Youth to drive Indian growth, says Tarun Das

India will have one of the youngest populations among all other countries, said Tarun Das, chief mentor Confederation of Indian Industry and chairman of Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd.

Addressing a lecture organised by the ICAFI Business School on the Indian economy and the Union budget, he said, the country's population which was once a liability was today its biggest asset.

Around 50 per cent of the population was below the age of 25 years and 70 per cent below the age of 40 years. "In a world which is aging we will have young people around. We will have a huge supply chain of young men and women" he explained.

Das cited examples of Europe, Japan and China, all suffering from a aging population and the United States, which had other problems like immigration laws.

Das was confident that all these attributes would help India achieve a growth rate of 10 per cent. He said, with reforms taking place, India would grow at 10 per cent and overtake China.

The main areas where India would excel was food, services and manufacturing. He said, India would emerge as the food factory of the world.

In services and manufacturing also, India was yet to peak and hence the potential was huge.

However, Das said, among all the reforms the main task was to reform the mindset of the people.

"India suffers from a deficit of trust" he said. This held good for the government, industry and the labour.