India's industrial sector is growing at a fast pace and the country can now aim to achieve 9 per cent plus economic growth, NITI Aayog CEO B V R Subrahmanyam said on Monday. Addressing a press conference here after release of Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), Subrahmanyam said India's manufacturing sector has been generating sufficient number of jobs. According to the ASI data, the number of persons employed in manufacturing industries rose 7.5 per cent in 2022-23 to 1.85 crore from 1.72 crore in the previous year. The estimated number of persons engaged in this sector in 2022-23 exceeded the pre-pandemic level (2018-19) by more than 22.14 lakh, a MoSPI statement said adding that at the same time, average emolument also registered an increase over the previous year. "The industrial sector in India is growing fast, it is something people have been unnecessarily criticising," he said. While pointing out that manufactur