India’s Fake Growth Story https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/india-growth-rate-flawed-accounting-ignores-growing-problems-by-ashoka-mody-2023-09 Sep 6, 2023
Ashoka Mody – Behind the billboards in Delhi advertising this month’s G20 summit are slums whose residents can no longer earn a living. Their roadside stalls and shops have been demolished, lest they tarnish Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s carefully curated image of a rising India.
...When we apply the BEA (the US Bureau of Economic Analysis ) method to Indian data, the most recent growth rate falls from the headline 7.8% to 4.5% – a marked decline from 13.1% in April-June 2022, when the post-COVID-19 rebound first triggered the current wave of India hype.
... Following decades of disappointing growth, India’s post-COVID manufacturing performance has been particularly weak. This reflects the country’s chronic inability to compete in international markets for labor-intensive products – a problem made worse by the slowdown in world trade and weak domestic demand for manufactured products, owing to appalling income inequality.
Courtsey- Shuka Sen