Resource detail

India needs to expand and consolidate structural reforms, remove its infrastructure deficit, says ADB. India is an under performer compared to other emerging market economies when it comes to making its growth more inclusive, the ADB (Asian Development Bank) said. The Manila-based multilateral lending agency, releasing its country partnership strategy for 2013-17 for India, said economic growth in India could be more inclusive. “Although the economy grew by more than 5% a year on average during FY1993-FY2009, the $1.25 per day poverty rate fell only by 1 percentage point per year, which is low by emerging market standards,” it said. But it added that growth in India has been inclusive. “In 1984, more than half of the population (56%) lived on less than $1.25 a day, but by 2010 the share shrank to 33%. The infant mortality rate which was as high as 80 per 1,000 births in 1991, declined to 44 by 2011. Adult literacy rates rose from 48% in 1991 to 66% by 2008,” it said. India is the world’s third largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity and accounts for nearly 6% of the GDP (global gross domestic product)—more than doubles its share in 1980. “As a result of structural reforms, India’s economy experienced robust growth starting in the 1980s, following three decades of slow growth,” ADB said.