By Team Mangalorean Manipal

Manipal November 2, 2009: The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia has opined that India is well poised to achieve steady growth at around nine per cent per year for an extended period of time. "Countries such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan and most recently China have done it in the past which have achieved rapid growth and maintained it for decades. It is India’s turn now to get into the fast track," he said, delivering the convocation address at Manipal University here.

"I am not suggesting that nine per cent growth is assured. There are many challenges to be overcome and difficult decisions to be taken but we have overcome challenges before and taken crucial decisions. I see no reason to suppose that we will fail to do so in the years ahead. What I want to emphasise is the implications of the nine per cent growth. If GDP grows at 9 per cent and population grow at say 1.5 per cent then per capita GDP will grow by 7.5 per cent per year, he said.

Mr Ahluwalia said that this growth which is distinctly lower than it was in the pre-crisis years, it is actually better than what the country experienced in 10 years from 1992 to 2002. In fact, the country has performed much better than most other countries. Indeed India is the second fastest growing country in the world today after China. Change in per capita income brings with it all manner of structural change. New demands are generated and new products come into play and with them new technologies. Growth in per capita income is more important than mere GDP growth, he said.

Mr Ahluwalia said, "The country is hoped to do much better in 2010-11 when the world will be on a path to recovery and we will have the beneficial impact of a normal monsoon. Our growth rate should be back somewhere between seven to eight per cent in 2010-11."

On this occasion, about one thousand three hundred students received their graduation and post graduation certificates apart from 20 research scholars who received their PhDs on the occasion. Also, nine under graduates and four post graduate students received gold medals as best outgoing students for the year 2008-09.

Mr Ahluwalia called on the students to devote at least some of their working life to serve in the government sector. “As the country develops, the role of the Government will also increase though in a very different way from the role it performed in the past. To perform its increasingly complex task, the Government whether at the Centre or the State will need skilled personnel with a diversity of experience,” he added.

Others who were present on this occasion included Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) Chairperson Dr Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Manipal University Chancellor Dr Ramdas M Pai, Pro Chancellor Dr H S Ballal, Vice chancellor Dr Raj Warrier and others.