Congress senior leader Jairam Ramesh, in a statement released on Saturday, highlighted that there are “three dark clouds” looming on the Indian economy which might constrain India’s growth potential in the coming years.

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he asserted that the last decade has been marked by “highly detrimental economic trends”. Describing the three major challenges, he said those are languishing private sector investment, stagnating manufacturing and a decline in real wages and productivity.

Read also: Reliance Industries Chairman Anil Ambani Is Under Huge Debt Of Rs, …

“The monsoon has receded, but new evidence shows at least three dark clouds still loom over the Indian economy,” Ramesh said in the statement.

The Rajya Sabha MP said that the private sector investment during the fiscal year 2022-23 had returned to an unsteady path and there was a 21 percent decline in new project announcements made by the sector during fiscal year 2023 and 2024.

He said that this shows the lack of uncertainty and investor’s trust in the Indian consumer markets generated by the government’s “inconsistent policymaking and raid raj.”

Ramesh also pointed out that as a share of total employment, manufacturing has marginally declined. The country’s share in global merchandise exports has also largely stagnated.

He further said that growth in India’s share of global exports grew much faster in the 2005-15 period, largely corresponding to Dr. Manmohan Singh’s tenure as Prime Minister. In labor-intensive sectors like garments, exports have fallen from USD 15 billion in 2013-14 to USD 14. 5 billion in 2023-2024.

Referring to the latest report by the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) for 2022-23, the Congress leader said that there was a decline in the real wages as well as productivity for Indian labourers in the country and that the GVA, which is a measure of labour productivity, had also slowed down from 6.6 percent in 2014-15 to 0.6 percent in 2018-19.

Read also: CPR On Income Tax Probe: “Faith In Judicial Processes”

“The last ten years have seen other detrimental economic trends, including rising oligopolisation, mass unemployment, and high inflation,” Ramesh said.

He further urged the “bombastic claims” regarding the economy should not obscure the choke points that could strangle future growth if not addressed seriously.