'Hindu rate of growth' was Congress-era legacy of low expectations: Piyush Goyal

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 20 : Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday hit out at those who he alleged had their "perception" that India's destiny is mere 4-4.5 per cent economic growth, and it could not or did not have the potential to grow at a pace higher than that.

Speaking at the World Hindu Economic Forum 2025, he recalled the days of the past when many termed India's slow rate of economic growth as 'Hindu rate of growth'.

The term 'Hindu rate of growth', coined by economist Raj Krishna in the late 1970s, referred to India's average annual GDP growth of around 3-4 per cent during the decades following Independence, particularly from the 1950s to around 1980.

Targetting the governments of the past, Congress or Congress-led UPA, Piyush Goyal said a perception had developed that India would grow at 4-4.5 per cent no matter what and who is in the government.

"India's potential was underestimated at 4-4.5 per cent growth. People had come to believe that we had no dominance on the international stage...The government interfered in everything. The government stood by its chosen friends and didn't care about anyone else...," he trained his guns on the then Congress and the Congress-led UPA governments.

"...The young men and women sitting among us, who may not have complete information or understanding of how the country was run in the pages of history, what was (termed by some) as 'the Hindu rate of growth' was, and how the work of insulting Indian culture continued for years. From '47 to '91, there were mostly Congress governments. There was a short period from '77 to '79 when a coalition government, with different ideologies and different ways of thinking, came together to fight against the Emergency imposed by the Congress, which had snatched away all our rights," he noted.

Making his points further, he said India, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, is right on track to become the world's third-largest economy within the next 2-3 years. Contrary to former Finance Minister P Chidambaram's 2014 projection, this transformation will not take 30 years, he said.

"In 2014, P Chidambaram had said India will take 30 years to become the third largest economy. He predicted India will become the third largest economy by 2044. Under Prime Minister Modi's decisive leadership, and with the effort that 1.4 billion Indians are putting in today, we will become the world's third largest economy in the next two or two-and-a-half years," the Union Minister noted.

"By 2044, we will probably be a USD 25-30 trillion economy. Our Viksit Bharat 2047 dream is to become a USD 30 trillion+ economy. And we are well on the path to achieve that."

Taking a potshot at the UPA government of 2004-2014, the Union minister alleged that they weakened India's economic and inflation situation.

"We handed them 4 per cent inflation and 8 per cent economic growth. During 2004 to 2014, they reversed it to 4 per cent growth and 8 per cent inflation," he asserted.

"During the ten-year tenure, the the level of corruption was at its peak," he said, referring to some of the alleged scams of the past. "In the last 3-4 years (of the UPA 2), there was hardly any governance in place."

On trade deals signed by India in the past few years, Minister Goyal said they are now being inked from a position of strength, self-confidence, and self-respect.

"We don't do FTAs with our competitors," he said, referring to some of the FTAs India had signed in the recent past. He added that those countries also have a higher per capita income, in a way indicating that it would help India to market its products and services better.

Broadly, at the Forum today, Piyush Goyal described India's progress as not just a story of economic growth, but of transformation in values and mindset. With policy reforms, labor codes, digital innovations, and increasing exports, India has today become a reliable global partner, which forms the foundation of its journey towards a developed India, he noted.

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