The vice-chairman of the NITI Aayog, Arvind Panagariya, said last week that India was on its way to 8 per cent growth and would likely clock 7.5 per cent growth over the course of 2017-18. While he acknowledged job creation was a challenge, he said that as the last quarter of the year approached, the economy would begin to touch 8 per cent growth. This evaluation seems to be unduly optimistic, given the multiple shock-waves the economy has been exposed to in the recent past.
Consider, first, the impact of agriculture. Growth numbers in the second half of 2016-17 were better
