BackNeed to focus on capacity building: Pranab Mukherjee
Pranab Mukherjee, at a seminar, said that if India wants to 'achieve praise in the international community, it must have a knowledge society'
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Kolkata: President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said that mere policy prescriptions are not enough to attract investments in the absence of infrastructural adequacy in the country.
Addressing a seminar in Kolkata organized jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), Shibpur, Mukherjee said that if India wants to “achieve praise in the international community, it must have a knowledge society".
According to him, to achieve a knowledge economy, it is important to have a deeper interface between academia and industry.
Mukherjee said this can be achieved by building world-class laboratories and infrastructure.
He also said that to attract more foreign investment, the government needs to focus on building capabilities as a large portion of the country’s population is expected to be below 25 years of age by 2020.
Terming the young population as a “demographic dividend", Mukherjee said it is important to create opportunities for them by improving skills, educational standards and enhancing employability. “Unless it happens, the dividend may become a liability," he added.
According to Mukherjee, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) will grow at 7.5% in the next two calendar years. “We can achieve this with calibrated fiscal management," he said, adding that the current account deficit has reduced from 1.3% of GDP to 1.1% of GDP, with the industrial sector registering a growth of 7.3%, while the manufacturing sector reported a growth of 9.4%.
He also said that the key requirements for attracting investments include ease of doing business, creation of efficient infrastructure and industrial corridors, and openness towards an intellectual property rights regime.
Industrial and freight corridors, Mukherjee said, are required if the country wants to realize its target of achieving 25% contribution to GDP from the manufacturing sector, which currently accounts for 15% of GDP.
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