India's Economy Back on Track by Fiscal End: Goyal

New Delhi, Dec 12 (PTI) Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday expressed confidence that India's economic growth by end of this fiscal will be back on track despite global uncertainties.

He said that this year also India will be the world's fastest growing economy.

"We had an election in the first quarter and during the election, obviously policy making and decisions on next steps of growth or infrastructure spending does slow down and there is a lag effect.

"But from what the initial numbers for this quarter, the third quarter show, the festive spending, the rebound in rural growth, the way banks are now seeing traction back again, the way infrastructure spending has come back on track, I think by the time we close the year in March, we will be back on track," Goyal said at Times Network's India Economic Conclave here.

The minister was replying to a question whether the 5.4 per cent GDP growth in the July-September quarter of this fiscal worries him.

The latest government data showed India's economic growth slowed to near two-year low of 5.4 per cent in the July-September quarter of this fiscal due to poor performance of manufacturing and mining sectors, but the country continued to remain the fastest-growing large economy.

The gross domestic product (GDP) had expanded by 8.1 per cent in the July-September quarter of the preceding fiscal.

The previous low level of GDP growth at 4.3 per cent was recorded in the third quarter (October-December 2022) of financial year 2022-23.

However, India remained the fastest-growing major economy as China's GDP growth in the July-September quarter this year was at 4.6 per cent.

Going forward, Goyal said, India's engagement with modern technologies and innovation will define the country's growth story.

He added that the negative and false narratives of the opposition parties are not going to hold back the country's economic growth.

"We are committed whether it is passing the Waqf Bill so that fairness and sanity comes into this country's policy, whether it is passing the one nation one election bill so that we are rid of this continuous model of conduct holding back the nation's growth and the policy making and governments getting into sleep mode. These are structural changes which are good for India, we stand committed," he said.

The Union minister also alleged that the opposition parties including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi are stalling the parliament proceedings.

"They are fixated on false narrative and fake stories," he added.