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10th Plan GDP target 'achievable'
September 02, 2004 16:35 IST
Planning Commission on Thursday said the target of eight per cent GDP growth in the 10th Five-year Plan is "fully achievable".
Planning Commission secretary Rajeeva Ratna Shah said in Bangalore that the eight per cent GDP growth target appeared a "far cry" last year (2002-03) when the figure was 4.6 per cent.
India can sustain 8% growth, says Lahiri
But growth in the first two years of the 10th Plan (2002-03 and 2003-04) was 6.4 per cent.
Speaking at the Confederation of Indian Industry-organised "SUMINFRA 2004", to achieve the eight per cent target, the GDP growth in the remainder of the 10th Plan has to be nine per cent, he pointed out.
"Industry has to grow by over 12 per cent; services by nine per cent; and agriculture must not do less than 4-5 per cent," Shah said.
He called for investment "by several orders of magnitude" in the infrastructure sector, noting that the US and China are viewing infrastructure creation as a means of public spending to drive growth.