India goes for growth

India is aiming at 9-10% economic growth in the coming years but labour productivity has to improve to sustain high growth, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Wednesday. “Our aim is a growth rate of 9% to 10% in the medium term. But this will not happen automatically. There are deficiencies we will have to remove and strengths that we will have to acquire,” Singh said at an award function. “As you all know, India’s economic performance in the last few years has been truly impressive. Our country is poised to move to trajectory of sustained high economic growth, which is so essential for fighting mass poverty, hunger and disease that still afflict millions of our people,” he said.

Policymakers have forecast 8.5% growth in 2010-11, higher than 7.4% of previous year, after a series of stimulus in the form of cuts in interest rates, excise duties and higher public spending. India’s economic growth was hovering around 9-9.7% between 2005-06 and 2007-08, but it slowed to 6.7% in 2008-09 after the global economic crisis trimmed demand and output.

While praising the country’s millions of workers, who have toiled to build India’s infrastructure and industry, Singh said high economic growth could be attained with higher productivity. “To achieve our goals and our ambitions, we will have to enhance productivity across all sectors of the economy. Our resources are limited and need to be utilised optimally,” he said. “I would urge all of you present here to pay greater attention to cutting costs and boosting the quality of the products and services that our country produces,” he said.