India’s economy is expected to touch USD 10 trillion by the end of this decade – 2030 – and towards USD 15 trillion in ten years from now by 2034, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday and laid thrust on improving the quality of life of citizens. At present, the size of India’s GDP is estimated to be about USD 3.7 trillion. In the next three years, India is expected to become the third-largest economy in the world, with a GDP of USD 5 trillion.
India’s GDP grew at 8.4 per cent during the October-December quarter of the current financial year 2023-24 and the country continued to remain the fastest-growing major economy. Asked about opposition criticism that the benefits of growth are restricted to a layer and have not percolated to people, the minister countered the allegations and cited the number of housing, food grain, healthcare, cooking gas and toilet beneficiaries that his government has been able to reach over the past decade. “I think the naysayers have no choice but to take a sense of what’s happening on the ground, where people have benefitted (from various schemes). After all, infrastructure has a huge multiplier impact on the economy,” the minister said.
Asked what India has in store in the near term, Goyal said the country will see a lot of foreign investments and that India is emerging as a trusted partner. “In the next decade or so, we will see a lot of technologies and investments coming from across the world to manufacture in India, which will provide economic activity, jobs to our young boys and girls, which will also provide our young startups with opportunities to innovate on their ideas, and this will be necessary for the developed world which is looking for a trusted partner,” he said. “This is going to drive huge amounts of investments and technology which will not only serve the needs of a growing, aspirational India but will also be the sourcing base for the world,” he added.
