In a country where employment opportunities are not growing fast enough, the fear of change tends to be very acute.
Manmohan SinghIf certain facilities, local facilities have to be arranged, the local authorities have to come. And that makes the Indian system slow moving, Indian administrative system slow moving.
Manmohan SinghWe are a coalition government, and that limits our options in some ways. Privatization happens to be one such area.
Manmohan SinghThe premature migration of very large numbers of people from rural areas to urban areas can give rise to a lot of strains to the urban infrastructure, which can also create problems of crime - law-and-order problems.
Manmohan SinghI have always believed that the ultimate purpose of economic policies and development policy is to meet the basic needs of our people. And for that, we need a fast-expanding economy.
Manmohan SinghI do believe that India needs a lot more foreign direct investment than we've got, and we should have the ambition to move in the same league many other countries in our neighborhood are moving. We may not be able to reach where the Chinese are today, but there is no reason why we should not think big about the role of foreign direct investment, particularly in the areas relating to infrastructure, where our needs for investment are very large. We need new initiatives, management skills, and I do believe that direct foreign investment can play a very important role.
Manmohan Singh