The Hindu : Assocham hails PM's stand on reforms

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 06, 2002

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Assocham hails PM's stand on reforms

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI Oct. 5. The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) has welcomed the commitment made by the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, to labour, financial and tax reforms to move on to an 8 per cent Gross Domestic Product growth target in the 10th five-year Plan.

Reacting to Mr. Vajpayee's announcement at the meeting of the full Planning Commission here today, the Assocham president, R.K. Somany, said the 8 per cent target was achievable if the process of disinvestment was pushed forward and a climate conducive was created for attracting foreign direct investment on a sustained basis.

Mr. Somany said the plan had rightly focussed on raising public investment in agriculture, irrigation, and road building to stimulate demand particularly in rural areas.

The need of the hour was to plug leakages and ensure that capital was efficiently deployed to maximise returns in terms of employment and income levels.

The Assocham chief expressed the hope that the Government would speedily put the disinvestment process back on track and remove irritants such as procedural delays and red tape to attract large amounts of Foreign Direct Investment in the desired sectors.

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