Himalayan News Service

New Delhi, May 15:

Even as the government is preoccupied with sustaining an annual economic growth of seven to eight per cent, Indian industry is confident that the country has the potential to soon move towards double-digit growth.

Realising this potential would be the focus of discussions at the two-day long annual session of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the country’s apex industry body, beginning here on Tuesday.

A CII study prepared ahead of the session outlined various measures the country should adopt to speed up growth, including management or lowering of fiscal deficit, which it said could lead to lower inflation, control interest rates, and spur growth. “The CII is of the view that fiscal discipline should be tightened by reducing the revenue deficit. India should try to remove fiscal deficit as it crowds out investment in capital formation,” it said.

The other suggestions were proper implementation of Value-Added Tax (VAT), introduction of contract farming in a big way, quick implementation of Integrated Food Law, more investment in rural infrastructure like roads and de-licensing the education sector. The paper also recommends more investment in e-governance as it will reduce government-public interface and reduce corruption. Giving credit to the government for putting the country firmly on a growth trajectory, the CII called upon stakeholders to cash in on what it called a ‘new deal from policymakers.’ Finance minister P Chidambaram, defence minister Pranab Mukherjee, home minister Shivraj Patil and other will address the conference.