"A 6 per cent growth rate is expected in the Indian economy and an industrial upturn will happen sonner or later," Jalan said while delivering the inaugural address at the 17th Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Cacci) in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The RBI governor warned against blindly following ideologies in the pursuit of economic growth. "There is no universal model we can apply to proceed. Our social organisation and market structure are different. We have to rely on a policy that can keep the country moving," he said. The world is experiencing greater reliance on industries offering value-added services, the RBI governor noted.

Jalan attributed the stable conditions prevailing in the Indian financial sector to the sound economic fundamentals of the country. "Our forex reserveshave risen substantially during the current year, the short-term loans are negligible and the external situation too is strong," Jalan said, adding that this has been possible due to the prudent decisions of the regulators.

"The slowness in opening up the system has deliberate action; the financial markets are orderly, and India can look forward to entering the new millennium with a higher rate of growth," Jalan said.

According to him, the recent economic crisis in the Asian region has taught countries the lesson of avoiding mismatches in assets and liabilities, managing cash flows effectively as well as optimum utilisation of assets.

The RBI governor said that the world is less cynical about the fallout of the south-east Asian meltdown. "The developments in the last 2-3 weeks give room for optimism," he said. According to him, over-dependence on the manufacturing sector is changing and in its place, the value-added services sector is gaining increasing importance.

"This new revolution will be led byinformation technology and will trigger off an industrial commerce and capital revolution," Jalan said.

He pointed out that the recent currency meltdown has global dimensions which will require global actions to put things in order. "The difficulty that the south-east Asian region has gone through in the past should not be allowed to cloud future growth," he said.