'Growth below 7 pc would be a signal failure'

With the new base year for calculating GDP growth showing higher expansion rates than earlier numbers did, it would be a signal failure if the country did not sustain 7 per cent annual growth, says a book written by senior journalist T N Ninan.
However, Ninan writes that India is in a position to reach some of its long-sought-after goals having made steady progress for years.
"With the new basis for calculating GDP showing higher growth rates than earlier numbers did, it would be a signal failure if country did not sustain 7 per cent annual growth," says the book titled 'The Turn of The Tortoise: The Challenges and Promise of India's Future' which was released today.

"The country enjoys momentum, not just speed - it is a USD 2 trillion market growing at 7 per cent annually, and therefore the third-largest contributor to the world.
"Like the proverbial tortoise, India is now finally in a position to reach some of its long-sought-after goals having made steady progress for years," writes Ninan, a senior journalist and Chairman of Business Standard Ltd.
He said that India is about to become the seventh-largest national economy in 2015 and the country has the potential to become the fourth largest by 2025-overtaking Germany, Britain and France.

India's economic growth plunged from an average of 9.5 per cent in 2005-08 to 5 per cent in 2012-13.

Ninan, however, cautioned that countries that lose momentum as India did after 2010-11 often find it difficult to regain the old speed.
"The world economy is not what it used to be, with growth plunging from 5.5 per cent in the fat years to 3.5 per cent," he noted.