The Congress-led UPA government on Tuesday took credit for bringing India out of the slowdown during a period of a severe global financial crisis.
“The recovery of the Indian economy owes largely to stimulus measures initiated by the government,” said the report released by the UPA-II on the completion of its first year in office.
India’s GDP grew by a healthy 7.4 per cent in 2009-10 on the back of a strong performance by the manufacturing sector and positive agricultural growth.
While releasing the report, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the economy will further speed up in the current financial to grow by 8.5 per cent.
“This is one of the best performances in the world and reflects the strong fundamentals which we have built over several years. There are uncertainties on the horizon, but on the whole I look to the year ahead with cautious optimism,” said Dr Singh.
He said that the government will take whatever corrective steps are necessary to rein in inflation. “We have taken a number of steps to contain inflation and to protect the vulnerable sections of our society. I am happy that prices have shown a moderating trend in recent weeks. I am hopeful that this trend will continue,” he added.
The report card took credit for initiating reforms in direct taxes, disinvestment and the mining sector. It talked how the number of telephones increased in the rural areas and India became third largest steel producer in 2009.