PM speech: Rural wages tripled in last yr, avg growth under UPA at 7.7%

New Delhi: India’s average economic growthrose to 7.7 percent in the 10-year regime of the UPAgovernment as compared to 6.2 percent recorded in theprevious decade.

A report card titled ‘10 Years of Progress and Growth’highlighting achievements of the government led by PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh today said “average GDP growth rateduring the period of UPA government (2004-05 to 2013-14) hasbeen 7.7 per cent despite two global slowdown in this period”.Agriculture growth rate, it said, has been risingconsistently and the sector expanded by 2.5 percent and 3.7percent during the 10th and 11th Five Year Plans,respectively, and expected to touch 4 per cent in the ongoing12th Plan period.

It further said the country’s GDP at the current pricehas increased almost three times to Rs 100.28 lakh croreduring the last nine years from Rs 32.42 lakh crore in2004-05.Similarly, per capita income has risen almost three-foldduring the period. The per capita income has gone up to Rs68,747 in 2012 from Rs 24,143 in 2004, the report card said.“Per capita income has increased at an annual average ofnearly 20 per cent during the last nine years, well above theconsumer price index during the same period,” it said.

On rural wages, the document said it has tripled in thelast year and thus improving the purchasing power of majorityof people in villages.

Referring to large projects, it said the UPA governmenthas expedited and cleared as many 293 projects involvinginvestment of Rs 5.7 lakh crore in 2013.To fast track stalled projects, the government has set upCabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) and Project Monitoring

Group (PMG).

The document further informed that credit flow to Micro,Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has grown nearly seventimes in the last seven years. The outstanding loan to theMSME sector was at Rs 5.27 lakh crore in 2012 as against Rs83,498 crore in 2005.It said that in the last two years, 80,000 microenterprises have been supported by Prime Minister’s EmploymentGeneration Programme, creating job opportunities for 9.23 lakhpeople.Towards financial inclusion, the document said morepeople are now using bank facilities. The number of bankaccounts have increased from 43.97 crore in 2004 to 77.32crore as of last year.

PTI