CHENNAI, Dec 20: Observing that India’s growth declined during the last two years and was lowest during last financial year, President Pranab Mukherjee today said the immediate challenge was to reverse the deceleration and nurse growth back to 8 per cent plus levels often clocked in the past.
“This Congress is being organised at a time when the world is beginning to emerge from the second-round impact of the global economic crisis. India too felt the repercussions of global slowdown”, Mukherjee said.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the 28th annual Indian Engineering Congress organised by Institute of Engineers here.
“Our economic growth declined during the last two years. At five per cent in 2012-13, it was the lowest in the last ten years,” he said.
“Our immediate challenge is to reverse the deceleration and nurse our growth path back to the eight per cent plus levels often clocked by us in the past,” Mukherjee, a former Union Finance Minister, said.
He expressed confidence that India would be able to “secure a faster growth” with some of the positive factors like “continuing rise in per capita incomes, expanding middle-class consumers and young energetic workforce”.
Noting that a nation’s progress was not guaranteed by its “stock” of natural resources alone, he said “deficiency of natural resource also does not close the gates of prosperity”.
The development status of a nation is fashioned by its technological prowess. Japan and Singapore are instances who have developed on “sheer strength of cutting edge technology,” he said.
“We have to leverage our knowledge infrastructure to develop growth-inducing technology. We have to make a choice of technologies for development based on socio-economic, environmental and security factors and on availability of resource and infrastructure,” he said.
He called upon the community of scientists and engineers to provide technology foresight.
Earlier, Mukherjee received the first copy of a souvenir released by Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah.
Union Shipping Minister G K Vasan, State Industries Minister P Thangamani, Institute of Engineers Association President Rathore were also present on the occasion.
Observing that engineering was a preferred discipline accounting for one-fourth of the total enrolment in higher education, Mukherjee said “annual enrolment in engineering tripled during the course of the Eleventh Plan period”.
“The country has a formidable set-up of engineering and technical institutions. However, many of them are low in terms of standard of education imparted. In the pursuit of expanding engineering education in the country, academic excellence must be given equal priority,” he said.
“Our educational standards must be geared to international benchmarks. Every engineering and technical institution in the country must make an all-out effort to help India develop a large pool of proficient scientific and technical manpower,” he said.
The Institution of Engineers, with a wide network all over the country, must think of establishing an institute of excellence in engineering and technology to create synergy between industry and academia through high quality engineering education and innovative research, he said.
Noting that new operating models like flexible automation, multi-location production and disposable factories have to be introduced through innovative engineering, Mukherjee said “Innovation is a key strategy for growth”.
“Indian industry has to develop strategic partnerships with universities and research institutions to take forward key innovation ideas,” he said. (PTI)
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