Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Sunday claimed that the economic slowdown is cyclical, The Hindu reported. He was addressing the media on the completion of 100 days of the Narendra Modi-led central government’s second term.

“Indian economy is on a strong footing as the fundamentals are strong,” Javadekar said. “Slowdown is a cyclical process. There are always some patches. Globally also there is a slowdown, which has an impact on sentiments in the domestic market.” The minister said that the Centre is taking the necessary steps to pull the economy out of the slowdown, and that there is no need to panic.

India’s Gross Domestic Product growth rate reached a five-year low of 5% in the first quarter of 2019-’20.

Javadekar said that India received more Foreign Direct Investment last year than even China. “With steps taken for ease of doing business and new rules for bringing in FDI, we expect to see a surge in foreign investments and domestic demand,” Javadekar added. “We will continue to make progress to achieve our target of $5 trillion economy.”

The minister also defended the merger of public sector banks, asserting that it would leverage the expertise of the institutions. He claimed that no other government has taken so many “people-friendly” decisions in the first 100 days of its existence.

Javadekar dismissed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s assertion that the first 100 days of the government had seen “no development”, The Indian Express reported. “I do not want to respond to criticism from a person who was missing for 90 out of those 100 days,” Javadekar said. “Our work is visible to everyone.”

On Sunday, the Congress had claimed that the first 100 days of the government were full of “tyranny, chaos and anarchy”. However, Bharatiya Janata Party President and Union Home Minister Amit Shah described the Modi-led government as “synonymous with national security, development and welfare of the poor”.

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