In terms of economic growth, the NDA has a distinct edge over UPA. This reality cannot be camouflaged by sheer window-dressing of numbers In 2015, the Narendra Modi Government switched over to generate data on growth in GDP at factor cost using 2011-12 as the base year (instead of the extant practice of base year 2004-05). Under this methodology, growth for the first four years of its stint was 7.4 per cent for 2014-15; 8.2 per cent for 2015-16; 7.1 per cent for 2016-17; 6.7 per cent for 2017-18. Meanwhile, a committee on Real Sector Statistics under Sudipto Mundle, set up by the National Statistical Commission (NSC), has come out with data for the past period (new series) using the new base...
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Category: Growth & employment
Falsehoods – It’s all about grabbing power
Having ruled the country for several decades – either directly or indirectly under coalition arrangement with pliable parties – the grand old party [read: Congress] can’t not relish the idea of someone coming from a humble background N Modi being at the helm. That Modi’s party BJP alone got a majority of its own [never seen before during the last 30 years or so], is of no consequence as the Gandhi family ruled Congress has arrogated to itself an eternal right to govern. This is the only interpretation of Indian democracy that the party understands. It is this anathema for any other leader [in this case, Modi who arouses maximum hatred] that made Dr Manmohan Singh – following his master’s...
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MSMEs – the twin reforms boost
The micro, small and medium enterprises [MSMEs] occupy a pivotal position in the Indian economy. The sector consists of a total of 63 million units which employ around 111 million people. It contributes about 30 per cent to the GDP, accounts for 45 per cent of manufacturing output and about 40 per cent of total exports. Considering its huge job creating potential [next only to agriculture and allied activities] and the power to increase income across a wide spectrum of the populace, it fits well into the inclusive development agenda of Modi. The best way to fully leverage the demographic dividend [65% of India’s population is below 35 years] is to create opportunities for growth in MSMEs. The health and...
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Economic growth – NDA has distinct edge over UPA
The report of a committee under Dr Sudipto Mundle – set up by the National Statistical Commission [NSC] under the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation [MoSPI] – whose task was primarily to generate back-series data on growth in GDP at factor cost using the new base year 2011-12 has sent the grand old national party [read: Congress] into a jubilation mode. The cause for the outburst is GDP growth in double digit [10.08% to be precise] projected by the committee for the year 2006-07. That happened to be the third year under the first tenure of then UPA – government led by Dr Manmohan Singh. For a party having got jolts elections-after-elections, there is hardly any reason to cheer....
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FDI in retail – return of ‘license raj’
A discussion paper released by the commerce ministry on the draft policy for e-commerce has led to more confusion in regard to the role of foreign direct investment [FDI] in Indian retail. At the outset, let us take a look at a major policy announcement in 2016-17 regarding e-commerce – commonly referred to as Press Note [PN] 3. The guidelines notified vide PN-3, allow 100% FDI in the so called ‘market-place’ model for e-commerce – an IT platform where sellers and buyers conduct transactions. An e-commerce company working on this model merely acts as a facilitator by offering to them services such as booking order, raising invoice, arranging delivery, collecting payment, stocking goods etc. It does not own stocks and...
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Modi’s photo-up with industrialist – it’s all about transparency
Ever since Prime Minister, Narendra Modi took charge, the grand old party, the Congress has repeatedly attacked him for allegedly being in the company of “corrupt” industrialists and businessmen even while accusing him of neglecting the farmers and the poor. To buttress its charge, the latter has blasted the former of waiving loans of the defaulting industrialists and showing no sensitivity whatsoever towards the mounting debt of the farmers. All of this is encapsulated in the ever resonating jibe of Congress President, Rahul Gandhi ‘soot boot ki sarkar’ – a euphemism for a government that is obsessed with advancing the businesses of the industrialists. In his first ever blunt rebuttal, while launching as many as 81 investment projects worth over Rs...
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THE MYTH AROUND JOBLESSNESS
Contrary to popular belief, the Modi Government has not failed to deliver on job creation. It’s just that we need to get reconciled to the idea of self-employment Prime Minister Modi (allegedly) failed on his pledge to create around 20 million jobs annually. To demonstrate the point, critics have often point to hundreds and thousands of youth submitting applications for a few vacancies of peon/clerk in Government offices. They cite this yawning gap as an indicator of joblessness in the country. The underlying assumption behind this inference is that all those youths who applied for the available vacancies do not have any work at hand or any source of income. Such an assumption is fallacious. Had it been so — millions of...
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Unemployment allowance – a disastrous idea
For some time now, the principal opposition party viz. Congress has run an overzealous propaganda campaign to create an impression that four years of Modi – rule has failed to generate jobs. In doing so, it has blatantly ignored all round development work being carried out by the present dispensation in all spheres of economic activity – at a much greater space than under the previous regime – which inevitably leads to massive job creation. At present, India does not have an institutionalized system of collecting comprehensive and real time data on jobs. The only systemic data compilation is by National Sample Survey Organization [NSSO]/Labor Bureau which does its survey only once in 5 years and covering only 8 core...
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GST – far from simple, if not ‘Gabbar Singh Tax’
On completion of one year since launch of GST [Goods and Services Tax] on July 1, 2017, even as NDA – government gets into celebration mode, it is also facing heat from the main opposition party [read: Congress]. The latter has resurrected its main plank of criticism that the extant architecture of multiple tax rates [zero, 3%, 5%, 12%, 18%, 28% plus a number of cess on certain demerit items in 28% slab] is far removed from an ideal ‘single’ rate. Reacting to the above, prime minister, N Modi has opined that in a country such as India wherein there is preponderance of poor, ‘the tax on food and other essential items cannot be the same as on Mercedes-Benz car’....
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RBI puts growth on backburner, yet again
The decision of the Reserve Bank of India [RBI] in the bi-monthly monetary policy review on June 6, 2018 to increase the repo rate/the policy rate [rate at which the RBI lends money to commercial banks] from existing 6.0% to 6.25% has led to widespread disappointment especially from the industry and trade. In 2016, the union government had put in place an institutionalized framework viz. the Monetary Policy Committee [MPC] to formulate the monetary policy and determine the key interest rates. The committee consists of six members drawn from different fields including the governor, RBI who is also its Chairperson. With this, the process was expected to become more informed and objective – free from the idiosyncrasies of the governor...
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