India businesses urge outgoing PM to revive stuttering economy A leading business organisation in India has appealed to Manmohan Singh, the country's outgoing prime minister, to use his remaining few months in power to revive faltering economic growth. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry warned that the country faced worsening social unrest if it failed to stimulate gross domestic product growth to 8-9 per cent - up from as low as 4.8 per cent in mid-2013 - and create jobs for the estimated 10m to 12m people entering the workforce each year. "Growth for us is a brutal necessity, not just a sheer desirability," the organisation said on Monday. We need to be seen as inviting capital, and this calls for deep administrative simplification. The industrialists" call for reforms comes days after Mr Singh, an Oxford-trained economist, announced he would not seek a third term as prime minister, even in the unlikely event that his Congress party wins upcoming parliamentary elections. Mr Singh's near-decade in office has been a deep disappointment to many Indian business executives and foreign investors, who had hoped the premier - architect of India's first round of market-opening reforms in the early 1990s - would preside over a further modernisation of the economy and governance structures. Instead, decision-making has ground to a near-stand still, growth has slowed - falling to a low of 4.8 per cent in the second quarter - and many Indian companies have sought out better investment opportunities overseas. But the industrialists said they believed Mr Singh's government could still do much to revive investment sentiment and improve the business climate, with the executive powers at its disposal before its tenure ends in May. "It is never too late for a government to act," said YK Modi, a past president of FICCI. We are not asking for the moon. We are saying: "Whatever you can do, please do it quickly."" RV Kanoria, chairman of Kanoria Chemicals and Industries and another past president of FICCI, said the government should delve into the "nitty-gritty" of administration, sort out conflicting interpretations of tax laws, and accelerate decision-making. "We want business to be treated with dignity and the obstacles we have in business today to be removed," he said. The FICCI also criticised the ruling Congress party's flagship rural jobs programme, saying it was fuelling high inflation and drawing people away from more productive work without creating any long-term assets for the economy. The social welfare scheme, which the Congress touts as one of its biggest achievements, guarantees 100 days of unskilled employment to one adult volunteer from every household in rural villages, and costs the government about $5.5bn a year. "We are spending money but are we seeing asset creation for the growth of the country," said Sidharth Birla, the FICCI president. In 10 years, will we have a paved road in every village?