Mr P Chidambaram stresses growth is imperative but not sufficient

26 Sep '07

3 min read

A new way of delivering public goods and services such as education, health, water and others is needed for India to be a strong and prosperous nation, said Mr P Chidambaram, Finance Minister of India, in New York.

He was addressing the conference 'India@60: A New Age for Business' jointly organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Asia Society and the US India Business Council as part of the Incredible India@60 campaign being held in the metropolis.

Addressing the breakfast session of the day-long conference attended by top business leaders of US and India, the Finance Minister commented that while the campaign by CII and the Ministry of Tourism was about incredible India, a credible India would arise from a strong and prosperous economy.

Listing the factors for the present growth trend, he said that domestic consumption and investment have been the key drivers of growth along with productivity gains and growing labor force.

These factors will operate to maintain growth in the medium term, while additional reforms would help sustain growth in the long term.

The Minister stated that much needs to be done on reforms and equity. The lack of education, health, water and sanitation, roads and other public goods and services had to be alleviated.

This cannot be done by either the public or the private sectors alone and a new way of combining the advantages of both is needed. "Growth is imperative but not sufficient. Growth with equity is the only road for India,” he stressed. But growth would provide the tax revenues required to fund social services.

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