Shri Raghupati Singhaniaji,

Shri Memaniji,

distinguished guests and friends,

It gives me great pleasure to greet you all on the Centenary celebrations of the Punjab Haryana & Delhi Chamber of Commerce and Industry. I am told that you have the unique honour of being the first of the so-called "provincial" chambers of commerce and industry, wholly created by local Indian enterprise. While the Presidencies of Bengal, Bombay and Madras saw the setting up of such chambers in the middle of the 19th century, these were basically creations of British or British controlled enterprises. It was with the Punjab Chambers that the first of the Indian controlled provincial chambers came up. This is a testimony to the pioneering role of indigenous business enterprise in this part of India.

I greet you on the happy and momentous occasion of your centenary and pay tribute to all the visionary business leaders who launched this chamber a hundred years ago to give direction and a sense of purpose to the businesses of the area. I also pay tribute to the generations of businessmen who have been part of this chamber and who have helped in our country's transition from an agrarian and colonial economy to a modern industrial economy.

We are here today to salute their contribution to nation building and to salute the role played by this premier chamber in giving a voice to the needs and aspirations of businesses in this region.

Having started off in 1905 as the Punjab Chamber of Commerce and Industry - and we must remember that Punjab then was among the largest and most dynamic provinces of British India - you are today virtually a representative of businesses in the entire Northern Region.

Mr Memani has referred to the PHDCCI being a multi-state apex organization. I compliment you not only for this geographical growth but for the growth in your stature and presence in the world of Indian business and commerce.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A centenary is an occasion to fondly remember the entrepreneurs of the past who played a significant role in the industrial transformation of the region. Our nation is proud of the achievements of inspiring industrial leaders of an earlier generation like Lala Shriram, Ghanshyamdas Birla, Gujarmal modi, Karamchand Thapar, Padampat Singhania and many others.

In our own generation, we have the examples of Brijmohan Lal Munjal, Bhai Mohan Singh, Raunaq Singh, HP Nanda, IP Anand and others who set fresh examples of leadership in the business world. In our own times, we have leaders of a new generation, both from established families and first generation entrepreneurs, who are striking out into new fields of enterprise. I have had the privilege of knowing many of you and have learned a lot from my association with you.

I greatly value the advice and support I have been receiving from time to time and cherish these relationships. I do believe that this is an occasion for all of us to celebrate the success of Indian enterprise in this centenary year of PHDCCI.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Centenaries are also occasions to reflect on what the future holds for us and what a chamber like the PHDCCI could do in shaping this future. While it is not given to mankind to foretell what the shape of things will be in the future, there are trends that can be observed, which can give an indication of what the future holds for all of us.

Shri Singhania has elaborated in detail on the potential that exists within our country to transform it into a great economic power. He has also elaborated on some of the issues that must engage the attention of the government in order to convert this potential into reality. I endorse the vision spelt out both by him and by Shri Memani about tapping the latent potential of this great country. Let me elaborate on it a bit further.

It is undeniable that India is at a cusp in its development trajectory. After years of the so called "Hindu" rate of growth, we have broken fresh ground in the 90s and have been able to deliver growth in the range of 5% - 6%. This in itself has enabled considerable enhancement not only of incomes in general, it has also helped reduce poverty significantly. We are now at a point in time where we need to accelerate this growth further and jump into the 7% - 8% band.

We have done it this year when the growth rate has been almost 7% on the back of an 8% the previous year. All indications at the moment are that we may be able to deliver growth of 7% - 8% next year as well. This extra 1% - 2% points in growth rates, which seems minuscule at a glance, can translate into substantial differences over a period of time. In 20 years, a growth rate of 8% will deliver twice as much growth as compared to a rate of 5% !

Our government is committed to putting in place a set of policies which will provide the necessary environment for making this growth possible. We are committed to creating an environment where creativity and enterprise will flourish, where innovation and knowledge will be rewarded and where growth processes will be inclusive and benefit all sections of society.

When this government came to office, there were worries about the direction of our policies. I think we have proved that the policies of the UPA government are growth friendly. Over the last year, policies relating to investment, taxation, external trade, banking & finance, FDI, capital markets and small scale industries have all evolved towards making our industry and enterprises efficient, globally competitive and as free from restrictions as possible.

