Letters: India's growth on autopilot

In his Weekend Ruminations “Take credit for inflation” (October 22), T N Ninan makes the invaluable point that there has been a sea change in India’s agriculture between the relative stagnation up to 2004 to the rapid growth thereafter — which has given India’s poor the chance to start eating much better than before.

In another Business Standard edit “Not as well buffered” (October 26) it has been pointed out that India’s external debt rose from an average of $1.8 billion per year from 1990-91 to 2002-03 to $25 billion over the next eight years and has reached $36.5 billion and $45 billion in the last two years, touching the limit of prudence.

Both these developments show that India is now operating at the outer limit of what is possible for its society, the recipe for high achievement spelt out by Dr Henry A Kissinger in his article “Vision for Achievement”, reprinted in this newspaper on August 5, 1997. In this situation, the increased vigilance against corruption and better governance will only help.

It is, therefore, time to say with confidence that India’s eight to 10 per cent GDP growth on an inclusive basis is now on autopilot — a near certainty, barring accidents.

Alok Sarkar, Kolkata