Making a strong pitch for Chinese investments in India’s expanding infrastructure sector, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said India will be the only economy in the world which is poised to grow at 7.5 to 8 per cent in an ‘unsupportive global environment’.
Addressing ‘Invest in India’ Business Forum here, Jaitley said ‘in the immediate future we will certainly maintain the growth rates which we have’.
“Hopefully if there is good monsoon this year, which is expected to be, we have a potential to improve upon those growth rates. Even in an unsupportive global environment we probably would be only economy which moves up towards 7.5 per cent and more towards the eight per cent growth rate,” he said referring to the IMF downgrading global economic growth.
“In a supportive global environment if things change for the better I do not know what the rate itself would be. But I am assuming that the global environment would remain the same,” he said laying out a detailed roadmap for massive development of rural and urban infrastructure across India.
“Therefore India in these roadmaps offers an attractive opportunity,” he said at the meeting attended by a large number of top Chinese bankers and wealth fund managers. “Because this size of the economic activity is now going to carry on and expand in the next few decades,” he said inviting Chinese firms to step up investments in India.
Outlining a host of measure initiated by his Government, Jaitley said Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill which is pending in Rajya Sabha is expected to be passed soon.