Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman on Wednesday said the Indian economy may have slowed down but there is no threat of a “recession”.

Replying to a discussion on the economic situation in the country in Rajya Sabha, she said: "Economic growth may have slowed but there is no recession, there can be no recession.”

The Finance Minister’s claim came despite a number of economists and experts asserting that the country’s economy was passing through a recession and no recovery is in sight as of now.

On November 18, she had claimed that the country is on track to reach the $5 trillion GDP target by 2025. She added that although the economy has slowed down, it is still projected to grow at the fastest pace among G-20 nations this year.

However, nothing could be further than truth. The problem with the Indian economy is no more about a slowdown in growth. There is de-growth. The Indian economy is in recession.

“You see, a 5 per cent growth in Quarter 1 of the current fiscal area is still reasonably healthy if you compare to other significant countries. But even that will have to be accompanied by figures which show rises in investment, consumption and output. However, these figures are all negative. Unemployment is at a record high.

Capacity utilisation is falling. Business confidence is down as evidenced by investment figures. My calculations tell me that the GDP actually came down by a percentage point at least,” says Arun Kumar, retired Professor at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning (CESP) at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and a leading authority on Black Money.

Kumar’s assertions are well-founded. The unorganised sector contributes 47 per cent to India’s GDP and employs almost 94 per cent of the country’s workforce. And data on the performance of this sector is collected once every five years. The farm sector’s performance is enumerated twice a year, after the Rabi and Kharif harvest.