New Delhi, Jan 3 (IANS) India Inc. said Friday it felt reassured by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s remarks that the worst is over for the Indian economy and growth would pick up.
“CII is reassured by the Prime Minister’s remarks that the worst is over for the economy and the policy actions taken by the government would lead to a pick up in growth momentum, going forward,” the Confederation of Indian Industry said, after the prime minister’s press conference here.
“CII’s own Business Confidence Index indicates that a revival might be on the cards for the economy, going by perception of industry leaders,” it said in a statement.
Commending the passage of several important bills in parliament which set off the reforms agenda and helped much towards rekindling investor confidence, CII added “it is also noteworthy that the number of people below poverty line has come down during the last nine years.”
“We agree (with the prime minister) food inflation can be tackled through actions addressing supply side bottlenecks including through better logistics,” said Sidharth Birla, recently elevated president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
CII said it “shares the Prime Minister’s concern on the challenges to job creation, particularly on the manufacturing front and believes that a concerted effort is required to revive the manufacturing sector, with special emphasis on job creation.”
Birla concurred: “We fully share the PM’s concerns that there has not been enough generation of employment in the economy; at the end of the day, we cannot have jobs without growth.”