India can achieve an economic growth rate of 10 to 11 per cent with improved infrastructure, Asian Development Bank (ADB) president Haruhiko Kuroda said on Infrastructure development in India could increase the rate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth from the current level of 8-9 per cent to about 10-11 per cent, as seen in the case of China, he said while addressing a delegation of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) here.

Long-term resources
While discussing the problems concerning infrastructure financing, he said public private partnership (PPP) model can help the country in mobilising long-term resources needed for upgrading infrastructure facilities. The ADB chief further said that India’s lead in designing and executing infrastructure projects through the PPP mode could become a lesson for the emerging economies. The Planning Commission has estimated that India needs US$492 billion in the 11th Plan (2007-12) to fund infrastructure development, which in turn is key to achieving an average 9 per cent economic growth in the five year period and 10 per cent in the terminal year of the plan.
Of this amount, US$240 billion would be raised as debt by private and public sector.

Support sought
The country’s economy grew by 9.4 per cent during the 2006-07 and as per the Reserve Bank of India’s projection, the country is likely to record a growth rate of 8.5 per cent during the current fiscal.
Finance Ministry Joint Secretary Arvind Mayaram said involvement of ADB in infrastructure projects would deepen the appraisal capacity of the Indian financial institutions.