Growth rate scaled down
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 10 — The Planning Commission has scaled down the average growth rate projection for the Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002) from 7 per cent to 6.5 per cent following the adverse international economic situation.

The projections were made at a full meeting of the Planning Commission, chaired by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, here today.

Planning Commission Member, Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and the Member Secretary of the Commission, Prof S.R. Hashim, told newspersons that the meeting discussed a new draft of the Five Year Plan, presented by the Deputy Chairman of the Commission, Mr Jaswant Singh.

The new draft Plan incorporates a special action plan which reflects the priorities set by the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister after assuming office had set up five goals including doubling food production and making India hunger free in 10 years, expansion and improvement of social infrastructure, rapid expansion and improvement of physical infrastructure, a National Water Policy to make optimum use of the country’s waters and making India a global information technology power.

Dr Ahluwalia said it was noted that the pace of average economic growth during the first two years of the Ninth Plan was slow and this was attributed to the international economic situation.

With the existing adverse international economic situation threatening to be a constraint for world economic growth in the coming years it was felt that it would be difficult for India to achieve 7 per cent growth rate in the Ninth Plan.

Noting these difficulties, the Planning Commission approved measures to accelerate growth in the remaining three years of the Plan period. It also accepted to fix the growth rate target at a more realistic 6.5 per cent. The gross budgetary support of Rs 374,000 crore would however, be retained for the Plan period.

Mr Vajpayee directed the Planning Commission that economic reform initiatives and objectives should be spelt out in each sector.

The draft would be reviewed keeping in view the direction of the Prime Minister today and it would be submitted to the Cabinet in the first week of December, Dr Ahluwalia said.