India may be poised to achieve double digit growth by the fourth quarter of this year, said Mr Piyush Goyal, Minister for Finance, Railways and Coal, Government of India, while speaking at the 6th Annual Growth Net Summit jointly organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Ananta Centre and Smadja & Smadja in New Delhi.  He stated that there was a demand uptick in the economy and the goal of achieving double digit growth by the fourth quarter of the year is plausible.

The minister stressed that the government is committed to maintaining the fiscal deficit at 3.3% in the current year and is constantly monitoring the situation including oil prices. He stated that excise revenues from oil had been used for infrastructure and also shared with the states. 

Mr Goyal highlighted that the country has focused on social and economic stability, structural changes and the strength of governance and institutions for successfully achieving growth targets. The government has created a “fundamental break from the old mindset” as the country is providing good roads and universal household electricity. It is simultaneously dealing with the third imperative of engaging with modern technology such as Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, he added.

Mr. Goyal stated that the Government has undertaken major reforms in the including GST, RERA and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. He added that the Government is addressing every element of the power value chain to ensure that last mile connectivity to each household is available in three years. 

The Government has simultaneously focused on increasing coal production, bringing down the prices of renewables and minimizing the losses of the power distribution companies through schemes such as UDAY. He noted that the ambitious renewable energy programme has expanded plans to generate 100 GW solar energy for India by 2022.  481 Government schemes have been brought under the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme. The Government has focused on “bringing about a change in the economy, not for a specific section of the economy but to impact each one of the 1.2 billion spread across the length and breadth of the country”, Mr Goyal added.

In an era of rapid technological transformation, with the emergence of automation, big data and AI, it is critical to address the most compelling challenges in the economy, stated Mr Harshvardhan Neotia, Chairman, Steering Committee, The Growth Net Summit and Chairman, Ambuja Neotia Group. With India emerging as the fastest growing large economy in the world, India’s role as an economic power has increased, he added.

Mr. Jamshyd Godrej, Chairman, Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd & Chairman, Ananta Centre, India stated that while the Government has addressed both domestic and global challenges of the economy, it was important for the Government to pass on the costs that they incur in the development process.

Mr. Claude Smadja, Founder and Chairman, Smadja & Smadja, Switzerland, stated that there are three essential requirements that India needs to satisfy to score double digit growth – accelerating the move from commodity based to higher value production, increased pace of digitization and provision of utilities with strong private sector participation.

18 June 2018

New Delhi