FM sees $2K surge in per capita income over 5 yrs

New Delhi: Fuelled by overall economic growth, per capita income in the country is likely to increase by at least $2,000 over the next five years, according to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday. The Finance Minister said that it took 75 years to reach a per capita income of $2,730, but the next jump is expected to happen very rapidly amid robust investments, strong fundamentals and continuity in policy reforms.

Addressing the Kautilya Economic Conclave, conceived by the Ministry of Finance and organised by the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG), in the national capital, FM Sitharaman said another advantage that the country has is its demographic dividend as nearly 43 per cent of the population is under 24 years old, which is a key driver for organic consumption growth.

She said that we are much better off than many other countries, even if they are advanced economies.

“Today, they are struggling to grow. We are standing out as an economy, which is growing at the fastest rate in the last few years, this year and the next few years also, for which we can make predictions,” said the Finance Minister.

“India finds itself amid the global geopolitical repositioning effort which has been going on. This repositioning can act as a structural force to India's advantage by creating robust supply chains with countries with strategic congruence,” she added.