Industry welcomes PM's statement on need to achieve 8% growth

Says statement addresses all areas of concerns regarding the economy

The industry today welcomed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that called for speedy and decisive actions to achieve 8% economic growth.

"Growth has slowed to 5%, which is clearly disappointing ... We are seeing temporary downturn, partly due to global factors. We can get back to 8% growth rate," Singh said at the CII AGM, adding that government will take speedy and decisive action to push growth.

Welcoming the statement, Jindal Steel and Power Chairman Naveen Jindal said, "PM has addressed all areas of concern of industrialists for the economy and has also said that we shouldn't be pessimistic, we should be optimistic and if we do the right things, we can easily achieve higher growth rate.

"I think it will give the industry the confidence it needs to make investments," he added.

Reacting positively to the PM's statement, Chairman of Bajaj Group Rahul Bajaj said, "If the Prime Minister says certain things, you take it seriously. If you don't take that seriously, who would you take seriously? I think he has made a very positive statement.

"As the Prime Minister said, we had 8% growth earlier although we had the same problems. We still have the same problems, then why should we be satisfied (with 5%). That is the question we all have to answer," he added.

Mahindra & Mahindra President (Automotive and Farm Equipment Sectors) Pawan Goenka said, "Singh has almost spoken about everything that industry wants the government to address but the real challenge will be the execution and implementation."

Being an election year, there is some level of anxiety among the industry about 'some inaction' or 'some popular steps' which may not necessarily be good in the long run, he added.