The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh today strongly advocated for taking corrective steps to super-economic growth and reduce fiscal deficit.

This he said will help in reversing the decline in investments. He was addressing the Annual General Meeting of Confederation of Indian Industry in New Delhi.

Dr. Singh said, there is a need to create a growth process that is truly inclusive. He asserted that the downturn in economy is temporary and average growth rate of above eight per cent is possible in the medium term.

Describing the business sentiment as unduly pessimistic the Prime Minister said that the Government and the industry will have to work together to push growth.

He pledged to speed up infrastructure projects. Dr. Singh expressed hope that current account deficit will come down in this fiscal as Government will do everything possible to ensure strong foreign investment in the next two years.

The Prime Minister said, the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI), set up to fast track regulatory clearances for industry and infrastructure has made significant progress in clearing large projects which were held up for long.

In power sector, Dr. Singh said, issues relating to the NTPC's proposed 2000 MW project in North Karanpura area of Jharkhand have been resolved.

He said the CCI has also streamlined the process of granting enviornment, forest clearances for Mega projects and clearances of twelve coal mining projects have been fast tracked.

Addressing the meeting, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said that Government will come out with a pragmatic foreign trade policy which will help push shipments.

The policy is scheduled to be announced on the 18th of this month. He said that he held detailed consultations with the Finance Minister on the contours of the package to boost exports. During April to February 2012-13 exports declined by four per cent.