Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi came into power in 2014 with a promise of economic growth. Five years later, he is running for another term and this time his campaign is centered around nationalism. But what about his earlier pledges on the economy? Our India correspondent Shweta Bajaj finds out.  

A country of 1.2 billion people, with more than half under the age of 25. Expectations on the economic front were high from the Modi government. The numbers look reassuring. For the current financial year, the IMF expects the growth rate will reach 7.3 percent. But challenges remain.

Sudesh Verma the spokesperson of BJP - Modi's party says Modi government's biggest achievement was a massive increase in tax revenue.

SUDESH VERMA BJP SPOKESPERSON "The biggest reform in the economy that was carried out by this government was implementation of GST or goods and services tax. Every time, people use to talk about Indian being one but unless you have one market. It would be difficult to conceptualize."

But GST has seen many changes due to the high tax burdens it has created. Another achievement of the Modi government has been keeping inflation under control. From 2010 to 2014, India's inflation was in double digits. The fall in inflation was caused by a drop in international crude oil prices. Imports help to meet 80% of India's demand. The government carried out demonetization in 2016, rendering over 80 percent of its currency useless. Though the government claims it has helped to curb black money, there is no data to prove it. In fact, a recent study done by Indian IT company Wipro shows the effort led to about 5 million job losses.

PARANJOY GUHA THAKURTA ECONOMIST "Despite what the government is claiming, demonetisation suddenly, abruptly, literally overnight, declaring illegal 86% of the currency in circulation. The government hurt the weakest section of India's population - women and children dependent on women, senior citizens, daily wage laborers, farmers, small traders, shop keepers - they were hurt the most."

The Modi government says road construction has tripled, and progress in power and other infrastructure sectors will provide a solid foundation for further growth. A crisis in agriculture remains a challenge, as the national crop output has grown by only 1 percent in the last 5 years.

In a few years, India will become the most populous nation in the world. Modi' government promised millions of jobs for young Indians. In addition to a lack of new ones, policies like demonetisation has led to unemployment. What is more worrisome is the government's reluctance to release job data. But according to reports, India's unemployment rate is at 45 year high, an issue that will have to be addressed by the incoming government.

Shweta Bajaj, CGTN, New Delhi, India.