Economic situation 'grim', govt has no roadmap: Congress

Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Friday said that the growth in GDP during 2017-18 is estimated at 6.5% as compared to growth rate of 7.1% in 2016-17.

The Congress party on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Centre over the state of economy, saying the BJP-led government has no roadmap for recovery. Congress leader Anand Sharma was commenting on the estimate of India's GDP growth rate, which is pegged at 6.5%, slowest in four years.

"State of the economy is a matter of great concern.All the parameters are going down.National investment rate has also fallen..Manufacturing has come down. The situation is grim and the government has no roadmap for recovery," Sharma said.

Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Friday said that the growth in GDP during 2017-18 is estimated at 6.5% as compared to growth rate of 7.1% in 2016-17. The reasons for decline in the growth rate could be attributed to demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The government estimated that gross value added (GVA), which is GDP minus net taxes, will grow at 6.1 percent in 2017-18.

Meanwhile, the CSO also projected that the manufacturing sector will grow at 4.6 percent in 2017-18, compared to 7.9 percent in 2016-17. The farm sector is set to grow at 2.1 percent against 4.9 percent last year while mining and quarrying will grow at 2.9 percent compared to 1.8 percent last year.

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram slammed the BJP-led government over the GDP estimate and said, "The worst fears of an imminent economic slowdown have come true. Modi Government's tall claims of India growing at a 'robust' growth rate have evaporated in thin air. No amount of sugar coating, false bravado and rhetoric along with headlines management can conceal the stark reality."

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects India's GDP to grow at 6.7 per cent in 2017-18. The RBI estimates the economy to grow at 6.7 per cent in terms of gross value added (GVA), which is GDP minus taxes.

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