Buoyed by the better-than-expected second quarter GDP growth and other high frequency economic data, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said economic recovery is faster than expected and indicators are encouraging.

“India has been through ups and downs in 2020,” the country’s economic recovery from the setback of Covid-19 is “faster than expected” and “economic indicators are encouraging”, Modi said addressing the 93rd Annual Convention of Ficci.

Modi emphasised on the priority given to “saving lives” during the pandemic and said, “the government’s policies and actions were oriented towards that”.

Therefore, despite a rocky year for the Indian economy, “there is a roadmap for recovery”, he added.

The Prime Minister said the faith that the world placed on India in the last six years has further strengthened in the past few months.

Whether FDI or FPI, foreign investors have made a record investment in the country and are continuing to do that, he said.

“The V-shaped recovery of economic activity continued in October... IIP & eight-core index further inched up to pre-Covid levels. The broad-based recovery in IIP resulted in a growth of 3.6 per cent in October 20 compared with a contraction of 6.6 per cent in October 2019,” chief economic adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian said in a series of tweets.

“From 107 items in the IIP recording a growth of more than 10 per cent in January 2020 to 170 items that recorded a growth of more than 10 per cent in October 2020 foretells a strong and robust recovery… Of 407 items in the IIP basket, 276 recorded better growth in October 2020 compared with the growth in September-2020,” he said.

The economy could grow at over 11 per cent in the 2022 financial year as it has rebounded spectacularly after the initial loss of production due to Covid-19 this year, N. Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, said.

“In the near term, there are reasons for optimism. Several indicators have rebounded faster than expected. GDP growth may accelerate by over 11 per cent in 2022 after a significant contraction… While this rebound looks spectacular, this is coming on the back of the loss of real output. This means, we should not only recover, but also accelerate,” Chandrasekaran said at the Ficci event.