BIBHUDATTA PRADHAN
Principal Secretary-2 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shaktikanta Das, Tuesday said that India has emerged as one of the fastest growing major economies. Addressing the inaugural dialogue of the India and Emerging Economic Order Forum, Mr Das highlighted that during the five-year period from 2021-22 to 2025-26, India recorded an average annual real GDP growth of 7.9 percent.
He also noted that the country registered a 7.8 percent GDP growth in the first quarter of the current financial year, demonstrating economic resilience and resurgence. Mr Das added that as per International Monetary Fund (IMF) projections, India will continue to remain the fastest growing major economy.
Mr Das said that since the beginning of the 21st century, its combined economic output has expanded nearly six-fold. Citing IMF World Economic Outlook data, he noted that the aggregate economy of the Emerging Market and Developing Economies grew from roughly 7.3 trillion US Dollars in the year 2000 to over 48.8 trillion US Dollars in 2025. He said that the Global South now accounts for 45 percent of global manufacturing production, 46 percent of global goods exports, 57 percent of foreign direct investment inflows, and 50 percent of intermediate goods trade.
Mr Das also noted that the developing nations continue to face asymmetric challenges arising from current developments in the global economy, trade, and geopolitics. He emphasized that amidst these challenges, India’s economic strategy has been guided by the principles of macroeconomic and financial stability, structural reforms, infrastructure creation, industrial development and global integration.