New Delhi: Unveiling a four-point agenda for a feasible 8 per cent growth in the 10th Plan, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on December 21 sought speedy consensus on crucial reforms including fiscal deficit and said that the Centre was preparing a roadmap for reforms in subsidies.

"We must speedily build consensus, no matter how difficult are the decisions involved," Vajpayee said inaugurating the National Development Council meeting to adopt the 10th Plan (2002-07), aimed at attaining an ambitious 8 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) growth while targeting eradication of poverty and unemployment.

Listing fiscal deficit as the "biggest worry", both for the Centre and the states, Vajpayee said, "We need to enhance revenues, and address the problem of untargeted, runaway subsidies." The Finance Ministry is preparing a paper on reform of subsidies, he said, adding, "We should put in place a firm roadmap for applying correctives in a time- bound manner to ensure they reach the poor and are not siphoned off by others."

Though the country was poised to grow only at 5.5 per cent this year, Vajpayee said there is no need to be sceptical about 8 per cent growth in the 10th Plan as the economy had resilience to face adversity.

PTI