Private sector has to be key driver of growth: Niti Aayog official

Vice-chairman of Niti Aayog Rajiv Kumar on Thursday said that the private sector of the country will have to drive growth and not the public enterprises as they used to be. Speaking at a webinar organised by Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kumar said that the private sector also needs to create trust with the government, which is the need of the hour. “The private sector of the country has to be the key driver of growth. Earlier, the public sector used to drive the growth engine, but not now,” Kumar said.

The Niti Aayog official said that India needs to speed up growth rates to at least eight per cent to address the issues of reduction of poverty, improving the healthcare system and increasing the reach of education. According to him, the growth process has to be equitable and sustainable. Kumar said that in 1990, the per capita income of China was the same as that of India. “Now, China’s per capita income is five times more than that of India,” he said. To register higher growth rates, investments have to be increased as a percentage of GDP and India needs to gain a higher share in the global exports, Kumar said.

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And to increase share in global exports, exchange rate policies should be changed if needed, the Niti Aayog vice- chairman said. Also, the share of manufacturing in overall GDP must increase, he said adding that the government has extended the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to 13 sectors. Kumar also harped on the need for modernisation of agriculture to increase productivity.