On Board Air India One Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday exuded confidence on 8 to 8.5 per cent growth for India despite the difficult global situation and said a 9 per cent target for the next Five Year Plan was also reachable.
"We have to ensure the ill-winds from abroad do not affect the growth processes in our country adversely," the prime minister told journalists on the way back from Tuesday's India-Brazil-South Africa Summit in Pretoria.
"For that it is very essential we maintain the tempo of investment, particularly investment in the infrastructure sector, investment in agriculture, investment in energy saving technologies," he said.
"I am confident that just as in 2008 we showed to the world we can swim against the wind blowing from abroad, it is still possible for us to maintain a healthy growth of 8-8.5 per cent despite the adversity of international environment."
The prime minister said India needed to "walk on several legs" to beat chronic poverty, ignorance and disease, for which it was important to ensure economy grows fast enough.
"In the 12th Five Year Plan, we have the target of about 9 per cent growth rate. It is difficult in the present world situation but we believe it is achievable," the prime minister said, emphasizing on infrastructure and skill development.
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