The Planning Commission on Thursday described the International Monetary Fund's growth projection of 8.8 per cent for India as optimistic and said the panel would stick to its outlook.
Indian economic growth had slowed down to 6.7 per cent during 2008-09 due to the impact of global financial crisis from average of 8.7 per cent in the previous five years.
The RBI's decision to raise repo and reverse repo (short-term lending and borrowing) rates by 25 basis points each to 5 per cent and 3.5 per cent, respectively, on Friday evening was aimed at anchoring price rise.
The Planning Commission on Thursday said the surge in global oil prices should be passed on to customers, but favoured having some provisions to safeguard the interests of vulnerable sections of the society.
The Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Wednesday objections to the disinvestment progammes of the government can be sorted out through discussions. Although the government has expressed its commitment to offload equity in state-owned companies while retaining 51 per cent share, the supporting Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had raised objections to it.
Terming HSBC's projection at 5.2 per cent for the current fiscal as incorrect, Ahluwalia said the second half is likely to be better than the first half's.
The economy will turn the corner in the next six months as the deceleration of the past several quarters has been arrested, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Monday.
In order to help the industry combat the impact of global financial crisis, the government had provided three stimulus packages to the industry resulting in a revenue sacrifice of Rs 1.86 lakh crore (Rs 1.86 trillion).
Following widespread drought and floods in various parts of the country, food inflation climbed to more than a 10-year high of 19.95 per cent in December, driven mainly by higher prices of potato, other vegetables and pulses.
A good wheat crop this season is likely to ease the near double digit inflation in the next 2-3 months, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Wednesday.
Ahluwalia's comment comes at a time when the government is facing flak over its decision to open up the multi-brand retail sector to foreign investment.
The Planning Commission on Tuesday said the Reserve Bank's decision to tighten the money supply will not have any impact on growth and the economy would do better than 8 per cent expansion rate projected by the central bank.
The RBI's big decision is not how much to ease but whether to monetise the fiscal deficit.
Raise diesel prices or else face a situation similar to the recent grid failure which led to complete blackout across 20 states for hours, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Friday.
Manmohan Singh, who also heads the government's Plan think-tank, complimented the internal Planning Commission for starting the process of mid-term appraisal in 'right earnest.'
The others who will be joining the commission as members are Narendra Jadhav, honorary vice-chancellor of Pune University and Mihir Shah, secretary of Samaj Pragati Sahayog. The government has also retained Abhijit Sen, Syeda Hameed and B K Chaturvedi as members in the reconstituted commission, sources in the Prime Minister's Office said.
As the debate is on to decontrol fuel prices, the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Thursday said it would be a bad idea to continue with subsidies to keep oil prices subdued.
Favouring independent regulators for railways and road sector, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Friday stressed on the need for proper policy framework defining the role of these monitors.
The country's economic growth rate slipped to 5.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011-12, lowest in nearly 9 years due to poor performance of the manufacturing and farm sectors.
The Congress-led coalition government will have to address the challenges of improving the country's infrastructure and modernise agriculture to ensure high growth of the economy
Ahead of the G-20 Summit, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia will lead a delegation to a preparatory meet on March 11 in London where deliberations on issues like liquidity crunch and reforms in international financial institutions are likely be taken up.
The Planning Commission on said food prices will come down in the next two months easing the overall inflation, which is currently at over 8.5 per cent.
'We want the PM to be aware of the autocratic behaviour of the bureaucracy,' says CPI leader D Raja.
Reliance Industries is facing penalty for falling gas output from its KG-D6 fields.
High profile economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday assumed charge as the deputy chairman of Planning Commission.
Planning commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Tuesday said the government should consider general lowering of duty rates across sectors to avoid creating arbitrage under free trade agreements.
Planning Commission has submitted a proposal to the finance ministry for raising Rs 70,000 crore
After kicking off the Budget exercise early this week, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday had a brain-storming session with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on the state of the economy.
Hailing the Budget 2009-10 as "growth oriented", Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday said there would be no need for another stimulus in the current fiscal.
Currently 100 per cent FDI is allowed in the sector.
The Planning Commission will bring out a policy paper on the regulatory framework for the infrastructure sector by end of 2004.
The Planning Commission sees stronger economic expansion in the second half which could push up the growth rate for the current fiscal to beyond 6.3 per cent projected earlier by the panel.
India is expected to record a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6 per cent this fiscal, which will improve further in the next fiscal with likely recovery in the global economy, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.
Defending the government's decision to open up the multi-brand retail sector to foreign investment, Plan panel deputy chief Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Friday said it would help farmers as well as consumers.
The government has plans for the third round of spectrum auction and may put on block 2G GSM airwaves in Delhi and Mumbai circles, and CDMA spectrum in 13 circles that remained unsold in the previous sale held in March, according to sources.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, on Wednesday allayed fears over significant hardening of interest rates in view of the high government borrowings, pegged at around Rs 4.5 lakh crore (Rs 4.5 trillion) this fiscal.
As the suspense continued over the presence of 'foreign' representatives in the consultative committees of the Planning Commission, its Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said the issue would be discussed early next week.
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