New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS): The industry in India Saturday praised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his determination to push through reforms in the face of strong political opposition.

"With his action last week and address to the nation last evening, the prime minister has unambiguously sent a message that the government is determined to see through the reforms that have been at the centre of a political controversy lately.

"This is most encouraging and CII congratulates the PM and his cabinet colleagues for staying the course on reforms," said industry lobby Confederation of Indian industry (CII).

"CII hopes that this is the beginning of a series of reforms that the country needs to arrest the economic downtrend and to ensure higher growth for greater inclusiveness," said CII president Adi Godrej in a statement.

Drawing attention to the first round of economic liberalization of early 1990s, CII said there was pain and apprehension then.

"We are two decades down the line. I don't think there is anyone in India who feels we embarked on the wrong path then, looking at it in hindsight," Godrej said.

"It is to be noted that every government since then, irrespective of their political colour has taken that process forward. The economic logic of these reforms has been too compelling for anyone to ignore," he added.

According to him, even the benefits to the larger population has been so pronounced that no one can criticize these measures.

Per capita income of India has grown several fold and India is the second fastest growing large economy of the world and we have also seen poverty come down over the last two decades, he said.