PTI

New Delhi: With the country’s manufacturing sector likely to see an annual growth rate of 12% till 2010, an additional 1.6 million jobs will be created in the segment every year, Minister of State for Industry Ashwani Kumar said.

“The manufacturing sector in India is likely to grow by 12% per annum by 2010 which could generate additional 1.6 million jobs every year,” Kumar said at the UBS CEO Forum in Florence, Italy on 17 June.

Kumar said of the total $550 billion required for infrastructure development in India in the medium term, about one-third resources could be obtained through FDI.

He added that the SEZ policy was being fine tuned to ensure transparency and more employment opportunities for those displaced due to developmental projects.

Speaking at a session on ‘Rapid emergence of India and China as global economic powers and their impact on the developed world’, Kumar said growth in emerging economies has had a positive effect on consolidation of developed economies by spurring demand and supply, ensuring economies of scale, increasing global labour force and coherence in the global development agenda.

“Embracing of market economies by India and China will make possible the emergence of an international treaty based regime toward a fully integrated global economy,” he said adding that investors should acknowledge resilience of India’s democratic institutions as its strength.