Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi has said that Indian economy is expected to expand at 8.5-9 percent over 10-15 year time frame once the structural issues hampering growth are addressed by the government. Mehrishi added that “India has a growth potential close to 8.5 percent to 9 percent over the next 10-15 years... The short term growth may be lower on account of structural issues which we are tackling”.
Finance Secretary further stated that strong economic growth, is necessary for solving many socio-economic problems facing the country and the government has taken various initiatives to deal with the structural issues like going in for auction of key infrastructure inputs such as coal and spectrum, setting up of the MUDRA Bank and streamlining the norms for foreign direct investment (FDI).
Talking about the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) projection of below normal monsoon, the Finance Secretary said: 'A weak monsoon generally leads to low rural economic growth and spike in prices of food commodities. However, this year food prices are expected to remain stable”, as the government was also taking a host of steps to address rural distress “through programmes rather that price distorting measures”. India’s growth is expected to be at least 8 percent in the current fiscal on account of initiatives taken by the government to boost investment and growth.