Major industry and chamber bodies on Friday expressed happiness over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s commitment on pursuing economic reforms and reviving the economy in the remaining period of his tenure and the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
ASSOCHAM president Rana Kapoor said the Prime Minister’s statement gave industry the confidence that his government would surely make a last ditch effort to get some of the key reform legislation passed by Parliament in the remaining period of his tenure and run up to the elections.
He hoped the government would pass the Direct Tax code in the Budget session stressing that the elections should not deter implementation of policies which could ensure higher growth.
FICCI president Sidharth Birla justified the Prime Minister’s concern over the failure to generate employment pointing out that without growth, jobs were not possible to give.
He underlined that manufacturing sector was core to creation of jobs stressing that a healthy macro-environment, sound governance, policy clarity and effective implementation were preconditions for expansion of business.
CII director general Chandrajit Banerjee said industry was assured by the Prime Minister’s statement that the worst was over and policy actions would help revive the growth momentum.
Concurring with Dr. Singh that the manufacturing sector was yet to see a turnaround, Mr. Banerjee said a concerted effort was required to meet the challenges to job creation.
Appreciating the Prime Minister’s perception on long-term growth, PHD Chamber president Sharad Jaipuria hoped the focus of the government would remain intact to revive the economic growth rate.
He said the government need to address issues pertaining to inflation and corruption which could help revive growth in the days ahead.
