Indian economy is expected to grow 10.5 per cent or more in the current fiscal, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said on Thursday.

       Speaking at a virtual conference of PAFI India, he also said that modernisation of the retail sector is very much on the cards.

       "India Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for both manufacturing and services have shown a very smart uptick last month. This (Indian economy) will strengthen even further," he said.

       "I expect Indian economy to grow 10.5 per cent or higher in FY 22," he noted.

       The country's economy grew by a record 20.1 per cent in the April-June quarter, helped by a very weak base of last year and a sharp rebound in the manufacturing and services sectors in spite of the devastating second COVID wave.

       The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lowered the growth projection for the current financial year to 9.5 per cent from 10.5 per cent estimated earlier while the IMF has projected a growth of 9.5 per cent in 2021 and 8.5 per cent in the next year.

       Replying to a question, Kumar said reasons for the slump in two-wheeler sales might be due to the transition from internal combustion engine scooters and bikes to electric bikes and scooters.

       Noting that exports create jobs, he said, "we need to double our share of global trade... and for that we might need better market access".

       (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)