In his maiden press conference on Friday after assuming charge as president, Bajaj said that keeping the current political and economic situation in mind, CII expects the GDP and industry to grow at the rate of 6 per cent in 1999-2000. Agriculture growth has been pegged at 3 per cent, services 8 per cent, inflation 6 per cent, fiscal deficit 6.8 per cent, import growth 10 per cent and export growth 5 per cent, savings rate 27 per cent and forex reserves between $35-36 billion for the year 1999-2000.

Expressing concern over the prevailing political uncertainty, Bajaj said that 11 ordinances should be issued by the Government on bills which had already been introduced in the Parliament and had been vetted by expert committees.

Admitting that the industry was not completelydependent on political stability, Bajaj said the present situation was not preventing anyone -- whether an Indian businessman or a foreign investor -- from making new investments. "Maybe a new foreign investor may hesitate for a while," he said.

However, he also maintained that the industry wanted a stable government. "We would like a single party-led government," said Bajaj.

CII vice-president and SRF Ltd chairman and senior managing director Arun Bharat Ram said that the industry was dependent on the Government for carrying forward the unfinished agenda of economic reforms. "The economic reforms process is partially complete. The industry's dependence on the Government will decrease as these reforms are completed in the next few years," said Bharat Ram.

Bajaj spelt out 19 areas in which reforms needed to be carried out urgently including the financial sector, fiscal discipline, subsidies, privatisation, PSU autonomy, labour law reform and FDI and administrative reforms.

Calling for an earlyconstitution of the Foreign Investment Implementation Authority (FIIA), Bajaj said the Government's discretionary powers on FDI clearances should be minimum.

He also called for disinvestment of at least 74 per cent equity in public sector undertakings (PSUs) and wanted the Disinvestment Commission to be suitably empowered to oversee strategic sales.

Bajaj said the industry required a regulatory environment to take it into the next millennium. According to Bajaj, there should be less control and more regulation as the country moves towards liberalisation.

He said there were nine areas where the policy formulation was completed and now required implementation. The areas include mega power projects, highway policy, housing policy, new exploration licensing policy, setting up of FIIA for timebound clearances and disinvestment of approved PSUs.