The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia has indicated that the approval for the Kochi Metro Rail project from the central government in expected to come soon.

He was speaking after ting the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's work site at Manappatiparambu Ground. After reviewing the work to widen the North overbridge and construction of new overbridge linking Salim Rajan Road with MG Road, he said that he was satisfied with the progress of work.

Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said that the government may have misjudged the rends in inflation by expecting it to moderate earlier adding that if the prices remain high, it would hurt the government’s credibility.

"It is true inflationary pressure is higher than we had thought it would be... It's absolutely true we have been hoping that this would happen earlier and to that extent our credibility becomes questioned," Ahluwalia said.

Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission ha said on Friday that he expects the Indian economy to grow between 7.6 to 8 per cent in the current financial year.

While speaking on the sidelines of an event organized by FICCI, he said that even at the rate of 7.6 per cent, the Indian economy is growing at a speed unmatched in the world.

"Our objective should not be to worry about the fact that it has slowed down, but how to make it grow at 8 per cent plus next year," eh said.

New Delhi, Oct 3 : Amid a raging controversy over the Rs 32 per capita per day poverty line definition, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia met Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh here on Monday.

The duo also met the Planning Panel members in this regard.

Both Ahluwalia and Ramesh later informed the media persons about their meeting on the issue and the future course of action.

New Delhi, Sep 23 : The first ''Strategic Economic Dialogue'' between India and China will take place in Beijing on September 26 and 27.

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman M. S. Ahluwalia will lead the Indian side, while National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zhang Ping will lead the Chinese side.

Mumbai, Aug 31: Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said that corruption has always been associated with contracting.

While addressing a function in Mumbai on Tuesday, Ahluwalia said that large scale corruption is associated with contracting and use of discretionary power to favour some people.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the deputy chairman of Planning Commission on Sunday has stated that CAG's (Comptroller and Auditor General's) have approximated a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh Crore due to the scam of 2G spectrum.

He has also supported Kapil Sibal's view towards this estimation. Prior to this month, Sibal had conveyed that the loss at the exchequer was zero. This comment has motivated the political controversy towards the promotion of CAG. During a TV interview Mr. Ahluwalia has commented that the loss made by consumer profit would have been near about ten times the revenue losses.

Two of the world's fastest growing economies are India and China. China on one hand has proved to the world that it is the manufacturing superpower, while India has always shown potential in fields like IT and Trade.

India, after the recession has again attained the growth levels of 8.5% and has projections of a strong 9 percent rate.

The levels of 8.5% will have to be sustained for another 13 years, if India has to reach the per capita income of China.

While the news of the upcoming portal is a good news for the citizens who want to put their ideas from the planning commission, it is expected that the process will help the people who are eager to participate in the 12th five year plan.

It is to be mentioned here that the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia made this announcement on the occasion of 83rd birthday of M V Rajasekaran on the event that recently happened in Bangalore.

The panel of the Plan panel made a statement on Wednesday regarding the Indian government refusing to give the demanded environment clearance to the proposal made by Vedanta regarding the USD 1.7 billion aluminium project in Orissa, saying that the refusal will in no way harm or tarnish the image India has as an investment friendly country.

Planning Commission declared that the inflation will reduce from double digits to 6 percent by December with the growth rate going up to 10 percent soon.

The overall inflation, continuing the trend of last five months, remained at double digits with 10.55 percent in June.

Montek Singh Ahluwaliah is of the opinion that India can achieve a 10 percent economic growth in soon enough if the governance is correctly made.

The prospective good monsoons this year has brought along with it a host of other enthusiastic hopes. A bumper harvest is expected owing to the heavy rains, and as a result the much troubling inflation is expected to decrease, along with the prices of various goods.

The current food inflation numbers has risen to 16.74%. It is quite high and is expected to come down soon. This has been informed by the Planning panel Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. He has also said that the rate of price rise is a major concern for the government.

The price of the commodities is very high as well. The only good news is that the price has just started coming down. Ahluwalia was addressing to press meet while he has informed this.

Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia anticipated that the double digit inflation would not stay for long. As per him, it would come down within two months.

However, he expressed his concerns over the food price rise. He suggested that the Reserve Bank of India must step forward to take control over the monetary policy. Ahluwalia was confident over the economic growth despite the inflation issue.

It was forwarded Wednesday by planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia that there is a dire need for Reserve Bank of India to tactfully consider resuming to normal monetary policy, an indication the government may be giving it the green light to raise interest rates next month.

Though he did admit that inflation needs to be brought down; however he dismissed concerns of a prolonged period of double-digit inflation.

The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia expects the industrial production to grow much faster than the previous year and cited recovery as a result of the stimulus as a reason.

After the recently released government data showed a 11.7 per cent growth for production in November last year, he said “Industrial growth this year is going to be much better than last year, whether it will be 11.3 per cent for the next six months that is difficult to say.”

The IIP recorded a growth of just 2.6 per cent in 2008-09. The same for November 2009 was strong compared to the bleak 2.5 per cent recorded for same month previous year.

Industrial production in November 2009 recorded a two year high growth rate of 11.7 per cent amid signs of an economic turnaround.

The growth in index of industrial production (IIP) was mainly due to the low base effect and the demand generated by the stimulus. Manufacturing recorded a growth of 12.68 per cent in November as against 2.7 per cent last year.

In November 2009 sub index of manufacturing, Consumer durables recorded a 37.3 per cent growth against 0.3 per in November 2008, while capital goods for the same period grew12.2 per cent against 0.5 per cent in the same period last year.

Government is committed to enhance spending on road infrastructure and proposing to bid 8,000 km of road construction contracts for the current financial year, stated the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

Speaking in the sidelines of a national conference on leadership organized by CII, Dr. Ahluwalia said, "In comparison, the government bid out 2,000 km of road construction contracts during the last three years."

Kolkata, Dec 22 : The central government will bid out 8,000 km of road construction contracts in the current fiscal, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said Tuesday.

"In comparison, the government bid out 2,000 km of road construction contracts during the last three years," Ahluwalia told a CII-organised national conference on leadership.

Kolkata, Dec 22 - Food prices have soared "excessively", Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said Tuesday, adding the prices would decline in January.

"In January, you will see a decline in food prices," Ahluwalia told a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) meeting through video-conferencing from New Delhi.

Expressing grave concern over the stiff increase in the prices, he said: "Some increase was expected, but prices of vegetables and other food items have gone up excessively."