India capable of sustaining high growth: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said India is capable of building a prosperous nation on a sustainable growth path even as he doubted the possibility of the Indian economy meeting an average annual growth of 9 per cent over the next five years in the face of global economic volatility.

Addressing the National Development Council meeting in New Delhi today, the prime minister said the need of the hour is to "reverse the mood of negativism. …The future is what we make of it. Nothing is ordained or pre-determined. India can rise, but India can also falter," he said.

"We live in a world of rising and faltering economies. We can either become victims of negativism, criticising ourselves all the way, or work together to put ourselves firmly in the group of rising economies. Both optimism and pessimism have an infectious quality," he added.   

India was forced to cut growth forecasts this year, as high inflation and interest rates hit industry with fears of an economic chill in Europe and the US. The government has now revised growth projections to 8 per cent this fiscal.

In a speech that dwelt on preparations for India's next five-year economic plan, which will begin in 2012, Singh said long-term economic prospects remained good.

He said India can overcome the challenges only if it understands the enormity of the change underway globally and the challenge this poses for the economy. He called upon states to work with the central government to help accelerate the pace of growth and improve the quality of development.