New Delhi: India is a country with complex paradoxes where prosperity and poverty coexist, hence it is not possible to evaluate it under any yardstick, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said Tuesday.

"India is a complex country with far reaching paradoxes. It is a country which on the one hand is growing at 9 percent, and on the other hand there are about 300 million people who are surviving on less than a dollar a day," Kamal Nath told a conference while releasing the 'Economic Freedom of the World Report 2007'.

India's stood at position 69, beating China and other immediate neighbouring countries among others. The report compared the level of economic freedom in 141 countries on the basis of policies and institutions that support economic freedom.

"The main challenge today is how to bring in the fruits of economic benefit to the lowest strata of society. The need of the hour is equitable growth and this issue needs to be addressed not only by the government but also by managers and CEOs," the minister said.

"Thus it is necessary we look at those freedom also which form the very basic of a country's economy."

The report, which was launched globally, has been published by Canada-based Fraser Institute.