PM Manmohan Singh meets leading industrialists amid slowdown fears

NEW DELHI: Amid concerns over slowdown in economy and shrinking industrial output, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today met leading industrialists and assured them that the government is determined to get back on the growth path.

The assurance came at a meeting of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry, attended by Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, Sunil Mittal and Rahul Bajaj among others.

"It was a very positive and good interaction with the Prime Minister. He listened to all the industry and different aspects and challenges that industry is facing and he (Prime Minister) is determined to get back on the growth path," Piramal Healthcare Director Swati Piramal told reporters after the meeting.

The council, chaired by Singh, is an institutionalised framework that has been created for partnership between the government and the business.

From the government side, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, Environment Minister Jayanti Natarajan along with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and PMEAC Chairman C Rangarajan took part in the discussion.

Other eminent industrialists who took part in the meeting, included noted banker Deepak Parikh, Infosys founder N Narayana Murthy and Sunil Munjal of Hero Group.

Sources said that the industry leaders raised concerns on reforms such as allowing FDI in multi-brand retail, banking and insurance sectors among others.

It is also understood that the government was asked to fastrack approval of mega projects.

The meeting comes amid concerns over India's industrial output shrinking by 5.1 per cent in October after witnessing a sustained slowdown over the past few months. The economic growth also slowed down to 6.9 per cent in the July-September period, the lowest over two years.