal year 2021-22. The recent Indian budget did not do enough for rural-agro sector’s revival of growth to a level significantly above the current pedestrian growth.

Indian Finance Minister needs to think of out-ofthe-box imaginative policies if India is to achieve a sustained growth rate of at least 8.5 per cent per annum over the next three to five years. I believe she lacks experience and therefore it is incumbent upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to encourage her to seek and recruit highly experienced Economic Advisers tuned to the strategic needs of India’s economy which suffers from high unemployment, especially among the youth. If such high-calibre advisers are not available locally, a global search must start now and top salaries must be paid for such highly skilled foreign recruits.

—Rrajnikant A. Chande