The country needs much more 'equitable' growth as inequality could lead to tensions in society, Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar said on Thursday.
Kumar further said the country's democracy will not permit the kind of K-shaped growth it has seen in the past, where different sections of the population have been growing at different paces.
"Within India, growing inequality will sooner rather than later create tensions and problems in our society which we will not be able to bear. We need to find ways now to make our growth much more equitable," Kumar said at an event organised by the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The equitable growth should be the one which can empower people and give them the right opportunity to excel, he emphasised.
Kumar said there is an expectation that the economy will grow at 9.2 per cent this fiscal, 8.5 or 8.7 per cent in FY2023 and 7.5 per cent after that, making it one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
"The question we need to ask is will that be good enough to meet the aspiration of our young population, to meet their ambition...this is not enough," he said.
The challenge, he said, is to break through growth barriers soon.
"It is not simple but also not impossible. We need to have consistent, rapid and double-digit growth for the next two or three decades which will help us use our demographic dividend and also help us prevent our demographic dividend from turning into a waste and becoming difficult to handle," he pointed out.
However, Kumar added that the growth which the country wants to achieve should not be at the cost of the environment.
"We have to complete our economic transition in a manner that is green transition. It is a huge challenge again because very often in the past this has been seen as a trade-off between growth and environment, but we can't see it as a trade-off. We have to find ways and means to make it happen together," he said.
According to Kumar, the private sector investment will be the driver of growth in the country going ahead.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU