By IANS
Ahmedabad : The India-US civil nuclear deal was vital for the country’s energy security as well as for sustained economic growth, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said Thursday, adding that viewing it only as a political issue would be a mistake.
Addressing the inaugural session of Confluence 2007, an annual event at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), Patel pointed out that the country’s bourgeoning oil bill was assuming “alarming proportions” and could seriously affect India’s prospects of “staying and sustaining itself as a stable economic power”.
He said in the last decade and a half India had made enormous progress thanks to IT and telecom revolutions. But if the current 8.5 percent growth rate had to rise further, it was important that “we tackled the issue of energy scarcity”.
Viewed from this standpoint, the nuclear deal was vital as it represented a 100 percent win-win situation for both sides, Patel stressed.
Patel said his ministry proposed to invest $115 billion on the development of the aviation industry with focus on air connectivity and also logistics support for moving goods across the country and the world.
He said his goal was to have 500 airports in India and the number was not too big for a country of India’s size.
‘India Towards Economic Leadership’ is the theme of Confluence 2007, a four-day event in which 25 international business schools and 15 domestic ones are participating.
Delivering the keynote address, N.K. Singh, deputy chairman of the Bihar Planning Commission and former central revenue secretary, pointed out that India could achieve a growth rate of 10 percent provided bold strategies were evolved and liberalization and reforms were carried out with vigour.
S. Ramadorai, CEO of Tata Consultancy Services, in his opening remarks noted that India was now “uniquely placed” to attain a 10 percent growth rate. “But to go forward, a change in the status quo mindset is necessary,” he said.
He said it was important to focus on human resource development through educational reforms.