The Planning Commission is hopeful of a good growth in the agriculture sector during the XII Plan (2012-17).
“The 4-per cent agriculture growth is a good target for the XII Plan, which could not be achieved so far as envisaged in the XI Plan (2007-12),” Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told journalists here on Thursday.
“I think at the end of the XI Plan, our assessment is that agriculture would show a better performance than in the X Plan (2002-07). However the 4 per cent growth in agriculture has not been yet achieved,” he said. Notably, the two previous Plans failed to achieve the desired growth in the agriculture sector.
Expressing concern over sluggish farm sector growth, Mr. Ahluwalia said: “Agriculture growth is crucial. We have already been emphasising on agriculture. But I think that we have to do even better.” Regarding economic growth target for the XII Plan, he said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was keen on achieving 10 per cent growth.
“The process of drafting the XII Plan will begin with the output from outside experts. This would help us in getting a realistic assessment. We will look at achieving 10 per cent growth. If it is not possible to do an average (of 10 per cent) then can we move from may be 9 per cent at the end of the XI Plan,” he added.
Approach document
Talking about the approach document for the next Plan, Mr. Ahluwalia said: “Our approach here is to recognise what are the major drivers not only of growth but also of inclusiveness and many of them are cross-sectoral. Therefore, we are trying to conceptualise the approach document in a way that is different from the usual Plan document.”
