India to remain fastest growing major economy in 2024-25, says CEA Nageswaran

India is poised to remain the fastest-growing major economy in 2024-25, Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran said in a press conference after the tabling of the Economic Survey in the Parliament on Monday.

The Economic Survey tabled today projected India to grow at 6.5-7.0 per cent in 2024-25.

Global institutions, including IMF, OECD, World Bank, S&P, ADB, and Fitch, have projected India to grow in a range of 6.6-7.2 per cent.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its latest outlook, has raised India’s growth projections for 2024 from 6.8 per cent earlier to 7 per cent, with the country maintaining the fastest-growing status in emerging markets and developing economies.

According to official data of the Indian government, the country’s GDP grew at an impressive 8.2 per cent during the financial year 2023-24. India’s economy grew 7.2 per cent in 2022-23 and 8.7 per cent in 2021-22 respectively.

Further, the CEA in his press conference projected that India’s per capita income is expected to increase from around Rs 2 lakh in 2022-23 to Rs 14.9 lakh in 2046-47.

Further, CEA said household savings of Indians in physical assets have been increasing over the past three financial years through 2023-24.

The CEA, addressing the press conference, said household savings in physical assets rose from 8 per cent in 2020-21 to 12.9 per cent in 2022-23.

“Households are not in distress, they are investing in financial assets that have done very well. Financial assets of households are not marked to market so households are doing quite well in the aggregate,” he said.

India needs both banks and capital markets to provide the required finances sourced from a sustained high level of household savings, according to the Survey.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday tabled the economic survey in Parliament, a day ahead of the full Budget presentation for 2024-25.

The Economic Survey document, prepared by the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance and formulated under the supervision of the chief economic adviser, gives insights into the state of the economy and various indicators of 2023-24 (April-March) and some outlook for the current year.

The Economy Survey document also gave some idea about the tone and texture of the actual Budget for 2024-25, to be presented on Tuesday.