Is it a trap with no escape?

"India's economy showed nascent signs it may be turning a corner after six straight months of anemic activity," wrote Anirban Nag. "Two of the eight high-frequency indicators compiled by Bloomberg News came in stronger in November based on a three-month weighted average reading..." "Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to a four-month high of 52.7 in November", with the manufacturing sector PMI "jumping to 52.7 from 49.6", but exports contracted by 0.3%, "capital goods imports contracted sharply by 21.8% in November", "consumer confidence dropped to its lowest level since at least 2014", and "industrial output contracted 3.8% in October". "The Indian economy is in a transitional phase, given the many structural reforms GoI (government of India) has introduced," wrote B Yadav. "These reforms are currently showing that growth is in slow track, but will eventually ensure that the economy will emerge more resilient." With a growth rate of 4.5%, "India is no longer in the top three or four" fastest growing economies of the world, wrote Prof Kaushik Basu. "In fact, it is not in the top 30 or 40." "Between 2011-12 and 2017-18, for Indians living in rural areas (a vast majority)," "on a per capita basis, people are now consuming 8.8 percent less than they were doing five years ago". "The richest 1 percent Indians owned 53 percent of all the wealth in the country." "The government's official data, released as part of the Periodic Labor Force Survey Report 2017-18, shows that the country's unemployment rate has not been this high in 45 years." On 1 November, US based Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS) "which has 75% of its workforce based in India" announced that "it was closing down its content moderation business, resulting in job cuts for an estimated 12,000 personnel". "Within days of this came in reports that Infosys would be shedding between 4,000-10,000 of its people across all grades." The rate of unemployment is highest among those who are graduates and above, so hopes of finding suitable employment for those losing their jobs would be slim. Worse: "Value of new state government projects saw a 75% decline from a year-ago period in the June-ended quarter of 2019, settling at the lowest in fifteen years," wrote Surbhi Bhatia. "The past couple of quarters saw a sharp drop in new project announcements, data from the project tracking database of the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) shows." "The government is staring at a shortfall of at least Rs 63,000 crore in compensation payout to the states" for the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Which means lower investment. So are we stuck in a low income trap? We have to avoid the "Four Horsemen" said the Economic Survey of 2018. Even so, India needs to recognise "that for low income nations a 5% growth rate is the new benchmark of success", wrote Ruchir Sharma. We are stuck.