- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) raised its GDP growth forecast for India for the current fiscal year to 7% from 6.7%.
The reason for ADB’s improved prediction of India’s GDP growth:
- Manufacturing Sector: India’s manufacturing sector grew strongly in the fiscal year 2023, with the S&P Global India Manufacturing PMI rising to 56.0 in November 2023 from an eight-month low of 55.5 in October 2023.
- Investment and consumption demand are both predicted to propel India’s economic development in 2024 and FY25. Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE) increased by 3.5% in the December quarter of FY24.
- Inflation Trend: Inflation in India is predicted to continue to decline in accordance with global trends. Inflation in India fell to 5.09 percent in February 2024, down from 5.10 percent in January. Econometric models predict that India’s inflation rate would be around 4.30 percent in 2025.
- Monetary policy: The RBI has held the repo rate constant at 6.5% for 2023-24, concentrating on reducing accommodation to ensure that inflation gradually aligns with the objective while sustaining growth.
Government Initiatives taken for Regional Development:
- Regional Cooperation and Integration (RCI) Conference, 2023:
- It was hosted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Tbilisi, Georgia.
- Theme: “Strengthening Regional Cooperation and Integration through Economic Corridor Development (ECD).”
- The goal is to merge spatial transformation with an area-centric approach using Economic Corridor Development.
- In this Conference, India shared its indigenously produced GIS-based technology with ADB and South Asia Sub-Regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) countries to improve socioeconomic planning and regional cooperation.
- PM GatiShakti’s National Master Plan and Multimodal Connectivity:
- Essentially, PM Gati Shakti believes that socioeconomic area-based development should be included in regional connection initiatives.
- It is being implemented to improve connectivity with regional partners through the use of GIS technology. For example, consider the Indo-Nepal Haldia Access Controlled Corridor Project.
Source: https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/oil-and-gas/adb-raises-indias-gdp-growth-forecast-for-fy25-to-7-to-remain-major-growth-engine-in-apac-region/109233492#:~:text=New%20Delhi%3A%20The%20Asian%20Development,and%20improvement%20in%20consumer%20demand.