Underlining the strong fundamentals of the economy, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said that India had standardised itself for a growth rate of seven-eight per cent.

“It’s already close to a $2.5-trillion economy in terms of GDP,” he said during the Defence Estates Day Lecture.

Jaitley said the economy was moving away from an era of high inflation. Pointing out that the monetary policy committee now had a target of four per cent, he said the “age of double digit inflation is over”.

The net effect of all these is that India is getting closer to a situation where the country can spend what it earns, and borrows relatively less, he said.

Outlining the economic roadmap for the government, Jaitley said: “India, in the last three years, for the first time in history, has been the fastest growing major economy and we do hope that in the first instance we evolve into a middle income economy and subsequently graduate into a developed economy,” he said.

He also underlined the need for more investments in infrastructure sector, which he pegged at ₹50-lakh crore over the next five years.

“It is well accepted that investment in infrastructure is essential to growth, increases productivity of existing resources and crowds in private investment, which in turn creates more jobs and leads to economic well being,” he said.

While sectors such as railways, highways, airports, ports and telcom are doing relatively well with high investment, Jaitley said that efforts had also been taken not only to improve infrastructure in urban areas but also rural infrastructure through rural electrification drive and the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.

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