Foodgrain production to reach record levels, demand has been resilient in rural areas: Chief Economic Adviser KV Subramanian

"Foodgrains production is expected to be at record levels this year and coming year given the normal monsoon that has been predicted by the IMD. This is reflected both in cereals (rice and wheat) and pulses. The demand in rural India has been resilient," he said while giving his comments on the provisional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data for 2020-21.

He said that the momentum of GDP growth has been affected by the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic.

"Indian economy grew 1.6 per cent in Quarter four of financial year 2020-21. Full-year GDP contraction stands at 7.3 per cent, " he said.

"Industrial production (eight core industries and index of industrial production) shown recovery to pre-pandemic levels during the year (by March). GST collections registered another record high in April. Since September GST collections have been doing very well compared to the previous year," he added.

Subramanian said Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) provided significant rural employment in 2020-2021.

The government data released on Monday showed that real GDP or gross domestic product (GDP) at constant (2011-12) prices in 2020-21 is estimated to attain a level of Rs 135.13 lakh crore as against the first revised estimate of GDP for 2019-20 of Rs 145.69 lakh crore.