India's GDP growth will remain strong at 7.6 percent in 2016 and 7.7 percent in 2017

"In India, GDP growth will remain strong at 7.6 percent in 2016 and 7.7 percent in 2017, supported by expectations of a rebound in agriculture, civil service pay reforms supporting consumption, increasingly positive contributions from exports and a recovery of private investment in the medium term," the World Bank said in its latest report on South Asia Economic Focus released on Monday.

"However, India faces the challenge of further accelerating the responsiveness of poverty reduction to growth, promoting inclusion, and extending gains to a broader range of human development outcomes related to health, nutrition, education and gender," said the biannual report.

According to the report, South Asia remains a global growth hotspot and has proven resilient to external headwinds such as China's slowdown, uncertainty around stimulus policy in advanced economies, and slowing remittances.

The main challenges remain domestic, and include policy uncertainty as well as fiscal and financial vulnerabilities.

Courtesy: Press Trust of India