Internal constraints holding back growth, says PM

The Prime Minister also stressed ‘‘an incomplete appreciation’’ of the UPA Government’s economic model that is equitable and just. ‘‘In the long-run, we must carry everyone along this road…This is our vision of India. This must be your vision of India too.’’

But he was harsher on the polity, saying there are ‘‘no external constraints’’ that hold back India’s growth. These constraints are ‘‘internal’’ ranging from those imposed ‘‘by our polity, our social structures, our regional imbalances, our ability to handle inequity, and our ability to take hard, but essential decisions.’’

While there were no policy announcements by Singh, he concentrated on agriculture, infrastructure, labour, FDI, and even on India’s desire to create a third economic global pole after EU and NAFTA. ‘‘We are on the verge of entering into an FTA with ASEAN countries next month’’ In a few years’ time, he predicted, we would see a pan-Asian market including Australia and New Zealand.

On the issue of foreign direct investment (FDI), the Prime Minister said that India has one of the most ‘‘liberal’’ regimes in the world and that it was not a failure of policy which was holding back huge inflows of FDI but was ‘‘badly-designed procedures and poor infrastructure’’.

On the power sector, which according to him ‘‘continues to be plagued with complex problems’’ Singh promised that matters would be set right in the coming months and that he was ‘‘personally holding wide consultations to remedy the situation’’.

Otherwise, in the other infrastructure sectors, the country was ‘‘at the take-off point’’ as the institutional framework was falling in place. On agriculture, which has grown on at 2 per cent as against a targeted 4 per cent, Singh mentioned a host of measures ranging from an ‘‘integrated food law’’ along with amendments to the Essential Commodities Act that would then present opportunities to make India ‘‘into a new granary of the world’’.

After announcing the Bharat Nirman project to boost rural infrastructure, the PM also said that a package for urban infrastructure covering ‘‘top sixty urban agglomerates’’ will be announced this week for urban transport projects, slum development projects and urban decongestion projects where the Centre will itself invest Rs 50,000 crore. ‘‘We have linked funding to taking some basic actions such as improving municipal bodies, remove land ceiling and rent control legislation and rationalising stamp duties.’’

Singh also touched on the much-awaited decision on opening up the retail sector and said that the government was involved in ‘‘intellectually stimulating exercise to understand the possibilities that exist in opening up this sector.’’