"Indian Economy to gorw close to 8% despite global woes"-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hopes that India will remain the second fastest growing economy

My post last week was regarding the GDP in India that hit 7.9% for the first quarter as a result of high interest rates, high inflation and increased input costs. The report stated that this was the slowest growth observed in the last 3 years. However, I was reading the Economic Times earlier this week and I found it interesting that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was quoted as saying that inflation, which stood at 12% in late August, is now showing some signs of moderation due to steps taken by the government.
I think the Indian government is working well in order to maintain a high growth rate for the present fiscal year. The government has cut import duties and banned exports of food items, while the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised its key lending rate in both June and July to tame inflation. The discount rate at which The RBI repurchases government securities from the commercial banks, depending on the level of money supply it decides to maintain in the country's monetary system now stands at a seven-year high of 9 per cent. Will all this effort enable India to maintain high growth rates in spite of the global slowdown? Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sure hope so!
I think it is interesting that the Indian government is expecting growth not to be deterred in spite of being hurt by the global slowdown and the steep rise in the international prices of petroleum.