Lok Sabha Question No. 1116 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-04
Subject: Growth Rate
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: SAKUNTALA LAGURI, KESHAV PRASAD MAURYA, CHANDRAKANT BHAURAO KHAIRE, SAUGATA ROY, RAKSHA NIKHIL KHADSE

- (a) the details of projected/estimated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of India and the States respectively during the financial year 2015-16;
- (b) whether there has been a lopsided development in the country with Northern States lagging behind Southern and Eastern States in terms of development, if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the steps taken by the Government to bridge this gap;
- (c) the world ranking of India compared to other countries in terms of GDP growth rate during the above period;
- (d) whether the Government envisages the highest growth rate among G-20 economies during the financial year 2015-16, if so, the details thereof and the justifications therefor; and
- (e) the status of per capita domestic and foreign debt of India as on date vis a vis GDP growth rate along with the steps/measures taken by the Government to improve the situation?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI JAYANT SINHA)

(a)  The  Reserve  Bank  of  India  (RBI)  in  their  Fifth-  Bi-monthly  Monetary  Policy  Statement,  2015-16, released on December 1, 2015 has projected that the growth of India in 2015-16 is expected to be 7.4 per cent. The Government has not made growth projections of gross domestic product of states for the year 2015-16.

(b)  During  the  period  2005-06  to  2013-14,  the  average  growth  rate  in  State  domestic  product  at constant (2004-05) prices achieved by the Northern States, Southern States and the Eastern States were 7.7 per cent, 8.2 per cent and 7.3 per cent respectively, indicating that the growth in the Northern States during the nine years mentioned above was comparable to that of the Southern and Eastern States. This is as per the data furnished by the Directorates of Economics and Statistics of respective States. The Northern States/Union Territories included above are: Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu &  Kashmir,  Punjab,  Rajasthan,  Uttar  Pradesh,  Uttarakhand,  Delhi  and  Chandigarh.  The  Southern States/Union  Territories  considered  above  include:  Andhra  Pradesh,  Telangana,  Karnataka,  Kerala, Tamil  Nadu  and  Puducherry.  The  Eastern  States/Union  Territories  considered  above  include:  Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Sikkim and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

(c)  As  per  the  database  of  the  World  Economic  Outlook  (WEO-October  2015)  maintained  by  the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the projected growth rate of India stands at 7.3 per cent for the year 2015. Among the list of 188 countries for which projections have been made in the aforesaid database, India's projected growth stands at the 9 th position. The countries that are projected by the IMF to record higher growth rates than India in the year 2015 are much smaller in size than India.

(d)  As  per  the  database  of  the  World  Economic  Outlook  (WEO-October  2015)  maintained  by  the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the projected growth rate of India for the year 2015 is the highest among the G 20 economies. The resilience of the Indian economy, coupled with the reform initiatives of the Government, has contributed to the positive growth outlook for India.

(e) The per capita internal debt and other liabilities of the Central Government as on 31 st March 2015 (Revised Estimates) was Rs. 48021/-. Based on the information furnished in the Union Budget 2015-16, it  is  estimated  that  the  per  capita  external  debt  of  the  Central Government  was  Rs.  1533/-  in March 2015. The provisional estimate of the growth rate of GDP at constant (2011-12) market prices in 201415 was 7.3 per cent. The Government has been following a path of fiscal consolidation which is likely to contain the internal debt within manageable limits. The external debt management policy followed by the  Government  emphasizes  monitoring  of  long  and  short  term  debt,  raising  sovereign  loans  on concessional terms with long term maturities, regulating external commercial borrowings through end- use and all-in-cost restrictions and rationalizing interest rates on Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Deposits. As a result, external debt has remained within manageable levels.

The Government of India has taken various initiatives to boost growth of the economy which, inter alia , include; fillip  to  manufacturing and infrastructure through fiscal incentives and concrete measures for transport, power, and other urban and rural infrastructure; reforms and liberalization of foreign direct investment in major sectors; Skill India and Digital India initiatives; 'Make in India' initiative along with the attendant facilitatory measures for a more conducive environment for investment; financial inclusion though  'Pradhan  Mantri  Jan  DhanYojana'  which  also  helps  to  strengthen  banking  and  insurance services; introduction of 'Gold Monetization Schemes' to mobilize the gold held by the household and institutions for productive use and to reduce the reliance on the import of the gold; launching of Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd. (MUDRA), responsible for developing and refinancing through a Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana;  boost to agricultural sector with focus on micro irrigation, watershed  development,  soil  conservation  and  credit,  and,  various  measures  to  improve  clarity  and transparency in economic policy-making. Fiscal reforms with emphasis on consolidation, expenditure reforms and rationalization of tax structure, including initiatives on Goods and Services Tax, are also expected to contribute to higher growth.

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