Now that India's general election is over, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi must, in its second term, turn its attention to the flagging state of the Indian economy. The latest numbers on India's economic growth are sobering. After expanding by a respectable 6.8 per cent in the fiscal year 2018/19, India's economy has started to slow. Growth in the quarter ended in March was just 5.8 per cent year on year, the lowest in five years. Both private consumption and investment are weakening, there is widespread rural distress, exports are threatened by the trade war, and unemployment is at a 45-year high.

Many of these problems did not get enough attention during the election campaign, which was focused more on personalities and politics than on economics. But they can no longer be swept under the rug.