Indian economy (GDP) will grow in the range of 6.5% to 6.7% during the current year (in 2023-24), R Dinesh, President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) says.

The growth will be supported by strong domestic drivers and robust capex momentum of the government, he adds. Addressing the media after taking charge as the new president of CII, Dinesh said that the Indian economy remains resilient in the face of a challenging global environment, and one need not anticipate major domestic roadblocks in the year ahead. The healthy balance sheets of the corporates and a well capitalised financial system were other reasons for his optimism.

India's medium-term growth prospects are also healthy, he said.

"The multi-dimensional reforms, along with fiscal and monetary policies, will help the Indian economy step up its GDP growth to a CAGR of 7.8% in the next decade (FY22-FY31) as compared to 6.6% in the previous decade, ex the pandemic year of FY21." Capital investments, at a higher scale by the government and expected fresh ones by the private sector, will drive medium-term growth, along with productivity-enhancing reforms such as GST, taxation and IBC, among others, he added.

Dinesh attributed the economic resilience of India to the 'pragmatic and transformational policies and campaigns of the government, which continued through the pandemic and helped catalyse a sharp economic recovery and the resilience in growth,'

The CII president said that the government’s focus on certain areas can further its reform agenda. Creating institutional mechanisms for building consensus on some of the key next-generation reforms in areas which lie in the state or concurrent domain (land, labour, and agriculture and power sectors) was one such suggestion.

The CII also states that reforms for financing India’s growth will supply funding at lower costs and the government has already taken some of the steps that need to be taken in this direction include channelising long-term funds available with pension and insurance sector into capital markets, and creating innovative avenues for growth capital from banks.

The industry body also suggested that the establishment of a Trade & Investment Promotion Body with dedicated overseas offices to provide marketing services to Indian exporters, fast-tracking FTAs with UK, EU, Israel, GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), and EFTA and undertaking policies for services export promotion will work towards achieving India's $2 trillion export target. It also wanted the India Industrial Land Bank (IILB), a GIS-enabled database of industrial areas/clusters across the country, to evolve as the National Level Land Bank for not only obtaining information on land but also facilitating its acquisition. Decriminalising all business and economic laws was another move which CII says will help boost India's economic growth.

CII President R Dinesh

Indian economy to grow 6.5-6.7% in FY24: CII