India could grow by 8.5 pc in next fiscal, 9 pc in 2011-12: PM

New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
on Tuesday exuded confidence the Indian economy would grow by
8.5 per cent in the next fiscal and accelerate to nine per
cent the following year from an estimated 7.2 per cent this
fiscal.
Going forward, the country should step up the pace of
economic expansion to above 10 per cent per annum in the 12th
Five Year Plan (2012-2107) to generate employment for the
youth and remove poverty, the Prime Minister said at a
conference on building infrastructure hosted by the Planning
Commission.
"We expect to achieve 8.5 per cent growth rate in the
year 2010-11... I hope we can achieve growth rate of 9 per
cent in the year 2011-12," he said.
However, the country should do even better, he said.
"For eliminating poverty and providing productive
employment for our young population in the near future, we
must aim at accelerating the pace of economic growth to above
10 per cent per annum. This is the growth target which we
should work towards for the 12th Five Year Plan," Singh said.
The Prime Minister's remarks assume importance since the
original target of nine per cent growth rate in the 11th Five
Year Plan is set for a downward revision to little over 8 per
cent.
After growing at over 9 per cent in the three preceding
year, India's economic growth declined to 6.7 per cent last
fiscal due to the global financial crisis.
However, due to the three fiscal stimulus packages given
by the Government to prop up the economy, the Central
Statistical Organisation (CSO) has estimated economic growth
at 7.2 per cent in the current fiscal. PTI