Through 2019, India witnessed a contrasting combination of slowing economy on the one hand, with accelerating reforms momentum on the other. From a high GDP growth of 8% per annum in the second quarter of 2018, the corresponding period's growth in 2019 was down to 5%. The next quarter, July to September 2019, reported a further drop to 4.5%. Similarly, industrial output (as indicated by IIP) dropped by 4.3% Year-on-Year in September 2019. It is to be noted that the decline on several fronts was concurrent, to some extent, with the global-slowdown and economic deceleration around the world.

The brighter side of the picture lies in steadfastness of reforms that gathered momentum in 2019, and which is acknowledged globally. India rose further on World Bank's 'Ease of Doing Business' rank in 2019, to the 63rd position. This was a steady climb after breaking into top-100 two years ago, and from the 77th position last year. It also needs to be noted that despite the downgrade in country's credit ratings in November on account of sliding growth, India still remains one of the fastest growing major economies.