India world's fastest growing economy, asserts BJP

Having inherited a "very bad economy" amidst global slowdown and two successive years of drought, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi India has emerged as the fastest growing economy, the BJP said on Monday.

"India has emerged as a bright spot in a world in recession, in which most of the nations are facing a slowdown and decline in growth. Economic experts, think tanks, multilateral institutions and reputed media have acknowledged India's growth story," a resolution passed at the BJP's National Executive meet here said.

"India's GDP had grown to 7.2 per cent in the year 2014-15 and 7.6 per cent in 2015-16. It is significant to note that last quarter witnessed GDP growth rate of 7.9 per cent," the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) resolution said.

"Despite severe resource constraints, we could achieve fiscal deficit of 4.1 per cent and 3.9 per cent in the year 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively," the resolution added.

India received "an unprecedented amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the calendar year 2015," it said.

"Increased capital spending in infrastructure development, increased credit for agriculture and small industries" has facilitated India's fast growth, the resolution said.

"This has increased domestic growth and domestic consumption. Indian consumer spending increased from 6.2 per cent in 2014-15 to 7.2 per cent in 2015-16," the BJP resolution said.

Notably, some economists and newspaper columnists have questioned the growth figures flaunted by the government, putting them a few notches lower than officially claimed.

--IANS

mak/kb/vt