Niti's 3-year agenda sets stiff economic targets, predicts 8 per cent growth
New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said Niti Aayog's three year action agenda has set stiff economic targets and meeting those would benefit the economy.
"You (NITI Aayog) have mentioned the broad growth outlook, the macroeconomic parameters which an economy itself will have to follow, the revenue projections and expenditure itself and therefore its impact of fiscal deficit and current account deficit etc," he said.
"I see that sticking to those stiff targets and sticking to those stiff targets itself can bring benefits to economy in many a ways," he said after unveiling the Three-Year Action Agenda prepared by NITI Aayog.
According to the 'Three-Year Action Agenda' India has good prospects of achieving over 8 per cent growth within 2-3 years, while suggesting a host of reforms to ensure prosperity for all citizens.
The government think tank has come out with a detailed plan for reforms in the economy, judiciary, regulatory structure and social sectors, in the three-year document to be implemented from 2017-18 to 2019-20.
"Now to prepare a three-year action agenda which is specific which has the capacity if implemented in these specific areas to trigger much more economic activity than we have today," Jaitley said appreciating the publication.
This publication really has potential for becoming a good text book for those in government, he said.
Jaitley said, "The state of things as they are could continue is something which people are not expecting and therefore they expect higher growth rate, expect more decisions to be taken and a lot of activities itself to take place".
On the 'Three Year Action Agenda', NITI Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya said the document is the culmination of lot of work done by hundreds of people. The entire document is divided in seven different parts, he said.
Participating in the panel discussion, he said the major impediment in job creation is that India Inc simply do not invest in labour intensive activities. "I have to tell little harder to all entrepreneurs. In Gujarat's Special Economic Zones, National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) Gujarat has complete flexibility on labour laws ... in other ways Gujarat also has got good infrastructure. But I still don't see kind of activity in labour intensive industries that you would like to see," he said.
Former Revenue Secretary N K Singh said steps have been taken by this government to reform labour laws. He also observed that the agenda released on Thursday has set many daunting timelines which government has to meet.
Pointing out that inflexibility in labour laws is a major concern, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra said this discourages foreign investors to invest in India. "I believe that Small and Medium Enterprise in the country are going to create jobs. I am also big supporter of the Coastal Employment Zones (CEZs)," he said citing the growth story of China which started with coastal cities like Shenzhen.
TeamLease chairman Manish Sabharwal said India does not have a job problem but has a wage problem. "Regulatory cholesterol around labour regulations has to reduce if we need to create more jobs," he said.
