NEW DELHI: The Congress is planning to come out with a state-of-the-economy report ahead of the Union Budget on February 1 to point out how the government’s policies have hit India’s growth.
Sources said the report is likely to be released by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had slammed the Modi regime’s controversial reform decisions like demonetisation and the rollout of GST. “Together the two decisions derailed the economy,” said a party insider.
Besides, the report is likely to express concern over falling GDP, low job creation, widespread rural distress and slow manufacturing growth, all pointers of a slowing-down economy.
Sources said the NDA government had changed the methodology of calculating GDP, which helped it project a rosy picture despite the reality being different. They cited lowest GDP growth in four years to support their point --- 7.5 per cent in 2014-15, 8 per cent in 2015-16, 7.1 per cent in 2016-17 and 6.4 per cent in 2017-18.
Further, the sources said, the Gross Value Added, a true sub-measure of economic activity, has experienced a steep fall -- 7.2 per cent in 2014-15, 7.9 per cent in 2015-16, 6.5 per cent in 2016-17 and 6.1 per cent in 2017-18.
The report is expected to flag concern over the slowing manufacturing sector, which affects job creation, and focus on the Make in India programme, which has failed to kickstart domestic economic activity.