Tuesday, March 15 2005 18:06 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kolkata: With Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate poised to touch 10 per cent in the next two years, India would shortly overtake China in this regard, chief mentor of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Tarun Das said.

Speaking to students of the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) in Kolkata today (Mar 15, 2005) Das said that infrastructure and agriculture would contribute immensely in the overall growth, adding that the country's manufacturing and services sector were also on a high trajectory.

Das said that earlier the high population growth was considered as a liability. But now it was an asset as more than 50 per cent of the total population were below 20 years of age, while 70 per cent were below 40 years of age.

He said that no country in the world has such a vast reservoir of young talent as compared to India.

Besides services and manufacturing sector, the country's food sector also has the potential to become first in the world, Das said.