Disinvestment climate looks better now: Niti vice-chief

New Delhi, July 11

Advertisement

With India’s story remaining “very strong”, the economy will register a double-digit growth in the current fiscal and the disinvestment climate also looks better, said Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar.

He also asserted that the country was prepared in a far better manner in case there is a Covid wave as states had also learnt their lessons from the previous two waves.

“We are now hopefully getting past our pandemic… and the economic activities will be strengthened as we get into the second half of this (fiscal) year given as seen from various indicators, including the mobility indicators,” Kumar said. The Indian economy has been adversely impacted by the pandemic and the recovery has been relatively sluggish in the wake of the second wave. Against this backdrop, the Niti Aayog Vice Chairman exuded confidence that the economic recovery will be “very strong” and those agencies or organisations which have revised their GDP estimates downwards for this fiscal may have to revise them upwards again.

“Because, I expect India’s GDP growth this (fiscal) year would be in double digits,” he said. The economy contracted by 7.3 per cent in the financial year ended March 31, 2021.

Among rating agencies, S&P Global Ratings has cut India’s growth forecast for the current fiscal to 9.5 per cent from 11 per cent earlier, while Fitch Ratings has slashed the projection to 10 per cent from 12.8 per cent estimated earlier. The downward revisions were mainly due to slowing recovery post second wave.

Indicating the possibility of a strong rebound, the Reserve Bank has pegged economic growth at 9.5 per cent in the current fiscal that ends on March 31, 2022.

Asked when private investments will pick up, Kumar said in some sectors like steel, cement and real estate, significant investment in capacity expansion is happening already.

In the consumer durable sector, it might take longer because consumers might feel a little hesitant due to uncertainty on account of the pandemic, he said. “Full-fledged private investment recovery, we should expect by the third quarter of this (fiscal) year,” he said.

Responding to a query on concerns over a possible third wave, Kumar said the government was much better prepared in case such a situation came up.

“I feel the impact of the third wave on the economy will be much weaker than it was during the second wave and the beginning of the first wave,” he said.

Recently, the government announced an additional Rs 23,123 crore funding, mainly aimed at ramping up health infrastructure.

On whether the government would be able to achieve its ambitious disinvestment target this fiscal, Kumar said that despite the second wave and its significant impact on the health side, markets had remained buoyant and they touched new heights. — PTI