The Hindu Business Line : `Coalition politics consistent with 8% growth'

(From left) Mr Nandan M. Nilekani, President, CEO and MD, Infosys Technologies, Mr Malvinder M. Singh, President, Pharmaceuticals, Ranbaxy Laboratories, India, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Mr Tarun Das, Chief Mentor, CII, and Ms Colette Mathur, Director, India and South Asia, WEF, at the India Economic Summit 2005 in the Capital on Sunday. — Ramesh Sharma

New Delhi , Nov. 27

THE Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, today said constraints of coalition politics would not stand in the way of achieving an 8 per cent economic growth, although targeting a 10 per cent growth rate would prove to be `difficult'.

"Coalition politics is consistent with 8 per cent growth. Policy requirement for this kind of growth is huge. It is not only change in policies... We also need to see if they are delivering properly. As of now, we have a lot to do, to achieve the 8 per cent growth. Let us be practical and go for 8 per cent growth now, though not many people seem to be impressed by such growth," Mr Ahluwalia said while addressing the India Economic Summit 2005 here.

He said that while it was tempting to go for a double-digit growth of 10 per cent, achieving the same looked "difficult" with coalition.

On the democratic process, Mr Ahluwalia said though consensus building on critical issues may appear to take time, the heated debates actually helped in the longer run and ensured that not too many mistakes are committed.

Terming sectoral reforms as key to infrastructure development, he pointed out that the Government had laid out an agenda for public-private partnership and a lot of learning was currently going on. "In the beginning we may not have got all of it right and now we are trying to make adjustments," he said.

Mr Ahluwalia said the model concession agreement prepared by the Government would address many of the issues, including the issue of risk sharing in public-private partnership (PPP) projects.

He said growth had slackened after the first round of reforms in the nineties and in mid-nineties growth rate averaged between 5.6-5.8 per cent, accelerating to 6.4-6.5 per cent at the turn of the millennium. "The current year would be good although achieving the targeted growth rate of 7-8 per cent would require focus on improving infrastructure, education and health," he added.

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