Allaying fears of overheating of economy, the government on Thursday exuded optimism that growth story would continue in 2008-09 too, notwithstanding the weak global trends.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram, in his post-Budget interaction with industry chamber Assocham, drew parallels with neighbouring China and referred to its Prime Minister Wen Jibao's speech to drive home the point that the growth story must be intact.

"Wen told Parliament of China. . . growth story must be intact but it should not lead to overheating. . . in our case growth story must be intact, there is no danger of overheating in India," the finance minister said.

"He (Wen) said we (China) must control inflation, their inflation is 7.1 per cent and ours is 4.89 per cent and we must also control inflation," Chidambaram said.

Both the countries make similar progress and must learn from each other, Chidambaram said.

"The only difference is that while Chinese are proud of their achievements, we seem to be too modest about what we have achieved in the last 15 years. We should take pride in what we have done, but there is still a long road ahead," he said.

Chidambaram said, "It is our intention to keep growth story intact and going, it is my intention to keep growth close to 9 per cent, and inflation close to 4 per cent. . . Despite clouds over our heads, thanks to global trends, I look forward to another year of high growth."

He said India is not entirely de-coupled from the rest of the world. "We are a part of the world. Globalisation indeed offers us opportunities, globalisation also affects us."

Stating that the batting average of the UPA government is 8.8 per cent in four years, the finance minister said, "I intend to close this innings with a batting average of close to 8.8 or perhaps higher than 8.8, not lower than 8.8." He hoped that it would be UPA Government's first innings only when it comes to an end.