Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, has said that the country is trying to achieve an average growth rate of 9 per cent during the 12th Plan period. However, the global economic slowdown is posing a challenge in the way achieving this growth rate.
Speaking at a colloquium on Approach to the 12th Five-Year Plan organised by Planning Forum of St Teresa's College here on Tuesday, he said that the country will have to overcome the slowdown in exports and try to tame the current account deficit of two per cent of the GDP to achieve the growth rate. There was a time when the GDP growth rate was around 3.5 per cent, but in the last 10 years, it was close to 8 per cent, he said.
“We need not be unduly worried about the growth rate. Instead we should focus on what we can do to better it in the coming days,” he added.
While stating that the 12th Plan is being finalised, he said that the focus should be on inclusive growth during the plan period. The GDP growth is not the only measure of growth. Other factors like improving the living standards of the population, environmental concerns and sustainable growth would also be taken into account during the plan period.
We have identified several measurable indicators other than the growth of GDP for adopting the inclusive growth strategy. To get the benefits of higher growth, a relook at the growth strategies pursued in the agriculture sector is needed. The objective should be higher value addition in the agriculture sector. The capabilities of the sector should be expanded to produce more, he said.
More employment opportunities have to be created during the 12th Plan outside the agriculture sector to unleash the entrepreneurial potential. Improving the skill of the workforce would benefit the manufacturing sector to grow more efficiently. There is also a need to focus on the delivery of basic services like health, education, drinking water and access to sanitation.
Energy sector reforms
Mr Ahluwalia also stressed the need for reform in the energy sector to achieve the 9 per cent growth. Domestic sector would emerge as a major consumer of power, he said adding that all sources of power need to be tapped in this efforts.
In this context, he said development of solar power would increase by several fold in the country. The cost of its generation has come down substantially in the recent period but it is still higher than conventional sources of electricity. Though conventional energy would still be the largest source of power, other non conventional sources will also play a major role in the coming days, he added.
Answering a question, he said Kerala has shown a high growth rate in the last six years compared to other states. The State has actually benefited from the currency crisis as its remittance income has shown a growing trend. But the State has to focus on the development of its human skill to emerge as a knowledge-based economy, he said.