India Eco Summit: FM sees 9-10% growth in FY13

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said India could achieve 9 to 10 per cent growth in financial year 2012-13.

“We can expect over 7 per cent growth in 2010-11. After the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2011), we may be able to reach that magical figure,” Mukherjee said at the India Economic Summit today.

He was responding to a question by ICICI Bank MD & CEO Chanda Kocchar on when India could go back to the high growth levels of 9-10 per cent.

After growing at over 8.5 per cent for five years, India's economic growth slowed to 6.7 per cent in 2008-09. The economy grew at 5.6 per cent in 1980s and 6.5 per cent in 1990s. Mukherjee said 6.7 per cent was a modest growth in the given circumstances.

The finance minister said that the government would continue to provide fiscal stimulus to boost domestic demand until recovery was seen all over the world, especially the developed economies like North America, Europe and Japan.

"We need to ensure strong local demand till there are clear signs of recovery in the developed world," he added.

The finance minister added that the government needed to invest heavily in infrastructure, especially power to boost local demand and economic growth.