Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman, planning commission, has said he expects the GDP growth to be at around 8-8.5% for this year.
?The economic advisory council has projected the GDP growth to be at 7-7.8%, whereas the Centre for Monitoring of Indian Economy(CMIE) has pegged it to be over 9%. Hence I see the GDP growth to be at around 8-8.5%,? he said, on the sidelines of a seminar on SMEs in Mumbai on Saturday.
The seminar was held jointly by Small & Medium Business Development Chamber of India and India International Trade Centre.
?Even if we are able to achieve it (the level of growth), it will be quite reasonable. In fact, it would be a good performance at a time when the entire world economy is slowing down.? he added. ?My judgment is that you will see a deceleration in inflation in a few months and find that inflation is really coming down. Right now the inflation is uncomfortable, but even today, the wholesale price index figure may be misleading, it depends on how you make your own assessment,? he said.
On the problem of acquiring land for setting up of Tata’s Nano project at Singur he said, ?I don?t think that the land acquisition at Singur will be hampered. Though I haven?t specifically thought about it, I hope that it gets resolved. Individual issues are difficult to comment on since I?m not fully aware of the developments at Singur.?
He further added, ?As of now, we have a fairly ambitious plan expenditure. Yes, there is a fiscal deficit because the off-budget items are higher because of all these unexpected developments, but it is not altering plan expenditure this year. So, the plan expenditure is taking place as budgeted.?
