8% GDP FORCAST BY CII

June IIP growth at 5.4%: CII confident of economic growth

[New Delhi, 12 August,2008] With June IIP growth recovering from the previous month's low level, CII feels that the upturn in the economy is now becoming visible. Manufacturing growth has recovered and overall growth would have been stronger if not for weakness in mining and electricity. Evidence collected by CII and reported two weeks ago had shown that investment sentiment remains strong. CEO polls conducted by CII have shown that investment plans are not being shelved and in fact, most industries are planning to expand capacity.

According to the CII m-ASCON Survey released earlier, 47% of all sectors surveyed showed a growth rate of over 10% during April-June 2008. The IIP data further confirms this trend. CII maintains that industrial growth and GDP growth will exceed 8.0% in 2008-09 said Mr. C Banerjee, Director General, CII.