Monday, June 27 2005 12:35 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Projecting a 7-8 per cent growth in the next two years, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (Jun 27, 2005) asked States to chalk out ambitious plans to double farm production, which has been a drag in GDP performance.

The growth target for the tenth plan was set at 8.1 per cent and the mid-term appraisal shows that it has been averaging 6.5 per cent in the past three years, Singh said, adding the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government aims to achieve 7.8 per cent in the last two years of tenth plan 2005-07.

In an apparent attack on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government, Singh told the National Development Council meeting, "Even if we achieve this acceleration, we cannot achieve the original tenth plan target of 8 per cent over the plan period as a whole."

Noting that performance of agriculture has been disturbing in recent years, the Prime Minister said, "We must have the ambition to double our agriculture production in ten years... I would urge the Chief Ministers to consider how the Centre and States can cooperate in this area."

Perhaps an NDC sub-committee may be considered to work out the necessary steps for concrete action, he said.

Agriculture, which had grown at 3.2 per cent from 1980-96, had decelerated to 2.1 per cent during the ninth plan, needed to be tackled on several fronts to overcome the stagnation.

"We need to focus attention and increase investments in the entire chain of activities related to agriculture - the supply of inputs and credit, diversification of crops, better production practices and improved post harvest management," he said.

Turning to infrastructure, Singh touched upon two specific areas - to overcome the power shortage that plagues almost all States and to ensure adequate power for a rapidly growing economy.

To create an environment for attracting public and private investments in the sector, Singh said financial health of electricity agencies needed to be improved by reducing transmission and distribution losses and by charging appropriate prices for quality power.

Singh said the mid-term appraisal emphasises the critical importance of this sector and the UPA Government has given "high priority" to infrastructure development.

"In broad terms, we need to achieve a major expansion and upgradation in power, roads, railways, ports and airports and telecommunications connectivity," he said, adding this called for massive investments in these sectors in the remaining years of tenth plan and also in the eleventh plan.