India's rapid economic growth has lifted 140 million people out of poverty in the past decade but many of its people still lack access to electricity and toilets, the OECD said Tuesday. GDP per capita has risen by more than five percent per year since the mid-1990s and reforms introduced since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election in 2014 have "brought a new growth impetus and improved the outlook", the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said in a report.
But "growth has not been sufficiently inclusive on a number of dimensions, as reflected in a still high poverty rate", the Paris-based group said in its 142-page country survey. It added that spending on health care amounted to barely one percent of gross domestic product. The OECD said reforms by successive governments, such as the implementation of inflation targets and a loosening of foreign direct investment (FDI) rules, had been major factors behind the growth. The report called on the government to do more to improve access to basic services.
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