‘Resources alone cannot lead to high growth rate’

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: The annual Budget for 2002-03 will kick-start the ambitious Tenth Plan that seeks to achieve 8 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate by focusing on agriculture, irrigation and rural development in addition to infrastructure. However, improving governance is a critical factor for improving utilisation of public resources and accelerate economic growth, says the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, K C Pant, in an interview with Chandrashekhar and Amiti Sen of The Financial Express. Excerpts:

We have not been able to achieve the 6.5 per cent growth target set for the Ninth Plan period. What, according to you, went wrong?
Yes, in the Ninth Plan period things did not work out exactly as we had anticipated and we failed to achieve the growth target. This is partly because industrial production went down in the period and agricultural production was not good in the last three years. However, the good thing is that agriculture is picking up now and its effect will also be felt in the industrial sector after a time lag. Because of that, this year the growth rate would go up.

To find out what went wrong, we have to carefully analyse all the reasons that may have contributed to it. The slowdown in the world market may have played a significant role in lowering growth rate in the country. While a reduction in internal demand hampers economic development, slowdown of exports too has a direct impact. The extent to which the fall in exports affected growth in India has to be ascertained.

What will be the thrust area for the Tenth Plan which would lead the economy to 8 per cent growth rate? What steps should the finance ministry take in the forthcoming Budget — which will be the first year of the Tenth Plan?
Broadly, we would like the government to focus on increasing investments in agriculture, rural development, infrastructure, including power and road, education, health, family welfare, science & technology and tourism. However, we have to keep in mind the fact that resources alone cannot lead us to a high growth rate until and unless we improve efficiency in resource utilisation. We also have to ensure transparency in use of resources and proper implementation of all programmes.