India will unveil a series of infrastructure projects this month as
part of a plan to invest 100 trillion rupees ($1.39 trillion) in the
sector over the next five years, the finance minister said on
Saturday, in a push to improve the countryโs economy.
Nirmala Sitharamanโs comments, as cited in local newspapers, followed
data released on Friday that showed Indiaโs economic growth slowed to
4.5% in the July-September quarter – its weakest pace since 2013 –
upping the pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modiโs government to
speed reforms.
โA set of officers are looking into the pipeline of projects that can
be readied so that once the fund is ready, it could be front-loaded on
these projects,โ Sitharaman said at a business summit in Mumbai, the
newspapers reported.
โThat task is nearly completed. Before December 15, we will be able to
announce frontloading of at least ten projects,โ she said.
Modi came to power in 2014 on the promise to improve Indiaโs economy
and boost foreign investments, but he has struggled to meet those aims
due to a lack of structural reforms. Modi won a second term in May and
has taken various measures since 2014 to spur growth, including
cutting the corporate tax and speeding up privatisation of state-run
firms.
But several economic indicators show domestic consumption is weak, and
many economists expect the current slowdown could persist for another
two years.
