Agriculture growth under UPA rule more

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said tonight his government has given rural India a "new deal" and the growth rate in agriculture is nearly double than that of the NDA rule.

"One of the important contributions of the UPA government in the past four years has been to lay the foundation of a new era of development for rural India," Singh said releasing a book containing NCP leader Sharad Pawar's speeches and interviews.

Singh paid glowing tributes to Pawar whom he described as "my esteemed colleague and dear friend" whose leadership in the Agriculture Ministry has achieved a farm growth rate of 4.7 per cent, nearly double than that during the NDA rule.