JOIN USIn a bid to improve the sagging economy and remove the prevailing pessimistic mood, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has sought a report on concrete suggestions to take the country back to a growth path of eight per cent.
The Prime Minister wants the report within a month with details about immediate steps to be taken in the next couple of months to speed up the growth story.
At the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry, Singh heard out industry captains, including Rahul Bajaj, Mukesh Ambani, N Narayana Murthy, Azim Premji, Swati Piramal and Deepak Parekh among others.
Jamshyd N Godrej, Chanda Kochhar, Venu Srinivasan, Sunil K Munjal, S Gopalakrishnan, Rana Kapoor, Sunil Mittal and Naina Lal Kidwai also attended the meeting.
The meeting came against the backdrop of an economy growing at five percent and a string of dismal indicators.
Measures to reduce the current account deficit, slowdown of industrial growth and measures to revive it, depreciation of the rupee and its impact on trade and industry and skills development and the Development of Industrial Corridors were among subjects discussed at the meeting.
The Prime Minister sought suggestions from the business honchos to improve the economy and remove the mood of pessimism that has unnecessarily spread in some quarters.
While some of the industry giants expressed concerns, others gave concrete suggestions on improving matters.
"The overall sentiment was on the need to bring back the mood, converting decisions to action and taking the country back on a growth path of eight per cent or more," a statement said. Describing the deliberations as "rewarding", Singh said he wanted a report within a month on what can be done in the next 2-3 months.
The industry leaders are understood to have called for pushing the reform process more strongly in a bid to revive growth and investment.