Despite the slowdown in 2016-17, as per the IMF, India was the fastest growing major economy in 2016 and second fastest growing major economy in 2017 in the world said Finance minister Arun Jaitley.In a written reply to the LS, Mr Jaitley said the government has taken various initiatives to boost the growth of the economy which include fillip to manufacturing, concrete measures for transport and power sectors as well as other urban and rural infrastructure and special package for textile industry.The minister stressed that the introduction of GST has provided a significant opportunity to improve growth momentum by reducing barriers to trade, business and related economic activities.