Montek predicts 7.5% growth in 2010-11

Montek predicts 7.5% growth in 2010-11
The Economic Times, December 02, 2009, Page 6

Our Bureau NEW DELHI

INDIA’S economy could grow at 7.5% in 2010-11 and would breach the 8% mark in the last year of the Eleventh Five Year Plan, said Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

An upward revision of the growth projection of 6.5% for the current year will be done in the mid-term appraisal of the eleventh plan due shortly, he added.

Speaking at the India Infrastructure Summit organised by IDFC on Tuesday, Mr Ahluwalia said because of the good performance of the economy in the second quarter of the fiscal, growth projection would definitely go up.

“But I am not in a position to say at the moment where exactly between 6.5% and 7% it would be,” he said. Mr Ahluwalia pointed out that the prime minister’s vision was to have a 9% GDP growth rate in 2011-12, the last year of the Eleventh Plan period.

“While we cannot have a 9% growth rate for the entire plan period because of the two bad years we have had, if we can end it with a 9% growth rate, it will be outstanding performance,” Mr Ahluwalia said adding that it has to be seen in the context of the global slowdown.

On the issue of inflation, Mr Ahluwalia said that the only problem was the rising food prices, like that of vegetables, which could be seasonal in nature. “By January, we expect food prices to come down,” he said. When asked about continuation of the fiscal stimulus package for the industry, the deputy chairman said that all measures would continue till February.