Action plan under works to push growth at district level: Prabhu

An action plan is being formulated to give a boost to economic activities at district level and promote overall economic growth, the commerce and industry ministry said today.

The plan will provide specific interventions taking into account resources, strengths of districts, sectoral interventions for agriculture, including mapping of cropping pattern, skilling initiatives and access to credit.

Active participation of states and district administration will be sought for effective implementation of the plan, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said.

"To involve the districts more actively in the growth of the Indian economy and to formulate a common development vision starting from the district level...it has been decided that a district plan will be created for achieving this goal," he added.

He said that there is a need to create resource based plans, for the districts based on a bottom-up approach and implement the plan by going beyond "a silo-ed mind-set".

An addition of 3 per cent growth at the district level will ensure that USD 5 trillion target for the Indian economy becomes achievable, he added.

The initiative will begin with six districts, including Sindhudurg & Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Muzaffarpur in Bihar, Vishakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Solan in Himachal Pradesh.

A steering committee will be formed to oversee creation and implementation of the plan.

The committee will be headed by the commerce and industry minister with members from different ministries and representatives from states including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.