Davos: Asserting that India was a "shining star" with a growth rate of 6.5 per cent, which not many countries can boast of, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday said the country would emerge as a stronger economic force in next one year on the back of continuing reforms. The young minister said the growth momentum would be further aided by a focus on "transparency, accountability, execution capability and performance" by the government. "In the current environment, where the world economy is coming out of a downturn, India is still very much one of the shining stars on a global perspective," Scindia said.
He said this was the message that India has brought in Davos for global investors, where one of the key concerns is the need to achieve resilient dynamism, also the theme of WEF. "This is an environment of cautious optimism but I really firmly believe that if we can go down the path that we have set ourselves on, then we will come out much stronger in the next 12 months. Even if you look at 6.7 per cent growth rate, there are not even a handful of countries in the world that are being able to post that growth rate. In terms of economic opportunities, India is one of the most attractive destinations - from a medium term view, from a long term view and from a short term view," the Power Minister said.
India had a growth rate of 6.5 per cent in 2011-2012 and in the current fiscal, the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council has estimated it to be around 6.7 per cent. Asked about the domestic economic issues faced by India, Scindia said, "If we look at Indian context on a domestic level, we certainly needed to move much faster. The government and the Prime Minister understood this need and took the initiatives and therefore we have seen a speeding up of reforms in the last six to eight months".
He said the execution has been sped up and underlined that many executive steps have been taken such as in multi-brand retail, opening up of investment in power trading exchanges among others. "We have got national investment board, and within my ministry the issues with coal ministry over signing of FSAs (Fuel Supply Agreement) have been resolved. We have now proceeded on the path to signing those FSAs," he said.
On the needs of an aspirational young society in the country, Scindia said, "I don't think reforms alone can meet the aspirations of our young and assertive population. Aspiration today in our country has a much greater goal, which calls for economic growth, economic well-being of the people and reforms is not the only panacea for that. What is more important is transparency, accountability, execution capability and performance. If you look at these four issues that would lead to greater economic growth, better well-being, fulfilment of aspirations. Reforms is just a means and it is the end result of meeting the aspirations of our country that matters," he said.
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