The downward revision of GDP growth estimates for the current fiscal calls for radical action to dispel the cloud of growth slowdown and investment chill in the country, the Congress said on Wednesday.
AICC general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said it also set a gloomy backdrop to the Union Budget.
He suggested that income support for India's poor, higher MGNREGA wages and increased minimum support prices (MSPs) were the need of the hour, and demanded a drastic simplification of the "comically complex" GST regime and Income Tax relief for the middle class.
In a statement, Ramesh said the advance estimates released by the Union government for GDP growth in the 2024-25 financial year projected a mere 6.4 per cent growth.
"This is a four-year low, and a sharp deceleration compared to the 8.2 per cent growth recorded in FY24 (2023-24). It is even lower than the recent RBI estimate of 6.6 per cent growth which itself marked a reduction from the earlier projection of