Low GDP Growth is Temporary: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Ahmedabad, Sep 11 (PTI) Terming the low GDP growth as a "temporary phenomenon", Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday said things will improve in future as the fundamentals of Indian economy are strong.

Talking about the 5 per cent GDP growth registered in the first quarter of the fiscal, Prasad said here that global as well as local factors were responsible for it.

"The fundamentals of Indian economy are very strong. While inflation is 3.15 per cent, fiscal deficit is 3.4 per cent. We have kept both under control. Moreover, India has attracted USD 16.30 billion of foreign investment in 2019-20, a rise of 28 per cent," he said.

"Our foreign exchange reserves stand at USD 428 billion," said the minister for Law and Justice, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology.

The senior BJP leader was here to speak about the achievements of the Narendra Modi government in the first 100 days in the second term.

"In all these parameters, India is very strong. If the GDP growth is 5 per cent in the first quarter, then it will improve in the future....This is a temporary phenomenon. It happened because of some global as well as local factors.

"But we are taking all necessary steps to boost the economy," the Union minister added.

"Tax collection is also an important parameter. Income tax collection was Rs 10.02 lakh crore in 2017-18 against Rs 6.38 lakh crore in 2013-14. Even GST collection for August 2019 was Rs 98,202 crore, increase of 4.51 per cent from August 2018," said Prasad.

Prasad also announced that from the next month, income tax notices will not be served directly to tax payers. Notices will be routed into a system which will take a call after examining them, he said.

Later in the evening, the minister inaugurated the `NASSCOM Center of Excellence - Intelligence of Things' at IIT-Gandhinagar. PTI PJT PD KRK KRK 09112218 NNNN their choice of studying abroad.

"UK university campuses and classrooms are enriched by the presence of Indian students. The new visa policy giving students the chance to develop their careers in an international marketplace helps reconfirm the UK's position as a world leading destination for Indian students," said Tom Birtwistle, Director (North), British Council India.

The visa will be two years long and will be a separate visa, requiring a new application, including payment of a visa fee and immigration health surcharge, according to the new norms.

The route is non-extendable and does not count towards settlement. However, graduates who find an appropriate job and meet the requirements will be able to switch into skilled work, which is a route to settlement.

Those who graduate and whose leave expires before the route is introduced will not be eligible for it, however, most of these students will have had no expectation of benefiting from such a route when they applied to study in the UK, according to the norms.

"The new Graduate Route will mean talented international students, whether in science and maths or technology and engineering, can study in the UK and then gain valuable work experience as they go on to build successful careers," said UK home secretary Priti Patel, the senior-most Indian-origin member of Johnson's Cabinet.

"It demonstrates our global outlook and will ensure that we continue to attract the best and brightest," she said.

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