The groups, in the nature of task force, will focus on infrastructure, capital markets, agro and food processing, knowledge-based industries, service industries and administrative and legal simplifications.

Tata group chairman Ratan Tata told reporters after the meeting, "we all expressed views which we felt were standing in the way of reviving the economy."

The groups will interact with the concerned ministries and departments who will provide the necessary assistance and data to them. The interaction of the groups with the concerned ministries will be facilitated by the Prime Minister's Office.

It was also decided that the groups might co-opt officials from the concerned ministries and external experts as necessary. In hisopening remarks, the prime minister stressing that there was no room for complacency as the international environment was becoming increasingly difficult and uncertain, advised a seven-point approach for the council.

He emphasised a strategy that would enable a GDP growth of 7 per cent for the next three years and 8 per cent thereafter, industrial growth of 10 per cent per annum by next year and 12 to 13 per cent thereafter, export growth of 15-20 per cent per annum in dollar terms and policy leading to high employment with modest inflation.

The meeting was attended from the government's side by finance minister Yashwant Sinha, deputy chairman of the planning commission Jaswant Singh, who are special invitees and senior officials including the cabinet secretary, Prabhat Kumar, and the principal secretary to the prime minister, Brajesh Mishra.

The members who attended were Suresh Krishna, NR Narayanmurthy, Nusli Wadia, RP Goenka, PK Mittal, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Ratan Tata, AC Muthia, Mukesh Ambani andParvinder Singh.

Other points emphasised by the prime minister included the need to rekindle the spirit of enterprise. Lauding the Indian entrepreneurs' excellence, the prime minister said, "we need to adopt measures which will dispel lingering fears and fortify confidence and build optimism in our expectations."

He said the country should focus on a comprehensive strategy to deal with the debilitating impact of a global meltdown and to demonstrate that India has an attractive economic prospect for domestic and foreign investors.

Also, measures should be adopted to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of Indian corporates to face the increasing challenges of globalisation.

He advised the council to focus on some immediate concerns. "Concerns which are in your mind and ours. How do we get on to a higher growth path? A path which will impart new momentum."

He said tangible steps should be taken which would substantially increase investment in infrastructure, lead to revival of the capitalmarket and restructuring of public enterprises for greater efficiency and productivity while continuing the disinvestment process through a transparent disinvestment mechanism.

He also stressed the need to refreshen the government's communication strategy to enable not only fine-tuning of policies to create awareness about the programmes but also to monitor and ensure that the benefits of the development percolate to the grassroots for alleviating poverty.

Another point, the prime minister emphasised was to invest and foster "knowledge as an industry". This, he said, should be achieved through investing in skills, human resource development and improving the Quality of Life Index as per the World Development Report. "This is a big agenda," he said adding, "we need to organise ourselves purposefully and gainfully and jointly embark on a course of action."