New govt has little leeway in reviving economy: Montek Singh Ahluwalia

The new government that will take charge following the general elections in April-May this year will need to act quickly to revive investments and push infrastructure projects in order to put economic growth back on track, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said.

The new government will have to revive investments and push infrastructure projects within three months of the elections in order to bring economic growth back on track, he said.

"In my view, if these problems are not solved within the first three months, you can forget about getting back to high (economic) growth," Ahluwalia said on the sidelines of a CII conference on `Reviving Investments: Imperatives of Project Clearance', in New Delhi today.

"Any government that fails to solve this should actually announce that we cancel the growth path," he said.

The 12th Plan envisages an annual average economic growth of 8 per cent during the 2012-17 period.

Against this, the Indian economy grew at a decade low rate of 4.5 per cent in the first fiscal of 12th Plan (2012-13).

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has projected an economic growth rate of 4.9 per cent this fiscal – a far cry compared to the target of 8 per cent could be achieved.

On speeding up clearance of big infrastructure projects by the Cabinet Committee on Investment, Ahluwalia said, "the new government must take on the fact that large infrastructure projects in critical areas have got stuck.

"We have started a mechanism that can work. I would hope that the new government will recognise that this is a very crucial area," he said.