Indian economy resilient, to rebound on strong fundamentals: Anurag Thakur

Thakur said reforms undertaken, and strong fundamentals ensured India is witnessing a 'swift' rebound from a contraction of 24.4 per cent in April-June 2020 to a growth of 1.6 per cent Jan-March 2021.

Hitting back at former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram over his remarks on mismanagement of economy, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur said the Indian economy is resilient, and will rebound based on reforms that have ensured strong fundamentals.

Thakur said reforms undertaken by the government, and strong fundamentals have ensured India is witnessing a “swift” rebound from a contraction of 24.4 per cent in April-June 2020 to a growth of 1.6 per cent in the January-March 2021.

Former Finance Minister Chidambaram on Tuesday had said, 2020-21 has been the "darkest year" in four decades considering the performance of the economy in the last four quarters, and the government must admit its errors of commission and omission, reverse its policies and heed the advice of economists and the opposition. His remarks came after the government released data pointing out that India’s GDP contracted 7.3 per cent in the pandemic-hit FY21.

Thakur in a rebuttal to Chidambaram wrote various international agencies project India to grow by 12.5 per cent in FY22 making it the only major economy to have a projected double digit growth. Thakur also said that other major economies have also seen their growth contract in the pandemic-stricken year, and India has remained resilient despite disruptions globally.

Thakur urged former FM Chidambaram to shift gears from his gloom and doomsday prediction, and said that the lockdown imposed last year saved lives, and the gradual unlocking allowed green shoots as indicated by high frequency indicators such as GST collections and auto sales, among others.

He wrote that the government’s wheat procurement has been highest ever at 405 lakh metric tonne in the ongoing marketing season, and is 4 per cent higher than the rabi marketing season 2020-21. Paddy procurement had touched a high of 789 lakh metric tonne in kharif marketing season 2020-21. The government has also released the eighth installment of PM-KISAN costing around Rs 19,000 crore, and is a “cash-in-hand” benefit to the farmers. Besides this, the government had also made direct cash transfers to widows, senior citizens, building and construction workers, among others, totaling around Rs 68,000 crore.

Thakur wrote that while the UPA led government “disbursed bad loans”, the NDA government, through the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS), is providing Rs 3 trillion government guarantee on loans extended to small businesses, and so far Rs 2.65 trillion has been sanctioned by banks and NBFCs to 92 lakh borrowers.