Good days of 7% growth ahead, just wait for 2-3 years, says finance ministry

Riding high on favourable economic data greeting its 100 days in power, a buoyant government said on Thursday it hopes to achieve more than 7 per cent growth in the next two or three years.

"Confident that through growth inducing policies, Govt. would contribute in going back to +7% growth in 2 to 3 yrs," the Finance Ministry tweeted. "To that extent, India stands committed to the incremental 2% growth in the global GDP: Secretary," another tweet said.

Economic growth in India accelerated to 5.7 per cent in the April-June quarter, a remarkable improvement from 4.7 per cent in the same quarter of the previous fiscal. The NDA government expects growth in the current fiscal to be between 5.4-5.9 per cent. The economy grew by sub-5 per cent in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

Earlier this week, Paris-based think tank Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - a grouping of 34 countries - projected 5.7 per cent growth for the Indian economy this year even as global recovery continues at a moderate pace. Its latest estimate was way higher than the 4.9 per cent growth projection in May this year.

The OECD report came days after rating agency Moody's said the downside risks to the economy have receded and prospects have brightened with growth rate expected to accelerate to 5.2 per cent in 2014 and 6.5 per cent by end of 2015.

In another indication of a recovery in economy, wholesale inflation sharply eased down earlier this week to 3.74 per cent in August to a nearly five-year low. The inflation measured on Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was at 5.19 per cent in July and 6.99 per cent in August 2013.