Fully confident that July-September will see industrial growth, says Rajiv Kumar

On farmer suicide, Mr. Kumar said “Farmer stress is a real phenomenon, not imaginary.”

Niti Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar is seen in his office after taking charge, in New Delhi on Friday.

After taking over as vice-chairman of NITI Aayog, Rajiv Kumar said “It is absolutely wrong to say demonetisation is responsible for the growth slowdown in the first quarter of this year.”

“With due respect to Dr Manmohan Singh, this quarterly data can't be used to say; Look, I told you GDP will drop by 1 or 2 per cent,” said Mr. Rajiv.

He further added “Old man in a bank queue during demonetisation told me why it made sense. Sometimes before you leap forward, you have to take 2-3 steps back”.

On farmer suicide, Mr. Kumar said “Farmer stress is a real phenomenon, not imaginary.”

“I am fully confident that the July-september quarter will see 7 per cent to 7.5 per cent growth,” said Mr. Kumar.