India very close to achieving 8 percent GDP growth: NITI Aayog

According to Arvind Panagariya, vice chairman at Niti Aayog, the government's premier think-tank. India is close to achieving 8% GDP growth on the back of satisfactory progress in infrastructure development, according to

"The advance estimate for 2015-16 pegs the GDP growth at 7.6% and the fourth quarter is expected to clock 7.8%, which is pretty close to the target of 8%," Panagariya said at the annual session of industry lobby CII on Monday.

"The advance estimate for 2015-16 pegs the GDP growth at 7.6% and the fourth quarter is expected to clock 7.8%, which is pretty close to the target of 8%," Panagariya said at the annual session of industry lobby CII on Monday.

Panagariya said major improvement has been made in the roads sector but there are still concerns in the banking and financial sector. He also said the country continues to struggle with the problem of under employment.

"The biggest challenge the government is facing is the non-performing assets," Panagariya said, adding that the issues at hand include capitalisation of banks and management of the fiscal situation. "We can't have these episodes repeating itself. Discussions are on to address this problem," he said while refusing to give details.

Panagariya said India has a problem of gross under employment and the workforce is not being used to its best productivity. "Lot of Chinese firms in labour-intensive sector will probably look for locations outside China because of rising wages there. Hence, if India can create an ecosystem, especially in labour-intensive sectors, we have a huge opportunity for our workforce," he added.

Pointing out that there is a huge disconnect in India between higher education and research, Panagariya said there is a need to introduce vocational courses in schools and colleges so as to enable skills to multiply faster.