Asserting that India was on way to become an economic super power with the end of its nuclear isolation, finance minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said the nation should emulate China for faster growth. ?The government has charted out a new path which will end India?s nuclear isolation which will pave the way for India becoming an economic superpower,? he said

Terming the current fiscal as a ?difficult year? for the economy, he said despite the odds the nation would end up with a higher growth rate than that witnessed during the six years of the NDA rule. ?I have no hesitation in saying that I do not envy China. I want to emulate China. I want India to become an economic power, an economic super power,? he said, participating in the debate on the confidence vote.

Giving the details of the performance of the Indian economy during the UPA rule vis-a-vis that of BJP-led NDA, he said compared to an average of 5.8% growth in the previous regime, the economy grew at an average of 8.9% during the first four years of the UPA rule.

Dubbing the year 2007-08 as a ?watershed? year in India?s agriculture history with record foodgrain production of 230.7 million tonnes, he said: ?This came about through far-sighted plans and a missionary approach and an attention to details.?

The revised agricultural estimates would take the Indian economy to a 9.1% growth in 2007-08, thus help redeem the government to grow at over 7-8% as targeted in the common minimum programme, he said.

Asserting that no government has done more for farmers than the UPA dispensation, the finance minister said: ?We have launched various schemes, including the loan-waiver scheme and the Aam Aadmi Bima Yojna, and increased the farm credit three times since 2003-04.?

?Never before in the history of this country has the government undertaken a loan-waiver scheme,? he said, adding that the total relief of Rs 66,477 crore has been given to 3.63 crore farmers.

?I have more than fulfilled my promise made to the House. But for the loan-waiver and debt-relief scheme, these three crore farmers would not have been entitled for loans,? the finance minister said.

In order to deal with the issue of suicides by farmers in a systematic manner, he said, ?We have increased farm credit from Rs 86,000 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 2.5 lakh crore in 2007-08 and has set a target of Rs 2.8 lakh crore in the current year.?

He said the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in less than 15 months has been rolled out to all rural districts of the country.