The Union Cabinet has approved the draft document of the Eleventh Plan (2007-2012) that sets a target of nine per cent annual economic growth rate as against 7.6 per cent during the Tenth Plan (2002-2007).
The Cabinet at its meeting held last night also decided to place the Plan draft document before the National Development Council (NDC) — the country’s highest policy making body – for approval.

The NDC meeting will be held on December 19, Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi told newspersons while announcing the Cabinet decisions. The document was cleared at a full meeting of the Planning Commission on November 9.

Inclusive growth

Amidst growing criticism of economic development bypassing a large section of the population, the draft proposes to make growth more inclusive by introducing specific national and state level targets to monitor programmes like poverty alleviation.

The Plan document proposes 27 targets at the national and 13 at state levels that will be monitored at regular intervals by the Union and State governments. The targets, which can be monitored at the national level have been divided into six major categories including income and poverty, education, health status of women and children, infrastructure and environment.

The 13 state level targets deal with subjects including state Gross Domestic Product (GDP), infant mortality, literacy rate, agriculture growth rate, poverty ratio and child malnutrition.

Hiking investments

The draft also proposes that growth momentum will be spurred by four per cent in the stagnating agriculture sector and nine to 11 per cent in the booming industry and services sector during the plan period. 

In order to sustain the hiked GDP growth rate, higher budgetary support and stepping up of investments has been proposed.

Accordingly, the Gross Budgetary Support (GBS), which is Centre’s support to the plan, has been fixed at Rs 14, 21,711 crores during the Eleventh Plan—up from Rs 8,10,400 crores in the Tenth Plan.

A savings rate of 34.8 per cent, substantially higher than that recorded in the Tenth Plan has been proposed along with an investment rate of 36.7 per cent, up from 30.8 per cent in the Tenth plan.