HIGHLIGHTS-India PM says India reform pace will quicken

NEW DELHI, Nov 8 (Reuters) - There are clear signs of an upturn in the Indian economy, which is expected to expand by 6.5 percent in the year to March 2010, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Sunday.

Following are excerpts from Singh's speech at the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit.

GROWTH:

"I am happy to say that India has been able to face the global economic downturn better than most other countries in the world. The Indian economy grew at a respectable rate of 6.7 percent in 2008/09.

"In the current financial year, we also faced the adverse impact of an inadequate monsoon and the resultant slow down in agriculture.

"Nevertheless growth is expected to be around 6.5 percent. There are clearly signs of an upturn in the economy. With a normal monsoon next year, we hope to achieve a growth rate of over 7 percent.

INVESTMENT AND STIMULUS:

"This performance in highly adverse circumstances indicates the resilience of our economy. It also vindicates to a large extent, the corrective action taken by the government to manage the downturn- like many other countries we resorted to a significant stimulus and we will take appropriate action next year to wind this down.

"Our medium term objective is to achieve a growth rate of 9 percent per annum. Taking into account the fact that our domestic savings rate is now as high as 35 percent of GDP, this is eminently feasible.