FICCI sets agenda for strong national economic governance

New Delhi, May 29 (ANI): Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on Friday set itself an action agenda to address the challenges of restoring economic growth to 9 percent mark.

Unveiling FICCI's '100-Day Action Agenda' in the capital, FICCI's President Harsh Pati Singhania said the restoration of economic growth to 9 percent would entail serious action on the part of the government in critical sectors like agriculture and infrastructure.

"If you look at overall areas, we have touched upon six or seven critical sectors. We have talked about agriculture, we have talked about infrastructure, we have talked about manufacturing, disinvestments or divestment is a very important part. The financial sector in terms of bringing down interest rates that still remains a very important part of this growth agenda," Harsh Pati Singhania, President, FICCI.

Singhania further underlined the need for expeditious action to pass the pending economic Bills in parliament.

"We have talked about opening FDI in certain areas, some of the stalled bills in banking, pension, insurance some of these areas. Now this will allow more FDI to come in and if the markets in addition to that see these kinds of changes, then more FIIs will come in," added Harsh Pati Singhania, President, FICCI.

The revised estimates for the fiscal year 2008-2009 have put the GDP growth at 6.7 percent and the government will have to strive hard to enhance this figure.

According to FICCI, a major reason for the slippage in growth has been the sharp slide in the agricultural as well as the manufacturing sectors.

Growth rate of agricultural sector dipped to 1.6 percent as compared to 4.9 percent in the previous fiscal year.(ANI)