NEW DELHI -- Finance Minister Jaswant Singh on Monday denied that India's sweeping economic reforms have stalled, saying they will be accelerated by a revamp of the country's tax structure.

Singh told the ****Economic Times**** newspaper here that the privatization of state firms -- the cornerstone of the reforms -- would continue even though senior members of the ruling federal coalition have called for a review.

"If you look at the number of things that have been done in the past 90 days, you won't sustain the belief that reforms are flagging. For the first time in 50 years, we have put the entire plan for revamping the tax system up for public debate," he said.

Singh, who was appointed finance minister just over four months ago, said the tax reforms would benefit employment-generating industries such as housing and tourism.

It would also help ailing sectors, such as textiles and steel.

An Indian government panel earlier this month recommended Wide ranging tax reforms including a reduction in corporate tax rates and the removal of exemptions to reduce evasion, AFP reported.

Singh said the changes would be carried out after consultations with experts as well as studying the recommendations of a government-appointed panel.

The Indian government needs to improve tax collections to boost revenue and cut a ballooning budget deficit which stood at 5.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) last year, way above the targeted 5.1 percent.

India's target is to cut the deficit to 5.3 percent of GDP in the current fiscal year, which ends in March 2003.

Singh said most of the recommendations on tax reforms would be received by December after which his ministry would start formulating the policies.

The finance minister said the government was committed to privatization despite senior coalition allies questioning the sell-offs.

"The ministry remains fully committed to it (privatization). But, simultaneously, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is facing the situation of having to take the coalition along with him," he said.

"These are the demands of democracy which cannot be abdicated. It is not an impasse."

In September, Vajpayee postponed by three months plans to privatize fuel companies Bharat Petroleum Corp.

and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. after Defense Minister George Fernandes and Oil Minister Ram Naik expressed opposition to the sell-offs.

The delay means that the government is unlikely to achieve its target of raising 120 billion rupees from the privatization program this year. So far it has only raised 50 billion rupees (one billion dollars).

Singh said the Indian economy was performing satisfactorily in the face of heavy odds.

"There must be recognition that the last six months have witnessed probably the most adverse set of circumstances that India could have had," he said.

"We had a standoff in the West (with Pakistan), we had the most severe drought in decades, the global upturn that had been expected did not materialize, there are recessionary trends in Germany, Japan and there are weak spots in the U.S. recovery," he added.

He said the chances of a U.S. attack on Iraq had further added to the worldwide climate of economic uncertainty.

"Despite this, and to me this is the most potent expression of the inherent strength and resilience of the Indian economy, the economy has done reasonably well," he said.

India's economy grew by a healthy six percent in the three months to June from a year earlier, although economists have said the growth is likely to decline later in the year when the effects of the drought will be more visible.