Suggesting a 5-pronged strategy to achieve India economic growth of 10 per cent over the next few years,CII said the government should focus on fast tracking 100 mega projects. It should also aim at doubling the contribution of manufacturing sector in GDP to 25 per cent,from 12 per cent,create a common market and improve investment climate,the industry chamber said. "India,with its large population,and many living in rural areas,needs a growth rate of 10 per cent for many years to become a developed country," CII President B Muthuraman said. In his first press conference after taking over the reins of the country's leading industry body,Muthuraman said that fast tracking implementation of 100 mega projects can go a long way in bringing the moderating investments back on track. He said that a Project Monitoring and Implementation Agency,setup by the government with specific timelines on implementation of these projects,will help in keeping up the growth momentum at high levels. The contribution of manufacturing sector in GDP can be increased to 25 per cent by enhancing labour productivity,building strong industrial structure,capacity building for SMEs and encouraging development of innovation clusters. On creating a common market,he said that as India remains a fragmented market,efforts have to be made to make it a single market. "A Common Market could be achieved through early implementation of GST and through uniform implementation of Agricultural Produce Market Committees Act across states and hurdle free movement of agri produce by abolishing the Essential Commodities Act," Muthuraman added. He said early implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) could add 1 to 1.5 per cent to the GDP. CII announced a special committee on GST to facilitate a better dialogue on the issues holding back the indirect taxes regime. GST,which is considered to be a major tax reform which would subsume most of the indirect taxes,has been pending for the past few years due to differences between the Centre and some states over the new structure. Muthuraman said that improving investment climate is an another major area of reform that needs attention of the government as India is still perceived as a difficult place for doing business. He announced setting up of CII-State Government task forces to work on improving investment climate as several state Government laws and procedures create regulatory hassles and inhibit investments. This year 6 states would be covered,said Muthuraman,who is also the Vice-Chairman of Tata Steel.
