Corporate India Sees 5-5.5% Growth Rate

The grounding of several reform measures like liberalisation of foreign direct investment, disinvestment in state-owned enterprises and the delay in the implementation of the value-added tax (VAT) have led India Inc to scale down growth projections.

Several industrialists at the annual session of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here today said a GDP growth of 5-5.5 per cent was likely in 2003-04 in light of the recent developments.

A week ago, Reserve Bank of India Governor Bimal Jalan had said the GDP would grow 6-6.5 per cent. Yesterday, the CII had forecast a growth of 6-6.4 per cent. Earlier in the session, management guru C K Prah- lad said the country needed a 10 per cent growth in order to keep up with China.

 

Predicting a growth of 5-5.5 per cent, Ajit Gulabchand, Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Construction Company Ltd, said: