The Planning Commission of India is optimistic to achieve 7 per cent growth rate in the current fiscal despite global slowdown. It wants more investment in public sector infrastructure to boost demand at local level. Planning Commission deputy chairman, Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that the commission would recommend more investment in public sector infrastructure projects as private investors are reluctant to invest due to fears of further slowdown. He was speaking at the Economic Editors' conference held in New Delhi.

He hoped that India would experience 9% average growth rate in the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12) due to its strong fundamentals. The government would take all necessary steps to achieve this target. However, the ongoing liquidity crunch can impact the growth rate for this year and it may fall below the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) estimates of 7.5-8%. Government would inject more liquidity in the monetary system to decrease interest rates and increase investment. The commission would find out sectors where more investment is needed in coming times.

Mr. Ahluwalia expressed satisfaction on the 4 percent growth rate in agriculture sector but said that falling global commodity prices can impact it in next year.