Discounting doubts on whether India would be able to achieve eight per cent growth in the Tenth Five Year Plan, management expert C K Prahalad on Wednesday said India is capable of registering a 10 per cent growth over the next 10 years.

"We can achieve 10 per cent growth and it is feasible at least," he said at TiECon 2003, organised by TiE, a non-profit professional organisation of entrepreneurs of Indian origin settled abroad.

But to achieve that he charted out a set of objectives, which include a national vision and focusing on best practices.

He said India is not a poor country but it ill manages its resources, which he said fell under the category of misallocation of resources, trapped resources and wasted resources.

"With 60 million tonnes of foodgrain in storage, Rs 1 trillion non-performing assets by banks; and accumulated fiscal deficit of the Centre and states together at Rs 2.37 trillion, India cannot be called resource poor," Prahalad said.

Citing the example of China, which he said has marched ahead of India in globalising its economy by creating a strong manufacturing and domestic base, Prahalad pointed out, "China is on its way to becoming a key destination of global majors and we are not".

Speaking about India's IT advancements, Prahalad said remote delivery transactions through call centres, animation and medical transactions had the potential to touch $50-80 billion by 2010.

Speaking particularly of the falling telecom costs in the country for consumers, he said, "Reliance would offer 40 paise a minute for STD calls. I defy if anybody in the world can do it".

Speaking on the occasion, Rajat Gupta, Managing Director McKinsey Worldwide said software and business process outsourcing would account for 10 per cent of the gross domestic product in India by 2008.

This would also be 30 per cent of the entire foreign exchange earnings besides creating two million employment
opportunities, he said. To be able to achieve such a feat, its time to focus on the manufacturing sector and domestic market, he said.

"India is probably the only country that has jumped to a service economy from an agrarian economy bypassing the middle course of manufacturing. India needs to focus on manufacturing," he said. To achieve a 10 per cent growth rate, that is the key, Gupta said.