Surat: Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani today (Jan 7, 2004) said the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) would present in the run up to Lok Sabha elections a "blueprint" for making India a developed country besides citing the performance of the Vajpayee Government.

"The Lok Sabha elections are due this year. We will tell the people what we have done during the last five-and-half years and what blueprint we have for the future five years to make India a developed nation in overall 10 years," he told a gathering after laying the foundation stone for a Government medical college in Surat.

"In the next five years, we intend to change India's classification from 'developing nation' to 'developed nation' like US, Canada, Japan, etc," he said.

Asserting that the tenure of Vajpayee Government would be "historic", Advani said the country had made "immense progress" in the last five years.

"The growth rate has crossed eight per cent mark. Foreign Exchange reserves have reached $ 100 billion," he pointed out adding the economic progress had created a "feel-good" environment in the country in the last one year.

Attacking the economic policies adopted after the country achieved independence, he said the situation would have been different if liberalisation path had been taken instead of emulating the Russian style.

He said India had been unable to find an appropriate position in the world as its real potential had not been tapped and pointed to "inappropriate attention" paid to health and education sectors over the 50 years after freedom.