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Can India become a $5 trillion economy?

India has unveiled an ambitious plan to transform itself into a $5 trillion economy, but is that goal achievable?

India has unveiled an ambitious plan to transform itself into a $5 trillion economy over the next five years. For perspective, that would take the second most populous country in the world into third spot after the United States and China.

But it’s not going to be easy, and even the government accepts that. Experts say there are many bottlenecks.The country faces high unemployment, a continuing farm crisis, and rising trade tensions. Growth has been slowing and there are no immediate signs of a turnaround.

But the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which has presented the first budget of its second term in office, says concerns have been addressed.

We talk to a top industrialist, an independent economist and an entrepreneur to look at the roadmap to achieve this ambitious target, and ask whether the budget can return India to high-trajectory growth.

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Contributors: Vikram Kirloskar, president, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII); Sairee Chahal, founder, SHEROES (a platform for women job seekers); Renu Kohli, independent economist.

Image: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman holds a folder containing the Union Budget documents (Credit: Rajat Gupta/EPA)

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25 minutes

Last on

Fri 5 Jul 2019 15:32GMT

Broadcast

  • Fri 5 Jul 2019 15:32GMT

Podcast