Is Indian economy really recovering from slowdown?

Presenting the Economic Survey in Parliament in July 2019, the Narendra Modi government had estimated that the GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate for 2019-20 to be 7 percent. Six months later the government has lowered the estimated GDP growth rate for the year to 5 percent. It is still good news given that the GDP growth rate is on downward spiral for six consecutive quarters, finishing at 4.5 percent in the September 2019 quarter. Pegging overall advanced GDP growth rate at 5 percent also means that the economy will reverse the downward growth trend in the third and final quarters of 2019-20. The official estimate is that the second half of the fiscal would grow at 5.25 percent.

However, there are some key facts that do not allay fears expressed by experts, including last year's Nobel Prize winner Abhijit Banerjee. He said the Indian economy is very close to a big and long recession if urgent corrective steps are not taken. Private...