USD 5 trillion economy too idealistic: Niti Aayog official

Kolkata, Feb 24 () The government's target ofachieving a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024-25 sounds "tooidealistic", an Niti Aayog official said on Monday.

The target has been so set to raise the bar of India'seconomic performance, she said.

"For now, the ambitious USD 5 trillion economy targetis a statement of intent, which sounds too idealistic," saidBindu Dalmia, chairperson of the National Committee onFinancial Inclusion - Niti Aayog.

India is "trapped" within a range-bound GDP growth of5-6 per cent, she said at an MCCI-organised session here.

Dalmia said to get to a USD 5 trillion or USD 10trillion economy by 2030 from the current levels of USD 2.9trillion, India needs to grow at 11.5 per cent annually innominal terms, or 7.5 per cent in real terms over the next 10years.

"Now, it is not impossible (real GDP growth of abouteight per cent) from the current base. But, it's not easilydoable either," she added.

In January, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had meteconomists, private equity and venture capitalists, businessleaders and agri experts at NITI Aayog, and called for focusedefforts to achieve the target of making India a USD 5 trillioneconomy.

The Niti Aayog official said government spendinghas to be stepped up in the "absence" of private sectorparticipation.

Dalmia said there has to be a reduction on thedependency on agriculture to decrease poverty levels.

Agriculture can only sustain a growth of three percent per annum, "while we need a growth of 10 per cent" tolift people out of poverty, she said.

She said India is on the cusp of the fourth industrialrevolution, which will be "disruptive and holds the greatestpotential as also peril" to transform entire systems andbusiness models.

Dalmia also batted for a separate developmentfinancial institution (DFI) to boost lending for long-gestation infrastructure projects. DCRBT RBT