The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday projected India's growth rate to surpass China and improve to 7.8% in next fiscal and further to 8.2% in 2016-17.
India's growth and investor confidence will improve on the back of government's structural reform agenda and improved external demand, the Asian Development Outlook (ADO), an annual publication of the ADB, said.
It forecasts that India's growth will improve from 7.4% in current fiscal to 7.8% in 2015-16 and further to 8.2% in 2016-17.
As regards China, the ADB projected the economic growth to decelerate from 7.4% in current fiscal to 7.2% next fiscal and 7% in 2016-17.
"India is expected to grow faster than the People's Republic of China in the next few years. The government's pro-investment attitude, improvements in the fiscal and current account deficits, and some forward movement on resolving structural bottlenecks have helped improve the business climate and make India attractive again to both domestic and foreign investors," ADB Chief Economist Shang-Jin Wei said.
He, however, cautioned that although the economic prospects look promising, "there are still many challenges". ADB's estimates is, however, lower than the 8-8.5% growth estimates of Indian government for the 2015-16 fiscal beginning April.
It is better than 7.5% projection by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The ADB said that strong growth outlook is contingent on further acceleration in investment activity.
"The prospects look promising". It said the measures undertaken by the government including accelerating environment clearances for infrastructure projects, easing the process of land acquisition for infrastructure and industrial corridors, allowing auction of coal mines to the private sector, and easing the compliance burden of labour laws on small and medium-sized industries would help boost growth.
The ADB said that India's most pressing policy challenges is to promote cities as engines of economic growth and jobs. "To fully reap the benefits of urbanisation, the government must make further efforts to coordinate urban and industry planning to attract industries into cities, and provide the necessary supporting infrastructure," it said.
Praising the India's 'Make In India' campaign to boost domestic manufacturing, Shang said "Indian government's programme is even more striking (in comparison to China)". As regards external sector, he said that the Indian government and the RBI have been trying to build up reserves and frame policies to monitor risk.
"India is in stronger position today than what it used to be. Government is making effort to increase FDI to deal with financial instability," Shang said. As regards the new monetary policy framework, under which the RBI's primary objective would be to maintain price stability while remaining mindful of growth, the ADB said it would help in restraining inflation and improve the coordination between monetary and fiscal policy.
Govt to hold 'stress relief' programmes for officers: Dr. Jitendra Singh
The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh has said here today that the Govt of India's Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) will hold a series of regular "stress relief" and rejuvenating programmes including Yoga, workshops, sports, cultural events, etc. for IAS, Civil Services and other government officers in order to help them maintain a conducive frame of mind and ensure a harmonious well-being. At the same time, DoPT has also mooted a "stress management" segment in the Induction course for new employees joining State Services in the three States of Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, and based on the experience from these three States, the same practice would be replicated in other States as well.
Dr Jitendra Singh said such efforts not only help in rejuvenating the energies and spirits of officers who are subjected to increasing work load and office stress but also help in bringing together the fraternity of civil service officers from all over India thus promoting a spirit of comradeship among them.
Increasing accountability and rising expectation level in administrative work tend to take their toll, said Dr Jitendra Singh and therefore, in-house provisions for stress management are called for. In this context, he referred to a two-day "Stress management" programme for officers being organized at New Delhi on 28th and 29th of this month followed by a Yoga course for officers beginning from April in forty different centers across India.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the DoPT will not only plan events for government officials but will also devise programmes for their children in the form of academic tutorials, summer coaching camps, etc.
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