Focus on reforms, China style; says Chidambaram

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday outlined a five-point agenda for India to emerge as a global economic leader. He said the country needed to have an open economy and follow the path of liberalisation that it had chosen since 1991, invest in irrigation, agriculture and infrastructure, and improve competitiveness. The FM added that fiscal prudence and responsibitlity would also play a crucial role in this regard.

Inaugurating the 75th anniversary of the Indian chapter of the International Chamber of Commerce, Chidambaram said if India wanted to emerge as a leader, it needed to catch up with China. ‘‘At a presentation at 10 Downing Street last week when I represented India as a special invitee in G-7, I presented India’s impressive growth figures of 6.9 per cent this year only, China said they had clocked 9.3 per cent. When I said the per capita income in India had touched $500, it said it had reached $ 1,000,’’ he stated.

Pre-empting any criticism of his Budget from political parties Chidambaram asked them to set aside all ‘‘sterile political controversies’’ and focus on economic reforms to sustain high growth — China-style.

Referring to the recent CSO growth estimates, he said, ‘‘to our satisfaction, the GDP growth has been estimated at 6.9 per cent for 2004-05.’’ This despite the fact that it was on the back of a high 8.5 per cent growth of 2003-04.

The Indian economy is resilient so as to post such a high growth even after an erratic monsoon, high oil prices and adverse impacts of tsunami, he said, referring to the robust manufacturing growth of 8.7 per cent and certain services growing by 11.1 per cent.