CII bats for initiatives by government, industry to push growth

JAIPUR: Industry body CII today said there was a need for a combination of initiatives and special focus on the part of the government as well as the industry to give a push to the economy for achieving an impressive growth rate in the coming years. The country has a potential to achieve 8 per cent growth in coming years which is achievable with a set of certain efforts that included fixing of policy issues.

Zubin Irani, Chairman of CII Northern Region, while elaborating the organisation's focus areas for the northern region, said that though there was now stability in economic situation due to contained Current Account Deficit. However, fiscal deficit continues to put stain on the economy which needed to be managed, he added.

"We have a lot of opportunities to grow in coming years and there are several potential sectors including manufacturing. "The country can achieve 8 per cent growth rate and efforts by the government as well as the industry are required to be made properly," Irani said. "Increase in per capita income, young population, potential in manufacturing sector are among other factors which would play role in our growth but due to recent slump in economy there are certain challenges before the economy," he said at a press conference here.

However, Irani said, investors were showing interest which was a positive sign. He informed that the CII before elections interacted with the representatives from various political parties to share with them the industry's views and issues that needed to be addressed.

The trade body also told them about the expectations from the new government, he added. He said the Northern region had a good potential for manufacturing sector. The region contributes 25.9 per cent to GDP and the regional growth is estimated at 7.6 per cent. He said the growth rate of primary and service sector in some of the states in the Northern region is higher than the national rate.

"We are promoting the Northern region as a manufacturing hub," he said. He said that special focus on skill development, fixing of policy related issues, investor friendly policies and taxation were required to attract investment and generate employment opportunities. Anand Singhal, Chairman of Rajasthan Chapter, CII, sharing the state chapter's priorities for the year 2014-15, said it would be giving recommendations to the state government on policies, business development and skill development, among others.