Jaitley for boost to rural infra

Baku/ New Delhi, May 5: The government has initiated a large number of reforms in its first year of governance to encourage investments and the country has the potential to grow at 9- 10 per cent, finance minister Arun Jaitley said.

“I do believe that India has a 9 or 10 per cent growth potential. To achieve that we have to invest a lot into rural infrastructure and irrigation that’s one area we can move up,” he said.

Besides, he said, a lot of investment is required in the infrastructure sector so that it has beneficial impact on manufacturing.

“It’s only then we can achieve a 9 to 10 per cent growth rate and once we are able to do it for a decade or so, we can lower poverty rate. It's only then I will feel excited about it,” he said in an interview to CNBC TV in Baku, capital city of Azerbaijan.

He was in Baku to attend the annual meeting of the ADB.

The NDA government will on May 26 complete one year in power following last year’s general elections. “Never in the Indian history, we have had the government which in the first one year has undertaken such a large number of reforms,” he said.

The government has opened up almost every sector for investment, he said, adding that whether it is domestic or international “there is an additionality of investment”.