NEW DELHI: Likening his government's first six months in office as a period in which a sickly economy was nursed back to health, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the real "exercise" would start now in comments interpreted to mean a burst of hard policy-based measures may be imminent."A person who is unhealthy cannot derive benefit from exercise. The first six months of this government were focused on making India healthy once again. The exercise would begin now," a government statement quoted Modi as telling a group of 16 US-based economists on Thursday.His comments come at a time impatience is rising about the government's inability to push through bold reforms that had been widely expected with Modi's ascension to office. Industrialists are already complaining behind closed doors about a lack of boldness in reforms and an absence of radical ideas, which they feel is resulting in a reluctance to commit fresh investments.In its edition dated Dec 10, ET had reported the deliberations of a closed-door session of Confederation of Indian Industry last Saturday, at which some of India Inc's most prominent voices asked whether the government is doing enough to jumpstart growth, unlock infrastructure and spur fresh investment.While business leaders conceded that the mood was upbeat, they said a lot more needed to be done for investments to kick in.Many experts and commentators credit the improvement in several key economic indicators to a steep drop in commodity prices led by oil and some actions of its predecessor rather than what the government has done.Speaking to the economists, who included globally renowned names such as Martin Feldstein, President emeritus of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), former IMF acting Managing Director John Lipsky, Harvard professors Gita Gopinath and Emmanuel Farhi and former World Bank Chief Economist Anne Krueger, Modi said skill development and job creation were the government's top priorities."The Prime Minister said there would be a youth-centric focus to all policies of his government, as 65% of India's population is below the age of 35," the statement said.Modi also stressed the need to inject technology into government processes and decision-making, saying this would provide the best possible solution to the scourge of corruption.Modi was assisted during the interaction by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who flagged the various economic policy actions the government has taken so far and its priorities going forward."There is a mood of optimism and expectation from the new government, and the process of pragmatic and realistic decision-making was giving results," the statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office reported Jaitley as telling the economists.It also said that the prime minister spoke of India's federal structure to be viewed as a "development mechanism" rather than just a constitutional arrangement as he reiterated his focus on building what he has called a 'Team India' in partnership with all state chief ministers to spur economic growth.The PM said the government's focus on infrastructure and 'Digital India' would boost employment opportunities even in the rural areas, and that a key objective of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, opening bank accounts for the poor, has been achieved.