Size and diversity make India 'slow moving elephant': PM

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday likened India to a slow moving elephant whose sheer size, population and diversity affects its ability to implement key policy decisions.
In a speech to a gathering of overseas Indians in New Delhi, Singh sought their active involvement in speeding up economic growth and social development in Asias fourth largest economy.
We are all legitimately proud of Indias vibrant democracy. But I cannot say that we have delivered in full measure on the enormous promise and potential of our country, Singh said.
It is probably true that we are a slow moving elephant but it is equally true that with each step forward, we leave behind a deep imprint.
There is a price that we pay in trying to carry all sections of our people in national development. Many among the 25 million-strong overseas Indian community are attending the annual two-day event.
Singhs remarks followed criticism from Lakshmi Mittal, the Indian-born billionaire chairman of ArcelorMittal, the worlds largest steel maker, that India was not prepared to handle big ticket investments.
Mittal, who has threatened to scrap a 20-billion dollar project to build two major steel plants in eastern India because of problems with land acquisition, said red tape at every level of government was a major obstacle.
The entire country is to be blamed for the delay in execution of projects, he told reporters here.
In his address Singh, who launched Indias market reforms as finance minister in 1991, said he hoped the country would achieve a growth rate of seven percent in 2009-10.
We are equally optimistic that we can return to and sustain an annual growth rate of nine to 10 percent in a couple of years, he said adding: The Indian diaspora could do more to inter-link Indian industry with global markets.
To strengthen bonds between overseas Indians and their mother country, Singh said the government was working on allowing them the right to vote in the next general election scheduled for 2014.