15 Feb : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that the economy needs to grow at 9-10 pc rate to move forward and the problem of unemployment calls for industialisation of the country.
“The only way forward for this country is to register a growth rate of 9-10 per cent,” he said while giving away Prime Minister’s trophy to the steel plants in New Delhi on Monday.Singh’s statement came as the economy is on the rebound with industrial growth climbing to 16-year high of 16.8 percent in December.
The Central Statistical Organisation has estimated India’s economic growth at 7.2 percent this fiscal.Singh recently said the economy is likely to register 7.5 percent growth this fiscal, up from 6.7 percent last year.
The economy, which had been growing at around 9 percent in the preceding five years, slipped to 6.7 percent in FY’09 following the impact of the global economic crisis.He added that the country needs industrialisation to solve the problem of unemployment and steel sector can play a major role in promoting industrialisation.
The Prime Minister gave trophies to Visakhapatnam Steel Plant of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd and Bhilai Steel Plant of SAIL.
India, the Prime Minister said, has a long way to go as per capita consumption of steel per annum is 46 kg compared to the global average of 190 kg.