‘Per capita income will increase by $2000 in five years’- FM Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi| The standard of living of the common man will improve rapidly with the measures taken by the government and efforts to double the per capita income in a few years. The per capita income of Indians will increase by $2,000 in the next five years. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, according to the International Monetary Fund it took us 75 years to reach a per capita income of $2,730, but it would take just five years to add another $2,000. This will truly be the era of Indians.

India will strive to double per capita income in a few years for its 1.4 billion population (18 per cent of the global population) despite global challenges, the finance minister said at the third edition of the Kautilya Economic Conference. The Finance Minister said, inequality has decreased in the country. Statistical measures to measure inequality The Gini coefficient shows improvements in urban and rural areas. This, he said, is being achieved with a reduction in inequality, as the Gini coefficient (income inequality index) for rural India has declined from 0.283 to 0.266. For urban areas it has decreased from 0.363 to 0.314.

Sitharaman said, by 2047, when India completes 100 years of its independence, the basic characteristics of the new Indian era will be similar to those of developed countries. Developed India will bring prosperity not only to Indians but also to the rest of the world by becoming a hub of vibrant exchange of ideas, technology and culture.

On the country’s financial system, the Finance Minister said, the country’s financial system and banks are strong and sound due to continuous policy focus on improving asset quality, increasing provision for bad loans, sustained capital adequacy and increasing profitability. The NPA (non-performing asset) ratio is at a multi-year low. Banks now have efficient arrangements for loan recovery.

Referring to the forces shaping the Indian era, the Finance Minister said, the young population of the country provides a huge base for improving productivity, savings and investment. She said, 43 per cent of Indians are under the age of 24. They don’t know their consumption behavior yet. This is an indication that domestic consumption will increase in the coming decade.