Giving a call to shrug off the 'laidback approach', Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said the country has to move fast on the path of economic growth to catch up with its neighbours in east Asia.

"We have to give up our 'chalta hai' (laidback) attitude to move very fast to catch up with our neighbours in east Asia," Singh said at the foundation-laying ceremony for the revival of the Indian Iron and Steel Company in Burnpur, West Bengal.

Singh hinted this approach was responsible for some enterprising and ambitious Indians like Lakshmi Mittal moving out of the country to set up business empires abroad.

"It is indeed an irony that Mittal is today called the steel king of the world. His group is the world's largest steel producer without producing a kilo of steel in India. Mittal started his business in West Bengal," Singh noted.

"Why is it that so many Indians do so well when their enterprise and creativity are allowed to blossom? Why is it that they choose foreign shores for growth and expansion rather than their home turf?" he asked.

Singh said the unfavourable environment in the country continued to discourage industrialists from exploring possibilities on home turf.

"Why does Lakshmi Mittal or Ratan Tata have to buy foreign companies to establish a global presence and expand steel capacity when our per capita consumption of steel is so low and when there is so much opportunity here?" he said.

"Today steel consumption in China is 10 times higher than India and hence there is huge scope.

"We need to introspect on this deeply. Is it to do with our industrial environment, our procedures, our bureaucracy and red tape that entrepreneurs shun opportunities?" he asked.

He said the iron and steel sector was a fair indicator of industrial progress of a country and "by this measure we still have a long way to go to catch up with the fast industrialising economies of Asia".

Singh said India's economy was growing at a fast pace and as infrastructure moved forward and agriculture modernised, the demand for steel would rise.

"But the challenge before us is to ensure that the steel industry grows not only to meet these demands, but also to become a major exporter," he said.

He said the time had come for a hard look at "what we must do to build a strong India".

Noting that India's strength was not determined by the size of its armed forces or the number of nuclear weapons, he said, "Our strength lies in the capabilities of our people, in our ability to build a modern economy that can provide jobs for all.