2024: India to remain the world’s fastest-growing economy, says Assocham
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Amid a gloomy 2024 creeping into many recessionary economies worldwide three days from now, India’s leading business and industry body has predicted that the South Asian nation, currently the fifth-largest economy in the world, is likely to remain the fastest-growing as well in the new year beginning on Monday next.
This forecast is based on strong consumer demand leading to a pickup in investment across sectors such as construction, hospitality, and infrastructure including railways and aviation, The Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (Assocham) said on Thursday.
India retained the tag of the world’s fastest-growing major economy, with its GDP expanding by a faster-than-expected rate of 7.6 percent in the July-September quarter of FY24 on booster shots from government spending and manufacturing.
The country’s Gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 7.6 percent beat most estimates, including 6.5 percent projected by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The growth compares to 6.2 percent in the same quarter last year and 7.8 percent expansion in the preceding quarter, official data released on Thursday showed.
India’s GDP growth beat China’s 4.9 percent rise in July-September, while the Western economies are getting crushed under high-interest rates and energy prices.
“India’s macro picture looks quite convincing with the overall economy following a trend growth of seven percent with critical building blocks combining to give it brighter prospects,” Assocham Secretary-General Deepak Sood said.
He said that India Inc., led by financials, construction, hotels, aviation, automobile, and other manufacturing areas like electronics is on a strong pitch to further improve performance in the coming year.
The trajectory is being helped by the low crude oil prices, keeping inflation in check with a big positive on raw material costs.
“Sectors like construction have several related industries which too have gained momentum. These include steel, cement, mining, electricity generation, and consumer durables,” Assocham stated.
The macroeconomic indicators including the government balance sheet reflected in strong tax collections, record foreign exchange reserves, stability in the rupee against major currencies, and signs of revival in merchandise exports are expected to improve further, it estimated.
