Chennai, Sept 10 (PTI) Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said he intended to ensure that the economy grows at eight per cent and stated that he was willing to tolerate any debate or dissent over it, as long as it did not come in the way of achieving it.

"It is my intention to ensure that we continue to grow at eight per cent and I am willing to tolerate any debate and dissent, as long as it does not come in the way of eight per cent growth. It is possible to grow at even more than eight per cent," he said.

Inaugurating SPEL Semiconductor Ltd's new state-of-the-art IC package the Leadless Molded Package at the SPEL factory premises at Maraimalai Nagar on the outskirts of the city, he said the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of IT and Communication have put together a package for the hardware industry, which is expected to be announced in a few weeks.

"This could be announced after the Prime Minister's return from the USA," he said.

Chidambaram said India should produce goods that are now being produced across the world. "It is possible that technology eludes us for a while. But I have great faith that we can do anything and just as better as what is being done anywhere in the world," he said. (MORE) PTI ROH APR DK RPB 09102033 DEL

Keyword SPEL-CHIDAMBARAM Reference Filename ptis1567 Source ID ptis Seq. No. 1567 Take No. Source PTIS Cat. Code PTIS-MDS Priority Words Time 20:33 Date 10 Sep