Good infrastructure can get back India to 8% growth: Montek Singh Ahluwalia

NEW DELHI: India can get back to 8 per cent GDP growth with improved infrastructure, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said.

"...if government concentrates 90 per cent of its energy on delivering the infrastructure, on environment...I think we will be back to 8 per cent growth much faster than what the people think today," Ahluwalia said.

He was speaking at the NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards function here late last evening.

Ahluwalia said the Indian economy was growing at the 5 per cent level from 8 per cent earlier.

"...after all 5 per cent growth may look very good if you are in Europe, it will look very good if you are in Brazil... very good if you are in South Africa, very good if you are in Japan, but doesn't look good in India.

He said the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) was set up to address problems holding up large projects and speed up the clearances.

"...We need some innovative, may be out of the box problem solving solutions, finding some ways of taking care of some problems and that is what the CCI is designed to do.

"I think the next few weeks should be enough to demonstrate that the government is aware that there are problems and they are going to get resolved.

"And I think if we do that, the mood will change and you won't have quite the same negativity which otherwise has been evident in any gathering that discusses the economy," he added.