Industry body PHDCCI expects India’s GDP to contract by 7.9 per cent in the current financial year and grow by 7.7 per cent in 2021-22, assessing that the worst is over and the economy is on the verge of a slow recovery. However, the unemployment rate still remains a worry as it worsened to 8.3 per cent in August from 7.4 per cent in July, it said in a report. “Going ahead, India should focus on moving away from imports from China, divert trade towards friendly economies, build domestic capacities and significantly scale-up indigenous production with a thrust to become self-reliant,” PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) said. PHDCCI President Sanjay Aggarwal said on the back of variousreforms undertaken by the government during the last six months, economic recovery has become visible in the high-frequency indicators. ”At this juncture, on the basis of PHDCCI Economic and Business Momentum (EBM) Index, we estimate that the GDP growth will be at around (-) 7.9 per cent for the current financial year 2020-21 and 7.7 per cent for the next financial year 2021-22,” said Aggarwal.
