$4.7 trillion needed for 7 percent growth rate: CII

To achieve an average gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 7 percent per annum, India needs $4.7 trillion investment over next five years, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said Sunday.

In a projection of investment requirement in the Indian economy over the next five years, the CII has estimated the figure at Rs.280 lakh crore ($4.7 trillion), which is nearly double the value of Rs.139 lakh crore ($2.9 trillion) that was invested in the last five years, the industry chamber said here in a statement.

"The study aims at estimating the future investment requirements of the economy, charting out a roadmap for investment across sectors and identifying the possible sources of funding so as to help in aligning our policies to meet the target in a time-bound manner," said Chandrajit Banerjee, director general, CII.

As much as Rs.9,800,000 crore is to be invested in manufacturing alone, because the sector needs to accelerate its growth and create mass employment, the statement said.

The study has projected the services sector to grow at an average of nearly 8 percent per annum, roughly the same as in the previous five-year period and it too requires an investment of Rs.9,800,000 crore, it added.

"The agriculture sector is desired to expand by an average growth of 4 percent per annum over the next five years, requiring a total investment of Rs.3,600,000 crore," the CII said.

"Meeting the target of agriculture sector is perhaps the most critical from the perspective of maintaining macro balance of the economy," Banerjee said.

The CII also expects infrastructure investment to go up from around $500 billion in the 11th Plan period to $1071 billion during the 2014/15-2018/19 period.