NEW DELHI, July 13: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee called on Saturday for faster economic reforms and better policy implementation for India to achieve a target of eight percent growth within five years.

Chairing a meeting of his economic advisory council here, Vajpayee said he had “no doubt” that India could achieve eight percent growth, but listed a set of “challenges” that the country needed to overcome to boost the economy.

If you were to ask me ‘What is your first priority?’ I would say it is to improve implementation capabilities across the board in the government, Vajpayee said.

Our policies and programmes are only as good as their implementation ... we are aware that a lot more needs to be done, the premier said.

The government had begun a comprehensive review of the current regulatory procedures which impose significant transaction costs and delays on implementation of projects, Vajpayee said.

Another challenge was to further speed up economic reforms so that India becomes a clear-cut market economy, with the government withdrawing from production, barring a few clearly specified strategic sectors, the prime minister said.

A higher rate of savings, reduction and re-targetting of subsidies, better employment opportunities, increasing connectivity and broadening the scope of cooperation between the government and private sectors in education and health care were the other challenges Vajpayee identified.

He said the economy had entered “a phase of recovery” adding that India had remained one of the six fastest growing economies in the past two decades.

Those present at the advisory council meeting included India’s new Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, oil minister Ram Naik, Power Minister Suresh Prabhu and the chief of India’s central bank.

On Friday, figures released by the government said India’s industrial output had risen by 3.8 per cent year-on-year in May, boosted by strong growth in manufacturing and mining, pointing to a recovery in industry.

The manufacturing sector, which mirrored demand in the economy, grew 3.7 per cent in May compared with 1.8 per cent in the same period last year.

Industry accounts for 25 per cent of India’s GDP but contributes a major portion to government revenues as most other sectors such as agriculture are largely untaxed.

Revenue figures for the first quarter ending June have witnessed a 20 per cent jump over the previous year mainly on account of robust receipts from industry.

Saturday’s meeting was the second Vajpayee had this week to discuss ways to jumpstart up the economy.

On Wednesday, the prime minister met trade and industry representatives, promising six per cent growth for the Indian economy this fiscal year ending March 2003.—AFP