In Year 2024: The Crown of the Fastest Economy on India's Head

Prof Mithilesh Kumar Sinha
Department of Economics, Nagaland University, Lumamai 

The year 2024 has been very challenging for the world in many ways on the economic front. The Iran-Israel war that broke out this year and the long-running Russia-Ukraine conflict have slowed down the pace of the global economy. On top of this, due to these circumstances, signs of economic recession have started appearing in many countries due to economic restrictions imposed across the world. Some effect of this was also visible on the Indian economy, but India overcame all the challenges and performed well in many areas. In 2024, India was crowned the fastest growing economy in the world. Institutions like Reserve Bank of India, Asian Development Bank and IMF believe that GDP of the other countries will be less than that of India. (See Table) 

Victory on these fronts
1.    India has signed a free trade agreement with four European countries this year. 10 lakh jobs will be created in the next 15 years. These include Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
2.    There is huge momentum on the tax collection front, GST collection has reached a record high of Rs 2.10 lakh crore in April 2024.
3.    On September 20, foreign exchange reserves increased from $ 2.84 billion to a record of $ 692.30 billion. 
4.    Foreign direct investment inflows have crossed $1 trillion from April 2000 to September 2024.
5.     The urban unemployment rate has come down to 6.4 percent in the second quarter of the financial year 2024-25

Challenges facing the economy 
The main challenges facing the Indian economy are population density, poverty, unemployment, decline in wages, manufacturing, poor education and increase in private loan. The rupee is weakening against the dollar. And for the first time it has crossed 85. There is no relief from inflation. The Reserve Bank has set a target of keeping inflation below four percent but it was 5.48% in November, 6.21% in October and 5.49% in September. Due to the record surge in gold imports, the trade deficit has increased by 77.56 percent from a year ago to an all-time high of $ 37.84 billion.
To give impetus to the economy amidst these challenges, the government has prepared a better road, air and port network in the country, so that industrial development can be accelerated. The government has identified 11 industrial corridors in the country, along which 20 industrial smart cities are going to be built. To attract investment, the target is to increase the number of airports to 250 in 10 years, while by 2047 the number will cross 400. There is also a target to construct 50 thousand kilometer long Access Control Greenfield Express-way.
 



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