Further, Shah underlined that while there may be issues, India is up for the task. “No country has grown or progressed without encountering turbulence. We are prepared. India is poised to be a global economic powerhouse,” he said in response to whether India can still make its moment in the current environment.
On the prospects of being able to meet goals for a developed nation without touching 8% growth, Shah said growth rates have to be read in context of the global economy. “In today’s world, our growth cannot be very different from global rates of growth. We will be in competition with the top 10 economies of the world, so growth rates will be in that range,” he said.
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“Every economy experienced low growth rates after the pandemic,” he pointed out. “But not only did India maintain its growth, (but) we have been the fastest growing economy for the past seven to eight years. Now, when the calculation of 8% was made, it was in the context of the global economic performance then.”
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The home minister countered claims of investment flows moving out of India, saying these were positive signs of expansion by Indian companies. Shah said foreign direct investment (FDI) over the past 11 years grew by 143% to $749 billion, compared to the UPA era. “Let’s not create a negative environment… We should applaud the expansion of Indian companies,” he added.
