The Hindu Business Line : `India will be developed nation in less than 14 yrs'

What has made the world sit up and suddenly take notice of India? "It cannot be India's beauty queens, fashion shows or our cuisine," said Mr P. Chidambaram, Union Finance Minister. Then, what has made the elephant dance? It is India's success story of economic growth that made the world look at the country.

Addressing the `Advantage India' session at the ongoing annual ADB conference on Thursday, he expressed the confidence that India would join the league of developed nations in less than 14 years.

It took 14 years for the country to transform from "a poor and perhaps forgotten country" to a thriving and increasingly noticed emerging economy. It would take even less time for India to join the league.

The GDP growth rate soared to an average of 7-8 per cent in the last three years against an average of 6.3 per cent during 1992-2001.

Relating how the Indian economy has emerged as an attractive destination for investments, he said that the growth had been largely fuelled by domestic savings.

More FDI will further fuel investment rate and globalisation of Indian companies.

Referring to the concerns voiced about the FDI policy, he said that it was an evolving one.

One half of the MNCs earn higher returns in India than their global average.

Stating that investor confidence in India was at an all-time high, he said that AT Kearney had ranked the country as the second most attractive investment destination.

Growth engines

The Finance Minister also said that the second and much bigger wave of manufacturing offshoring was yet to come.

While the first wave consisted mostly of labour-intensive items, the second wave, which had just begun, could reach $1.6 trillion annually, triggering skill-intensive manufacturing.

He predicted that the annual growth rate of 25-30 per cent in services exports would continue in the next six years. Stating that the country had managed to break away from the 2-4 per cent per capital growth average, he said, quoting an estimate, that there would be more than 200 million new people earning incomes above Rs 6.75 lakh annually by 2025.