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Live blogging: Chidambaram says growth will be at 7-8%

India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the fiscal year 2007/08 was close to 9.1 percent, the finance minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, said during a parliamentary debate on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

But the real question is: how much will growth be in the next fiscal year (2008/2009)? With inflation at a 13-years record high many fear that growth will fall below seven per cent.

But Chidambaramis confident it will remain fairly high at 7-8 per cent. “This government will ensure that economy will grow at 7-8 per cent compared to an average growth of 5-6 per cent when NDA was in power,” Chidambaram said during the debate on the vote of confidence motion in Lok Sabha.

Live blogging: Bookies pay $12m for MPs vote

Independent MPs in India’s parliament are having a hard time deciding whether to vote for or against the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh. The challenging decision, though, is not related to political principles or beliefs, but its related to picking the best monetary offer.

Newspapers in India and abroad have been reporting all kinds horse trading, but the one that beats them all is the bookies offer to buy MPs vote to help them win their bets.

The Times of India reports that: “bookies — [who ] consider the UPA government as the odds-on favourite to survive the trust vote — have developed huge stakes in the continuance of the UPA government and are going all out to try and fix the outcome of the trust vote.”