NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday expressed confidence that India would not only be able to sustain the average growth rate of more than seven per cent achieved over the last three years, but also improve upon it in future, and said that the Government was fully committed to reverse the various constraints that came in the way of greater growth.

Emphasising that there were no external constraints to India's growth and that the constraints were only internal in the form of illiteracy, ill-health, low incomes, poverty and poor infrastructure, he said that even while the programme on improving the road infrastructure had been given a new thrust and the railways was working on its version of golden quadrilateral to enhance its freight carrying capacity, the Centre was committed to massive investments in rural areas through the Bharat Nirman programme.

However, he said, there was still a need to address major policy and implementation issues in the power and coal sectors. Noting that improving the availability of quality power at efficient prices was of primary importance, he said there was a need to focus on making State Electricity Boards viable, healthy and efficient.

"I hope this matter engages the attention of all our State Governments as shortages of power can handicap them critically in their quest for accelerated growth''.

Inaugurating the silver jubilee edition of the India International Trade Fair, he emphasised that the trend of globalisation was irreversible and said that in this regard, the Government was committed to bring down the tariffs down to the ASEAN levels and was working actively to bring the economics of South and South East Asia closer.

The Government was on the threshold of unveiling an India-ASEAN Free Trade Area and the South Asian Free Trade Area will come into effect from the coming new year.

Under these circumstances, he said companies in the country must become more competitive, with world class capabilities based on the use of modern science and technology. The Centre will facilitate them so that India became the home for large-scale multinational corporations of the future. The Prime Minister appreciated the growth in exports from India in recent years and congratulated Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath and all entrepreneurs responsible for the "magnificent performance''. He also complimented the Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (the organisers of IITF) for its efforts to project India's developments to the world over the past 25 years. "Over these 25 years, this trade fair has not become an important event in India, but across Asia as well. It is today, the largest exposition of its kind in Asia''.

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