India will bounce back to 8% GDP growth: Pranab

President Pranab Mukherjee today expressed confidence that the Indian economy will bounce back to 8 per cent annual GDP growth levels, and said engineering sector could play a vital role creating a turnaround.

"Though our economic growth has recently declined somewhat, I am confident that we will be able to bring the deceleration to a halt and revert to the eight per cent growth levels that we attained many times in the past," the President said.

Mukherjee, who was the finance minister in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, told the 20th International Engineering and Technology Fair (IETF) organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) that underlying growth impetus remains strong due to factors like continued rise in per capita income and an expanding middle class.

Emphasising the role of engineering, Mukherjee said, "Our thrust on infrastructure development and industrial production provided a further fillip to this sector. A large amount of investment is envisaged in the key sectors such as power and transportation."

Mukherjee called for more private investments in infrastructure. These investments would create opportunities for business operating in the engineering sector, he said.

 At the same time he urged the companies to focus on "productivity and competitiveness" saying new operating models were needed to promote the manufacturing sector.

"The contribution of manufacturing to total employment in India is about 11 per cent, which is much lower than that of other emerging economies. The share of manufacturing in total employment is between 15 to 30 per cent (in those countries)," he said.

He pointed out that the National Manufacturing Policy 2011 envisaged the creation of 100 million additional jobs in the manufacturing sector by 2025, and said India needed to enhance its "capabilities on major fronts like primarily human skill, hardware and knowledge technology".