Indian Industry Body Projects 10 Pct GDP Growth By 2020

By Shakir Husain NEW DELHI, May 5 (Bernama) -- India's economy can achieve an annual growth rate of more than 10 per cent by 2020, through economic reforms and infrastructure investments, the country's top industry association said. India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in the April 2017 to March 2018 financial year was expected to be between 7.5 and eight per cent, and expected to increase by one per cent annually over the next three years, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) President, Shobana Kamineni said. She said India expected to spend an estimated 30 trillion rupees (US$467 billion) in the next five years on transport and infrastructure projects that would boost employment growth. "One of the key priorities for the CII this year would be to revive domestic investment, which has been flagging,” she said, adding that the country’s economy had been growing largely on the back of exceptionally high government spending on infrastructure. Shobana said further growth would be driven by the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax in July, and the increasing urbanisation and investment in key sectors such as tourism, pharmaceuticals, services and manufacturing. "It is eminently possible to create five million jobs each year, if the GDP growth rate can be boosted by an extra one per cent annually," she said, adding the construction sector alone could generate 30 million new jobs in 10 years. It has been estimated that India has created 3.7 million jobs annually, against a requirement of 12 million jobs per year, to accommodate the new working age population. -- BERNAMA