Months after setting an ambitious target of $5 trillion economy for India and in the next five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a veiled admission, on Thursday said the goal might be difficult but "psychologically we must always aim high".
"The target of $5 trillion economy may appear difficult to some people. They may not be wrong but if we don't accomplish difficult task, how will the country moved ahead? If we don't take up difficult challenges, how will we develop a mindset to move forward? Psychologically also we must always aim high and that is what we have done," Modi said addressing the nation from the ramparts of Red Fort on the 73rd Independence Day.
He also put the onus of achieving $5 trillion economy on each citizen of the country but gave no direction on how the goal can be achieved at the time of widespread slowdown in the Indian economy and the economies around the globe.
Modi's optimism was based on the fact that India added $1 trillion to the economy in the past five years since 2014 and hence, he said, there was no reason to believe why it could not add $2 trillion more in the next two years.
"We had reached a $2 trillion economy after 70 years of independence, after 70 years journey on t he path of development, we could achieve just $2 trillion economy. But within five years from 2014 to 2019, we reached a $3 trillion economy, i.e, we added one trillion dollars. If we succeed in taking such a big jump in just 5 years, then we can also become a $5 trillion economy in the next five years. This must be a dream of every Indian," Modi said.
Economists, however, differ from Modi on this plain arithmetic, saying macro-economic parameters today are not the same as they were five years ago. The prime minister also reiterated his commitment of making India an export hub for the global economy and asked each of the country's district to strive for that.
Raising fresh hopes among the investors and the rich people of the country that the government may roll back some of the tax decisions that have hit them below the belt, he said "India must honour the wealth creators because they are wealth of the nation".