SPOTLIGHT ON INDIAN ELECTRONICS Spotlight on Indian Electronics | Page 125

ECONOMY OF INDIA
Rural Economy
The increases in per capita income have been driven by urban growth. Given that agriculture has suffered and the rural economy is under distress, total per capita income has grown largely on the strength of the urban economy. Agricultural incomes have not grown and the rural economy is languishing. Not only are incomes lower in rural areas, but inflation is also higher.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to need a big rise in economic growth and a run of good weather to have a chance of fulfilling his promise to double farmers ' incomes by 2022. To meet the target, agriculture must grow at 15 % compared to average of below 2 % over the past four years. To achieve this, the government has launched a seven- pronged strategy including expanding irrigation, crop insurance, smarter marketing and incentives for farmers to grow new crops. The government had allocated $ 12.7bn(£ 9.15bn) for " rural development as a whole ". They include a pledge to set up 89 projects for irrigation, doubling investments in rural roads to help farmers get produce to market, getting cooking gas to millions of poor households and funds for women entrepreneurs from underprivileged families. The government would raise spending on a massive rural employment scheme, a crop insurance programme and increasing rural access to the Internet. It would also work to ensure all the country ' s villages had electricity within two years.
Economic trends and issues
With 1.2 billion people and the world’ s fourth-largest
have improved. India will soon have the largest and
economy, India’ s recent growth and development has been
youngest workforce the world has ever seen. At the same
one of the most significant achievements of our times. Over
time, the country is in the midst of a massive wave of
the six and half decades since independence, the country
urbanization as some 10 million people move to towns and
has brought about a landmark agricultural revolution that
cities each year in search of jobs and opportunity. It is the
has transformed the nation from chronic dependence on
largest rural-urban migration of this century. Massive
grain imports into a global agricultural powerhouse that is
investments will be needed to create the jobs, housing, and
now a net exporter of food. Life expectancy has more than
infrastructure to meet soaring aspirations and make towns
doubled, literacy rates have quadrupled, health conditions
and cities more livable and green.
Indian economy projected to grow 7.3 % in 2016
Notwithstanding delays in domestic policy reforms, India ' s
2017.
economy is " slowly gaining momentum " and is projected to
India ' s economy, which accounts for over 70 per cent of
grow by 7.3 per cent this year. India is expected to achieve
South Asia ' s GDP, had grown by about 7.2 per cent in
a 7.5 per cent GDP growth in 2017 and the economic
2015.
prospects of the South Asian region will be " contingent " on the growth trajectory of India.
Regional GDP growth is expected to accelerate from 6.1 per cent in 2015 to 6.6 this year and 6.8 per cent in 2017,
China, which grew at about 6.9 per cent in 2015, will
owing to robust private consumption, strengthening
continue to witness slowdown in growth, with its GDP
investment demand and gradual progress on domestic
projected to grow 6.4 per cent in 2016 and 6.5 per cent in
policy reforms.
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