The leeway to withdraw subsidies was meant for those developing nations which in 1995 had GNI in excess of $1,000 per capita. It can’t be availed by India, which is in a different category The Coronavirus pandemic played havoc with the economy of the country during the first half of last year. However, exports were beginning to look up in March — touching a record $34 billion which was higher than $33 billion in March 2019 — and signalling a sharp increase during the current fiscal. But now, the exporters face a triple whammy. First, they have not received export benefits worth approximately Rs 35,000 crore under the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS). Under the MEIS, which was withdrawn...
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Articles
What’s ailing PSUs’ sale?
The PM will do well to ‘debureaucratise’ the process of running CPSUs. This should be done even before privatisation is taken up The process of disinvestment needs to be unshackled. Against the `210,000 crore target set for disinvestment proceeds from Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) in FY21, the actual realisation was just about `32,000 crore. Even as the Centre may explain it away as ‘corona pandemic effect’, the prospects in FY22, when the economy is expected to register high growth, don’t seem much better. For this year, the target for speaks for itself. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has fixed the target for FY22 at `175,000 crore, substantially lower than year before. This is despite adding two public sector banks (PSBs)...
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Nix sovereign guarantee clause for the NaBFID
To bail out an entity majority-owned and controlled by private parties using the taxpayers’ funds is a bad idea In her Budget speech, Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman had proposed setting up of a new Development Financial Institution (DFI) termed the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID). The Government passed a Bill to establish the NaBFID, its objective being “to coordinate with the Centre and States, regulators, financial institutions (FIs), institutional investors and other relevant stakeholders, in India or outside India, to facilitate building and improving the relevant institutions to support the development of long-term non-recourse infrastructure financing in India, including the domestic bonds and derivatives markets.” The NaBFID will also be involved “in lending or investing, directly or indirectly,...
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Scrappage policy can be more attractive
Announcing a ‘voluntary’ vehicle scrappage policy in the Lok Sabha on March 18, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari listed its numerous benefits, such as doubling the turn-over of the Indian automobile industry from the present Rs 4.5 lakh crore to Rs 10 lakh crore, the salutary effect on environment due to mitigation of vehicular pollution, a reduction in fuel consumption and fuel import bill, job creation, increased safety on the roads, reining in input costs for industries such as automobile, steel, electronics, etc., increase in GST collection, and so on. Currently, there are 5.1 million vehicles in India which are more than 20 years old, 3.4 million that are between 15 and 20 years old, and 1.7 million vehicles older than...
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Bank fraud: No fetters on CBI, please!
A sweeping order that the CBI will look only at frauds involving a certain amount, or higher, will send out a wrong signal. It is tantamount to glossing over the wrongdoings Even as the Government is making all efforts to ensure that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) — after witnessing 8 per cent contraction during 2020-21— returns to a high growth trajectory, it is concerned about the tepid recovery in credit availability which is considered to be the sine qua non of growth. According to the latest data by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the annual non-food bank credit growth in January this year was at 5.7 per cent compared to 8.5 per cent in the same period last...
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Vehicle scrapping needs more incentives
If the owner goes for scrapping, he is promised a total benefit of 11per cent, including scrap compensation of nearly five per cent, discount five per cent and one per cent rebate in road tax On March 18, 2021, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari announced in the Lok Sabha a “voluntary” vehicle scrapping policy which will lay the foundation for what he termed the “Voluntary Vehicle Fleet Modernisation Programme” and enable the Indian automobile industry to more than double its turnover from the current Rs 450,000 crore to Rs 10,00,000 crore in a few years. Besides, it will have a salutary effect on environment due to the mitigated vehicular pollution. Apart from it, other benefits are...
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Hobson’s choice on farm subsidies
The Government may consider DBT to farmers; India can give it without any cap and yet remain compliant with its commitment under the WTO At the Trade Policy Review (TPR) meeting held at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in January, India insisted that a permanent solution for public stockholding to serve the food security objective special safeguard measures (SSMs) to prevent import surges and elimination of unfair farm subsidy entitlements of some members should be taken up on a priority basis for any farm deal that may be worked out at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC-12) scheduled to be held from November 29. For about two decades, India has been taking up at the WTO these core agriculture issues that are...
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Who is responsible for the high fuel prices?
For lowering fuel taxes, the Centre and States need to see how tax revenue from other sources can be boosted. If they don’t, then consumers will have to pay high fuel prices perennially Faced with skyrocketing prices of petrol and diesel, (with petrol crossing the Rs 100-mark in Sri Ganganagar), Prime Minister Narendra Modi has blamed the erstwhile UPA regime for not doing enough to increase domestic production, thus making India vulnerable to rising international prices, while Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has urged oil exporting countries to exercise restraint while fixing the price of crude. However, their arguments don’t enthuse. With the pricing of oil products being linked to international prices (even domestic refineries are paid...
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Oil prices can be reined in
Currently, India imports nearly 85% of its crude oil requirement, making it perennially vulnerable to rising international price Skyrocketing prices of petrol and diesel (in some states such as Rajasthan, petrol has hit the Rs 100 per litre mark) has led to a war of words between the ruling dispensation and the Opposition. While the former has put the blame squarely on the erstwhile UPA regime for not doing enough to increase domestic petroleum production, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself leading the charge, the latter says the “steep increase in central excise duty (CED) under Modi” is the real culprit. Currently, India imports nearly 85% of its crude oil requirement, making it perennially vulnerable to rising international price. Modi’s...
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Stop the back door bailout of banks
Why not give the capital directly from the Budget instead of following a circuitous route, setting up new institutions and adding to administrative and overhead costs? In the Union Budget for 2021-22, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed setting up of a bad bank. Crafted as an asset reconstruction company (ARC), it will bundle up all the non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks, buy these at a negotiated (albeit discounted) price and sell them to investors such as private equity funds, alternative investment funds (AIFs) and so on, by putting a turnaround plan in place. An asset management company (AMC) will work on a detailed turnaround-cum-execution plan. The banks plan to transfer nearly Rs 2,00,000 crore of bad loans to the ARC. Every...
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