Indo-Asian News Service
New Delhi, April 23: India doubled its share in world GDP from 1.43 per cent in 2000 to 2.86 per cent in 2015, industry body PHD Chamber said Saturday. “India’s GDP stood at $477 billion in 2000 and increased to $2,091 billion in 2015, showing more than four-fold increase over a period of 15 years,” PHD Chamber president Mahesh Gupta in a statement. According to the statement, the five countries of BRICS — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — accounted for a combined GDP of more than $16 trillion.
“BRICS economies also contributed a significant share in the world GDP which increased from 8.27 per cent in 2000 to 22.53 per cent in 2015,” said Gupta. Among the BRICS nations in 2015, China led the pack with a GDP contribution of 15.01 per cent, followed by India (2.86 per cent), Brazil (2.42 per cent), Russia (1.81 per cent) and South Africa (0.43 per cent). Interestingly, the BRICS countries’ GDP volume rose significantly from 2000, particularly after the economic crisis in 2008 while India’s growth turned out to be phenomenally well.
“India is projected to notch up to 8 per cent in 2016-17. Growth will continue to be driven by private consumption, which has benefited from lower energy prices and higher real incomes,” added Gupta. The BRICS countries account for 42 per cent of the world population and a quarter of the entire land mass, the statement added.
Notably, while agriculture and allied sectors like forestry, logging and fishing accounted for around 16 per cent of the GDP, industry accounts for about 26 per cent of the gross domestic product. Services sector has the largest contribution to country’s GDP with close to 60 per cent share. According to a KPMG report, India is currently the second fastest growing services economy in the world. With the 2015-16 financial year witnessing dismal merchandise trade, the government is betting big on services trade. Interestingly, India’s share in global services exports was 3.2 per cent in 2014-15, which is double that of its merchandise exports in global merchandise exports of 1.7 per cent. Information technology, in which the country is a global leader, accounted for $ 108 billion worth of services exports in the last financial year, exporting primarily to the US, United Kingdom and Europe.
With forecast of a good monsoon, various analysts have predicted that India could move into the higher growth trajectory of around 8.0-8.5 percent during the current financial year in case the prediction comes true. As per a World Bank report, India’s economic activity is expected to accelerate from 7.5 per cent in FY 2016 to 7.7 per cent in FY 2017 based on the expectation of strong private investment, a push in infrastructure spending, an improved investment climate, and improved corporate and financial balance sheets, it said.