Friday, February 4 2005 20:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: With India's GDP nearing $ 800 billion and exports of goods and services at a record $ 133 billion, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today (Feb 4, 2005) hinted at a "mix of policies" to spur investment and growth, three weeks ahead of the budget.

"Today India is confident and optimistic... This has given us foundational strengths for erecting a mix of policies that will push the trend rate of growth further," Chidambaram said at a conference organised as part of the G-7 summit in London.

With economy logging 7.5 per cent growth in many years, he said India has the potential to grow at 10 per cent.

Reeling out statistics, Chidambaram said India's GDP at market prices was nearly $ 800 billion annually, exports of goods and services touching $ 133 billion and net capital inflows averaged $ 19 billion a year.

"There is tremendous energy and spirit of experimentation that have been unleashed. India today is a beehive of ambitious individuals and firms," he said, adding a new aspect of India's globalisation was outward FDI by India Inc, who are now enormously confident in becoming MNCs.

"Indian companies are hungry to go abroad, acquire manufacturing firms as well as brands, and position themselves at the doors of new markets. Indian companies are seen as potential major players in the world market," he said.

Earlier inaugurating the new building of London Stock Exchange, he said, "I believe the road to prosperity is through investment. We are happy 18 Indian companies are listed on this market and I believe more will join in the near future." Referring to the booming NSE and BSE, he said, "World's 3rd and 5th largest stock exchanges are in India."

Chidambaram has been invited at the 2-day meeting of Finance Ministers of the seven economic powers (G7) - US, UK, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and Canada.

At another function, Chidambaram, sharing a platform with China's central bank governor, said a flexible exchange rate helps economies absorb shocks and that democracy is a potent way of ensuring accountability in a nation's economic policy.