Economic Times ⁽²¹⁸⁾

Now that reforms have returned to the policy agenda, we may ask which reforms should receive priority during the remaining tenure of the present govt.Read full article Now that reforms have returned to the policy agenda, we may ask which reforms should receive priority during the remaining one-and-a-half years of the present government. Simultaneously, we must expose policy proposals on the table that would take the nation backwards. The recent Vijay Kelkar Committee report offers an excellent roadmap for the reforms the government may tackle during its remaining term. Though the report is principally about fiscal consolidation, the effects of the measures it recommends will go well beyond cutting high fiscal deficits. This is as it should be since the ultimate goal behind fiscal consolidation is to foster efficiency and accelerate growth. As the report rightly argues, urgent efforts are required to raise the tax-to-GDP ratio. A government that defines itself as the champion of inclusion and, therefore, also redistribution in favour of the poor, can ill-afford the decline in tax revenues from 12% of the GDP in 2007-08 to 10% in…

Singh words to the Cabinet committee on economic affairs,"If we have to go down, let us go down fighting," are at last those of a leader and not a follower.Read full article For eight long years, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has listened to, and done the bidding of, the Congress party organisation, the socialists within his party, the obstructionist coalition members of the UPA, the Left Parties and the NGOs. But enough is enough. Just as he had followed his own instincts in the solitary instance of the Lok Sabha vote on Indo-US nuclear deal in July 2008 and, defying Left allies and his own leadership, scored a decisive victory, Singh has drawn the battle lines in the interest of the nation and his own legacy. His words to the Cabinet committee on economic affairs,"If we have to go down, let us go down fighting," are at last those of a leader and not a follower. The reforms announced by Singh include a 14% hike in diesel prices; permitting 51% foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail and 49% in local…

Reforms initiated in 1990s sought to introduce transparency by unbundling SEBs into 3 separate cos entrusted with generation, transmission and distribution.Read full article The power failure in India on July 30-31 was big news in US media. When the radio and TV stations began calling with the question whether this spelt the end to India's claims to global-power status, my first reaction was to remind them that a similar failure of the grid in 2003 had drowned the entire Northeast and Midwest in the US and Ontario in Canada into darkness. But, alas, the similarity between the failures in North America and India ended there. In the US, ageing equipment and poor management by local distribution companies result in outages that can sometimes last for days. But residential and industrial customers can generally count on regular flow of electricity. In my 38 years in the country, not once have I experienced scheduled power cuts. Nor do most customers maintain backup generators. Except when a storm knocks down power lines, electricity flows continuously at a steady voltage.

On June 21, 2012, precisely a year to the day after Suresh Tendulkar passed away, India lost another of its leading light of economic reforms, Dr Abid Hussain.Read full article On June 21, 2012, precisely a year to the day after Suresh Tendulkar passed away, India lost another of its leading light of economic reforms, Dr Abid Hussain. Affectionately known to his friends as Abid Bhai or Abid Sahib, he was a warm, wise and witty gentleman. His conversations and speeches were peppered with humour and memorable anecdotes. Those who came into contact with him or heard him speak invariably came away with interesting material for future conversations. My own first substantive interaction with Abid Sahibfollowed a brilliant speech he delivered at the World Bank in 1990, soon after his arrival in the United States as India’s ambassador. The speech narrated how protectionism and licensing had hurt India.

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