The Hindu Business Line : India Inc delighted over double-digit growth

"India is now truly on a high growth path and has achieved its ambition of being among the fastest growing regions in the world," Mr Anand Mahindra, President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), said.

According to the chamber, in addition to the growing trend in the agricultural sector, the excellent growth seen in the manufacturing sector is heartening.

"The latest trends reveal that the Prime Minister's vision of 8 per cent GDP growth for India can not only be achieved but also exceeded," the chamber said.

Mr Y.K. Modi, President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), said that, "The growth figures for the last two quarters vindicate FICCI's view that with concerted effort, a 10 per cent sustained GDP growth is within our reach." FICCI has set a 10 per cent growth target in its agenda for the new government for the next five years.

An analysis of the sectoral figures shows that the surge in agriculture output by 16.9 per cent in the third quarter was an important reason for the current pick up in GDP.

"FICCI is, however, confident that a double-digit growth in GDP can be sustained if industry and services sector growth rate pick up to 12 per cent," Mr Modi said.

According to the chamber, the current boom in agriculture production has helped improvement of seasonal employment levels.

But a sustained improvement in employment growth rates would require a pick-up in both industrial and services sector employment and a second green revolution as suggested by FICCI.

Welcoming the GDP figures released by the CSO, the spokesperson of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) said, that this high quarterly growth is being led by a 7.4 per cent growth in the manufacturing sector, which is significant since the base was a high 7 per cent in the Q3 last year.

However, Assocham adds: "It must be observed that the growth of 10.4 per cent has been registered on the base of a 2 per cent rate of growth in the Q3 last year, which by all standards was low."

The other sectors showing significant rates of growth in this quarter have been those where the base-effect is very prominent, it said.