Amid assertions from the political leadership that India has done well enough to cope with the global economic crisis, cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar has further amplified that India has come out of the crisis sooner than even the government had expected and was now looking to shift gears.

“We have got out of the economic crisis faster than we expected. India as an economy depends more on domestic demand which picked up during this period. Also, our financial system was strong and the government and the RBI were fast in terms of their response by way of the stimulus packages,” he told The Indian Express while discussing the relatively improved economic scenario.

Describing the current economic situation as “reasonably comfortable”, Chandrasekhar said the government’s focus was now on shifting quickly from short-term to medium-term objectives. With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh having made the point that India would now aim to achieve 9 per cent growth in the medium term, the cabinet secretary said emphasis would be on infrastructure.

“Even in infrastructure, how quickly we can move will depend a great deal on sectors like the power sector. And, of course, the use of water more effectively for irrigation — both minor and major projects — is something we have realised from the recent drought situation. Ports is the other sector which is worrying and we have to speed up implementation there. Besides this, the transport sector in general will be important,” he said. On concerns being expressed about the agriculture sector, Chandrasekhar did agree that the kharif crop was “rather disappointing” but was quick to add that since agriculture contributes to 17 per cent of the GDP, it “need not seriously impact GDP growth”.

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