Government taking steps to push economy back on 7-8% growth path

NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee today exuded confidence that the government's policy initiatives will soon put Indian economy back on the high growth trajectory of 7 to 8 per cent.

"A number of measures aimed at investment revival, strengthening macro-economic stability and ramping up infrastructure will certainly posit India back into the high growth trajectory of 7-8 per cent," Mukherjee said at a SCOPE awards ceremony here.

The President noted that the green shoots of recovery were already visible, with the economy growing at 5.7 per cent during the first quarter of current fiscal.

"India today stands at the cusp of a transformative phase which, I firmly believe, will successfully place us in the league of developed nations over the next two decades," he said.

Mukherjee also expressed hope that inflation will be contained below five per cent through various policy interventions by the government.

"Various steps taken towards fiscal consolidation have shown positive results. Inflation has decelerated over the past three months and we hope to contain it below 5 per cent through a judicious mix of policy measures,"

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make in India campaign, which is aimed at transforming India into a global manufacturing hub, Mukherjee said: "I believe that our central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) have a vital role in making this a reality".

"We should aim not only at catering to our huge domestic demand but also towards high quality product development and greater access to foreign markets. This would not only create adequate employment opportunities for our youth but also raise standards of living across," he said.

Pointing out that CPSEs are custodians of public wealth, Mukherjee stressed that they "necessarily need to ensure continued compliance with the best standards of corporate governance and transparency".

The state-owned firms like SAIL, HAL, BPCL and IOCL were among the PSUs conferred with the SCOPE Meritorious Awards 2012-13 on the occasion.