Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Oct 15, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Oct 15, 2004 |
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Money & Banking
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Forex Industry & Economy - Infrastructure Forex reserves could be used for infrastructure financing: Montek Our Bureau
Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman and Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies Ltd, receiving the `Eminent Businessman of the Year 2003' award from Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, in Mumbai on Thursday. Also seen is Mr Nanik Rupani, President, IMC. - Shashi Ashiwal
Mumbai , Oct. 14 THE Planning Commission is considering the use of the country's foreign exchange reserves for financing infrastructure development, said the Deputy Chairman of the Commission, Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, here on Thursday. India's foreign exchange reserves were more than adequate and the Commission was working out how it could be used, said Dr Ahluwalia, speaking to reporters after he addressed the Indian Merchants' Chamber here. The Planning Commission is conducting an exercise to identify weaknesses in the Indian economy, which have to be overcome to achieve an 8 per cent annual GDP growth target, he said. What India is delivering through the public system towards health and education are grossly inadequate and much below what other countries in Asia are doing, he said. Ensuring devolution of power to the local third-tier level of government and ensuring that resources actually provide benefits is a related concern, he said. The second difficulty for India, he said, is that agriculture growth has decelerated from the mid-nineties onwards. Currently, a little over 2 per cent, it must double if India is to achieve 8 per cent growth. While subsidies to agriculture are rising, and going into loss-making power and irrigation system, actual investment in agriculture has gone down, he said. The third problem lies in infrastructure. The actual scale of infrastructure development required is so large that only public and private partnership could accomplish it, he said. The Planning Commission through its mid-term appraisal will identify areas around which policy could be developed to deal with these issues, he said.
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