``We welcome the NDA manifesto whole heartedly. My first impression is very positive. It is briefer and to the point. It is more reform and Indian industry-oriented than the Congress manifesto,'' Bajaj said here today addressing a press conference.

Asked about the ways in which the NDA manifesto was more industry-oriented, Bajaj said with regard to the banking sector, the Congress manifesto only talked of autonomy to the sector and was silent on the issue of privatisation which was critical to the sector. And, secondly, with regard to the telecom sector, it talked about reviewing the foreign equity ceiling and might offer majority stake to foreign telecom companies which would not be in the national interest.

However, Bajaj said, both the manifestoes weregrowth-oriented and if implemented properly, both would take the country forward. The CII chief also mentioned that the Congress manifesto had taken care of all the recommendations the chamber made in a presentation to Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh sometime back. ``We have identified 80 positive points in the Congress manifesto,'' Bajaj said.

What Bajaj was particularly happy about was the last paragraph in the Congress manifesto which mentions that every year the party will give a report to the people on the commitments it had made in the manifesto and to what extent these have been fulfilled.

Bajaj welcomed the proposal in the Congress manifesto which talks about the review of the small-scale reservation especially where there was a need to accelerate exports and introduce technology.

Bajaj said the economy was now turning the corner, even though some sectors like steel had not fully recovered. Other sectors like IT, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, machine tools and FMCG had shown signs of recovery.As a result, CII was expecting a GDP growth rate of over 6 per cent. He expressed hope that the trend of declining interest rates would continue.

``There are two worrying factors -- exports and fiscal deficit,'' Bajaj said adding that the chamber was happy that both the manifestoes talked about bringing down the fiscal deficit.

Bajaj also mentioned that the chamber wanted provisions, as in the German system, which would ensure that elections could not be held before five years. ``The 12th Lok Sabha had over 40 parties and over 20 of them had one MP each. We should get a law passed whereby a political party must get at least 5 per cent of the total national vote in order to be eligible to sit in Parliament,'' he said.

Talking about funding of the general election, Bajaj welcomed the Congress manifesto for mentioning state funding of polls. ``That is but obvious because the industry is not in a mood to shell out money for elections.''

In a note issued today to its 4,000 odd members, the CII hasrequested them to make donations to political parties by cheque. ``We understand the limitations of this recommendation. But how can we talk about corporate governance and pay to parties in black?''

CII recommendations on elections