New Delhi: Indian economy, which expanded at 7.7 per cent between 2003 and 2014 has the potential to clock 8 per cent growth in the near future, Planning Commission's former deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today said.
He also said that for India to grow at 7.7-8 per cent, implementation of reforms like Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Bankruptcy law are necessary.
"I would say post-1991 reform, from 2003-14, India grew at 7.7 per cent. That, I can guarantee, would not have happened if the 1991 reform had not been done.
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"I think Indian economy has that potential to grow at 7.7 per cent if world economy in bad shape, if world economy does well then it has potential to grow at 8 per cent," Ahluwalia said while addressing students of Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC).
Indian economy grew at 7.3 per cent last fiscal and the mid-year economic analysis has forecast a GDP growth of 7-7.5 per cent in 2015-16.
Ahluwalia also noted that although the launch of 1991 economic reforms was a watershed moment, they had actually begun in mid-1980s.
Regretting that reforms in taxation have been slower, the former director of IMF said that "in the last 25 years what we achieved we should have achieved in 10 years".