The government today projected a higher economic growth of 8.1% for the current fiscal as against a growth of 7.5% in 2004-05 - far exceeding expectations of the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India. The Central Statistical Organisation's quick estimates released today said that higher growth would be driven by 9.4% growth in manufacturing and over 8% growth inthe services sector. "The GDP growth is expected to be better also due to a good monsoon that will push up farm output by 2.3% this fiscal after a lacklustre performance of 0.7% in 2004-05," an official statement said. Enthused by the higher growth projection, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the Sensex crossing 10,000 points and the growth projection of 8.1% was a "heady mixture". "Sensex reflects the business confidence and strong fundamentals of the economy," he said, adding sound monetary and fiscal policy will bring growth. |