India to see 8% growth this fiscal despite Q1 slowdown: Pranab

"We will have 8 per cent growth even this year, though the first quarter growth figure is 7.7 per cent," he told reporters here after meeting leading Indian industrialists at an investment forum.

He said a good monsoon could ensure agricultural growth of about "4 per cent-plus" and growth in the manufacturing and service sector "clearly indicates that it will be possible for us to have the growth at around 8 per cent for this year".

Mukherjee said India has projected 9 per cent growth for the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17) and the country is taking necessary steps to ensure that the momentum continues. On the outlook for the rupee, he said the Reserve Bank of India is "watching the situation".

"The RBI Governor has made it quite clear that as and when the situation warrants, the RBI will intervene. Right now, there is no such situation," he added. Mukherjee pointed out that the international environment is an "area of concern", particularly the high ratio of sovereign debt to the GDPs of euro zone nations and the slow pace of recovery in industrialised countries.

Mukherjee further said the RBI has given clearance to the guidelines for an infrastructure debt fund, which he had announced in the annual budget. The guidelines have been approved by SEBI as well as the RBI.

"The RBI and SEBI will regulate the infrastructure debt funds," he said. Pointing out that India's infrastructure sector will require huge investments worth about a trillion dollars over the next five years, Mukherjee said 50 per cent of that investment will come from the private sector.

"By providing sanctions and other clearances expeditiously, making procedural and regulatory aspects transparent, we are issuing the guidelines that will address the problems and concerns of prospective investors," he said.