C. Rangarajan, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister, has said though non-food, manufacturing inflation had shown definite signs of decline, spiralling prices of food items was impacting overall inflation.
On the sidelines of an ITsAP annual industry awards function here on Monday, he said vegetable prices appeared to be on the rise again, including commodities like milk and vegetables, apart from cereals.
Diesel prices
As if this was not enough cause for concern, he said changes were needed to be made as regards diesel prices when asked about its de-regulation.
The point was that since prices of high speed diesel were not adjusted in a long time, the impact of such a move to bring it on a par with international prices could be high if effected at one go. Hence, it would have to be done in phases, he added.
Depending on the monsoon and international markets, a 7.5 per cent growth could surely be expected, he said in reply to a question. Earlier, he said imaginative and innovative use of IT could be the means to take quality education across the country. India's techies needed to focus on education and find solutions. With technology as the driving force for economic growth, he said the world was witnessing a revolution which could be as far-reaching as the first industrial revolution.
Positive impact
IT had a positive impact on payment and settlement systems, he said, adding with path-breaking initiatives, the ‘electronification' of payment system had become the hallmark of the last decade. With a whopping 700 million mobile telephones in place, it would be worthwhile for banks to ride piggyback on the mobile telephony platform to achieve financial inclusion, allowing authentication of identity and transactions through a secured gateway, he said.
The awards were given away in different categories. Verity Knowledge Solutions bagged the Best Start-up Indian company, while Microsemi India, Hyundai Motor India Engineering and Xilinx India Technology Services got the awards for the Best State-Up Off-Shore Development Centre (ODC), Best Indian SME in software development and the Best Established ODC, respectively.
The Tier-2 City Awards were bagged by Mahindra Satyam, PB Systems India, Trewport Techno Consulting and Gajalakshmi Software Systems, named as Best IT Company from Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Kakinada and Tirupati, respectively. The ITsAP Green IT Awards went to Infosys, Wells Fargo India solutions and Tata Consultancy Services. In a new category introduced this year, Infosys, Wipro and Mahindra were recognised as top exporters from Andhra Pradesh.
