India's economy to grow 8%, agri sector over 4% this fiscal: Das

New Delhi: Pinning hopes on a slew of government reforms, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das on Tuesday said the GDP growth will be around 8 percent this fiscal while the agriculture sector is expected to grow over 4 percent.

"The GST will happen, bankruptcy law has happened. Both these pieces of legislation together with amendments to the arbitration law, DRT, company laws have potential to create a very vibrant and dynamic economy," he said.

"We have an economy which has recorded 7.6 percent growth, thanks to good agriculture where the growth we expect to be upwards of 4 percent definitely. It could be even 4.5 percent... We are looking at growth upwards of 7.6 percent and hopefully close to 8 percent," he said at an Assocham event here.

In 2015-16, the country's economy grew 7.6 percent and the Economic Survey in February had projected a growth rate of 7-7.75 percent for the current fiscal while RBI had forecast 7.6 percent.

Das further said the bankruptcy law does not address the problem of financial failure of banks, insurance and other financial firms, he said.

So, a draft Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill, which proposes to set up a resolution corporation, has been circulated, he said.

"It's our endeavour to introduce the Bill as early as possible in Parliament. We are trying to introduce it in the Winter Session," he said.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his 2016-17 budget speech, said a comprehensive code on resolution of insolvency cases in financial firms will be introduced as a bill in Parliament this fiscal.

"A systemic vacuum exists with regard to bankruptcy situations in financial firms. This code will provide a specialised resolution mechanism to deal with bankruptcy situations in banks, insurance firms and financial sector entities. This code, together with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2015, when enacted, will provide a comprehensive resolution mechanism for our economy," he had said.

Following the announcement, on March 15, the ministry set up a panel under additional secretary Ajay Tyagi to draft the bill which was later submitted.