Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi, Dec 19: The future growth prospects of the resurgent Indian economy, which is on its path to becoming the world’s third largest in the days to come, the US sub-prime crisis and the rising prices of the essential commodities featured prominently in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s key note address, while inaugurating the National Development Council (NDC) meet to approve the 11th five year plan.
The Indian Premier expressed hope that the government would not only be able to maintain the high growth in the near future but also is able to raise it to 10 per cent. “This is what the 11th plan attempts to do over the next five years," he added.
Singh also cautioned that India cannot remain immune to international events like sub-prime crisis and rising commodity prices and said the country needs to create buffer stocks of pulses and edible oils to improve its food security.
The Prime Minister said, "We need to revisit our foodgrain procurement strategies in the short term...Also ensure that subsidised foodgrains are targeted at only the needy and the poor and that leakage and misdirected subsidies are stopped."
Referring to global trends of high food and commodity prices, including oil, Singh said domestic consumption pattern will put "increasing pressure on both the availability and prices of basic food items."
In order to manage these pressures, he said, "We need to ensure that the agriculture sector not only performs as per our expectations but also that our food planning adjusts to the emerging market realities."
As the country launches the 11th plan the growth prospects are encouraging, the Prime Minister added.
Global influences
Sounding a note of caution on the US sub-prime crisis, Singh said, "There are some clouds on global financial markets following the sub-prime lending crisis...We cannot be fully immune to international developments."
Singh added, "This may impact both our exports as well as capital flows".
As regards the petroleum sector, the Prime Minister said, "With international oil prices shooting up each day, it is both in the interest of energy security and environmental security that we make our economy less energy intensive."
Dr Singh said with increased globalisation, the country`s economy accounts for almost 40 per cent of the GDP and, hence, India cannot remain unaffected by global developments.
"This is not to say that one must be pessimistic and less ambitious in our growth targets. It only implies that we need to redouble our efforts to maintain the domestic drivers of growth and ensure that policy facilitates even faster growth", the Prime Minister said.
Bureau Report
