India needs 150-200 bln dollars investment in infrastructure:PM

New Delhi, Oct 4 (UNI) India needs 150-200 billion dollars investment in infrastructure and for this "we need liberalisation of banking and insurance sectors".

"We need large amount of investment as large as 150-200 billion dollars in the next seven or eight years in infrastructure. It everywhere requires long term money and therefore we need to create in our country a strong debt market and this strong debt market can come only when pension fund actvitiy gets a boost, the insurance industry gets a boost", Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh told newsmen while returning from his three-day visit of South Africa last evening.

He admitted that reforms in these sectors are blocked by the UPA partners. "We don't have consensus in our coliation on these matters, but we keep on trying".

On opposistion to Special Economic Zones (SEZ), the Prime Minister said that SEZ have come to stay. But it is also true that they have to operate in a manner in which concerns can be dealt with.

Dr Singh also said that there is no consensus among coliation partners as to how to handle the creamy layer concept. Some elements of the coliation the left parties feel that creamy layers should be excluded. However, other political parties like DMK, RJD and PMK do not buy this argument.

"So of now we don't have a consensus. I think there is a consensus, but I won't like to talk about it in public. We have discussed this, but the truth is as of now there is no broad consensus on the issue.

UNI/SMA/RB SRS HT1425