India to grow at 6.4% in 2015: World Bank

Manas Dasgupta

Gandhinagar, January 11

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim predicted that the Indian economy was likely to grow at 6.4 per cent in the current year and accelerate further in the next year in view of the economic measures being taken by the Narendra Modi government.
Promising World Bank’s support for catalysing a “Vibrant India,” he said there were much reasons for optimism for the Indian economy in the coming years. “We project that India will be a bright spot in an otherwise medium global economic outlook. The economy according to our projections is expected to grow 6.4 per cent this year and even faster in 2016,” he said.
He said after slowing to sub-five per cent growth in the previous two financial years, the economy had started showing signs of revival as it expanded by 5.7 per cent and 5.3 per cent in the second and third quarter of 2015.
He said he was “very encouraged” by the Modi government's proposal for the introduction of the Goods and Service Tax in the country. Besides offering an opportunity to make it substantially easier to do business in India, the GST, he said would create “one common market and substantial saving for companies on logistics, especially if the structure of the GST is uniform,” he added.
Many top industrialists from the country addressing the gathering assured of increasing presence in Gujarat while the foreign delegates, particularly the representatives of the partner countries as well as the United States, which was attending the summit with the "largest delegation" of 121 members, promised increasing investments in India.
Osamu Suzuki, chairman of the Suzuki Group partnering with Maruti Udyog said he was "happy" to come to Gujarat with a manufacturing plant after Haryana.