The direction is visible and I assure you that we will not falter in this regard. I have great expectations from the National Manufacturing & Competitiveness Council, the Commission on the Informal and Unorganised Sector and the Investment Commission. The work of these bodies, as well as the knowledge I gain from my own interactions with my Council on Trade and Industry, will further enable identification of problem areas that need attention.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I must admit that the first set of reforms in the 1990s were far easier as they related largely to external trade liberalization and removal of industrial licensing. We are now at a stage where the critical bottleneck is infrastructure - physical as well as human. This is a far more complex area and not amenable to easy solutions.

We need to pay attention in a sustained manner to addressing the infrastructure deficit. Mr Singhania dwelt at length on this issue. I cannot agree more that this area needs priority attention.

As far as physical infrastructure is concerned, there is a Committee on Infrastructure which I chair. In this Committee, we have been systematically addressing policy issues to enhance investment and to create a policy framework for attracting private capital to this area.

We have made progress in civil aviation and the results are there for all to see with the current boom in airlines. We are continuing and speeding up the highway programme and NHDP - IIIA has been approved. We have decided that all future road construction - barring a few exceptions - will be through the BOT route. This will provide additional investment avenues for private capital.

The Railway Minister has mentioned in his budget speech about the introduction of private container trains. That should be a major step forward. The Finance Minister will soon be providing further details of the SPV being set up for providing investment capital for infrastructure projects. I believe that we are on the right track and if the momentum is sustained, we will be able to address the infrastructure problem.

Our government believes that we cannot transform the fortunes of rural India unless adequate attention is paid to agriculture. Economists who have studied the pattern of regional development suggest that a defining element contributing to inter-regional disparities is the extent of agricultural development and urbanization.

States that have advanced in economic development - and I quote the examples of Punjab and Haryana and also the southern states - have been the ones that have experienced an agrarian transformation and expansion of urban areas. We have to work extremely hard and in a sustained manner to expand this zone to include the rest of India - particularly the Gangetic belt and Central India. These regions need a new wave of agrarian and rural development.

It is in this context that the government has chalked out the Bharat Nirman programme covering irrigation, rural roads, housing, rural electrification, telecom connectivity and drinking water. It is our expectation that by 2009, we would have achieved substantial improvement in the condition of our rural areas and this would provide a growth dividend which will be sizeable and more importantly, more evenly spread out.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As important as physical infrastructure is human infrastructure. It will not be possible to sustain high rates of growth without having a healthy, educated workforce. It is with this in mind that our government has enhanced investments in education, health and nutrition on an unprecedented scale. Education and nutrition budgets have been doubled in one year.

A Health Mission is being launched in the next few weeks. A Knowledge Commission is in the pipeline to give us the edge in a knowledge-intensive world. I am confident that our investments in our human resource, if properly spent, will be the foundation for our vision of a prosperous, equitable, competitive, humane and just India.

In this context, I note with appreciation the fact that you have chosen to give a new but special meaning to the letters 'P, H, and D' in your name: Progress, Harmony and Development. All three are inter-related variables. Together, they constitute the paradigm of development that our government would like to pursue.

I am also impressed by the lofty Mission Statement of the PHDCCI. It lays down the guiding principles and a road map for the organization. At this point, I would like to emphasise the importance of the region PHDCCI covers from a national perspective. Balanced development and removal of inter-regional disparities on all fronts requires particular attention to be paid to the northern region. This also happens to be PHDCCI's catchment area.

Many states in this region have very poor economic and social indicators. The bulk of our challenges in health, education, rural development, agricultural transformation and industrial growth are in this region. There are excellent examples also in this region in Punjab and Haryana.

There is enormous opportunity for PHDCCI in playing the role of a catalyst in transforming the fortunes of some of the more backward states. States have a lot to learn from each other - in policies, in industrial promotion, in social development and in urban management. PHDCCI could develop a pro-active agenda for promoting sharing of information and best practices in this region which would be to the benefit of all.

There is also scope for intra-regional initiatives which PHDCCI could catalyse and advocate. I sincerely hope that PHDCCI will actively partner local governments in transforming the landscape of this region.

I would like to end by once again congratulating PHDCCI for completing a glorious hundred years. I am confident that the next hundred years will be even better and more memorable.