Investment in national highways would double to Rs 66,000 crore (Rs 660 billion) over the next five years, as compared to the past half-decade, according to a forecast by a research firm.

These projects would be funded through a combination of cess collected on auto fuels, multi-lateral funding, private investments, and toll collection, according to Cris-Infac, a research subsidiary of rating agency Crisil.

The firm said it expected export growth to be below 10 per cent in 2003-04.

The rupee, it said, has appreciated by around 5.4 per cent against the dollar since the beginning of the calendar year that puts it amongst the fastest appreciating emerging market currencies.

"With major competitor currencies like Chinese Yuan remaining static, this has taken a toll on the competitiveness of Indian goods. Appreciating rupee will continue to hurt exports," Crisil's chief economist Subir Gokarn and CEO of Cris-Infac G Ravishankar said.

Given that the Yuan is being held at a fixed peg against the dollar, further appreciation of the rupee would lead to declined competitiveness of the Indian exporters against their Asian counterparts, the firm said.

It said in textiles, the removal of quotas in 2005 would significantly increase demand for readymade garments.