(a) whether the growth of Indian Economy projected for the year 2005 is more
than 7 per cent as per the findings of International Monetary Fund;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the assessment of the Union Government in this regard during the current
year; and
(d) the action taken/proposed to be taken to accelerate reforms and develop
infrastructure to achieve greater growth in the coming years?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING (SHRI M.V. RAJASEKHARAN)
(a) & (b): Yes, Sir. As per the World Economic Outlook brought out by the
International Monetary Fund, the Indian economy is expected to achieve a real growth
rate of 7.1 per cent in the year 2005.
(c): As per the Mid-Term Appraisal to the Tenth Five Year Plan, the real rate of
growth (in terms of GDP at market prices) of the Indian economy during the year
2005-06 is expected to be 7.6 per cent.
(d): The Mid-Term Appraisal to the Tenth Plan has suggested a number of measures
to raise the growth rate of the economy in the coming years. Some of these include
raising public investment in different sectors particularly in agriculture, infrastructure,
viz. power, roads, greater focus on health and education, improving allocative
efficiency of resources, enacting policy reforms with a view to creating an investor
friendly environment, improving governance and enhancing the efficiency of delivery
systems, etc. The details of the measures suggested are listed in the Mid-Term
Appraisal of the Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-2007), which has been placed in the
Parliament library. For the development of infrastructure, a Committee on
Infrastructure has been set up under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister. Similarly
`Bharat Nirman` has been conceived as a plan to be implemented over a period of
four years, for building infrastructure, especially in rural areas. It will have six
components, namely, irrigation, roads, water supply, housing, rural electrification and
rural telecom connectivity.