While the nation’s GDP is poised to surge by 7.6 per cent in the current financial year, concerns loom large over the sluggish pace of private consumption During the current financial year, the Indian economy is expected to register a growth of 7.6 per cent in real gross domestic product or GDP. Coming on top of growth of 9.1 per cent during 2021-22 and 7.2 per cent during 2022-23, India’s performance is spectacular. Emboldened by this trend and Modi’s commitment to pursue economic reforms with greater vigour during its third term, analysts are hoping for growth of above 7 per cent on a sustainable basis. But, there is a catch. Private consumption which accounts for as much as 55 per...
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Category: Planning & development
Income inequalities: Tackle the root cause
Irrespective of the nature of business and sector affiliation, they are structured to result in concentration of income in the hands of owners According to the Oxfam report, “Inequality Kills’’, released ahead of the World Economic Forum’s Davos Agenda early this month, the collective wealth of India’s 100 richest people in 2021 hit a record high of `5700,000 crore ($775 billion) while the number of Indian billionaires grew from 102 to 142. During the pandemic, the wealth of these billionaires increased from `2300,000 crore ($313 billion) in March 2020 to `5300,000 crore ($719 billion) in November 2021. At the same time, the income of 84 percent of households declined and the share of the bottom half of the population in...
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Stimulus package – much ado about nothing
After a long wait of about 7 weeks since the nation-wide lockdown on March 24, 2020, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi announced on May 12, 2020 ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’, a special economic and comprehensive package of Rs 2000,000 crore, about 10% of gross domestic product [GDP], to revive the economy. The finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled the details in 5 tranches during press conferences held on May 13 – 17, 2020. The package aims at giving relief to all strata of the society impacted by sudden stoppage of economic activities viz. farmers, workers, migrant labor, micro, small and medium enterprises [MSMEs], vendors, small merchants, self-employed, middle class etc. Given its mega size, an immediate question that comes to mind is whether...
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Battered states, bloated demands
Even as corporate, small, medium and micro enterprises [MSMEs], tens of million workers in the informal sector, self-employed and all others impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic are demanding relief package from the union government, the states too have pitched in with a volley of demands which have huge financial implications. This came to the fore during a video-conference held by the Prime Minister, N Modi with chief ministers on April 26, 2020 to discuss the exit strategy after the current lock-down ends on May 3, 2020. Five opposition ruled states have sought close to Rs 225,000 crore: Maharashtra, Rs 50,000 crore ; Chhattisgarh, Rs 30,000 crore; Kerala, Rs 80,000 crore; Rajasthan, Rs 40,000 crore and West Bengal [WB] Rs 25,000...
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Can pakoda seller be at par with beggar?
In an exhaustive interview given to a news channel on the eve of the New Year 2018, prime minister, Modi cryptically observed “won’t you consider a vendor selling ‘pakodas’ [a most preferred snack consumed all over India] and earning Rs 200 per day as a job”. The observation has added fuel to a raging debate over the employment generation record of the NDA government. The grand old national party, Congress is not tired of lashing out at the government for its alleged failure to redeem its election promise of generating 20 million jobs every year. Reacting to Modi’s observation, P Chidambaram, a senior Congress leader and former finance minister under UPA has opined “if selling pakoda is tantamount to creating...
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Building an egalitarian society – Modi alone can’t do
Just around the time Prime Minister, Modi was hard selling India as a preferred investment destination during his inaugural address at the 48th World Economic Forum [WEF] Annual Meeting, Davos – citing its far reaching economic reforms, expanding market opportunities, huge demographic dividend and inclusive development agenda, the annual Oxfam survey has brought to the fore a glaring statistics regarding on income inequalities in India. According to Oxfam, about 73% of the wealth generated during 2017 was appropriated by a 1% of the population [a steep jump of 15% over the corresponding figure 58% during 2016]. At the same time, almost 50% Indians – covering mostly the poor – saw their income increase by mere 1%. These numbers are out...
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GST architecture is only getting worse
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and chairman, GST (Goods and Services Tax) Council must be credited with spearheading requisite efforts like draft of all related laws — Central GST (CGST), state GST (SGST), integrated GST (IGST), legislation on compensation to states for loss of revenue, delineation/apportionment of powers for administering the tax, determination of rate structure etc in a time-bound manner to ensure that this revolutionary tax reform is kicked off from April 1, 2017. The pace at which the GST Council was progressing, it was almost certain that the government would meet the deadline. But, the announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8, 2016 to demonetise Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes came as a spoke...
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Shun populism to spur development
Nearly 30 months ago, prime minister, Modi was catapulted to lead India primarily on the plank of promoting ‘development’ and eliminate ‘corruption’. He has utilized every bit of this period to over-zealously pursue these objectives; those efforts and achievements are very much visible on the ground to everybody except those [opposition parties and his die-hard critics in media and intellectual fraternity] who have a vested interest in not taking note of these. Bringing development agenda on to the center-stage is something unique to Modi – dispensation since 2014. Prior to that, for decades, successive governments [barring 6 years stint of NDA (National Democratic Alliance) – government 1998-2004 then under Vajpayee] had only harped on giving doles to the poor. Even...
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Modi’s New Year gift to under-privileged/marginalized
It is a matter of deep satisfaction that after generations, India has got a prime minister who has risen from the ranks and hails from among majority of the poor. The other redeeming thing is that he leads a party that has absolute majority in Lok Sabha [lower house of parliament]. This makes a deadly combination. It ensures that every policy decision coming from Modi is guided by the overriding concerns of the poor and the common man and seeks to benefit him. At the same time, absolute majority of BJP ensured that several people-friendly bills [for instance, bill giving statutory backing to Aadhaar card] had a smooth passage Demonetization [announced on November 8, 2016] was meant to help poor...
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BENEFITS OF A NEW CALENDAR
Advancement of the Budget date will ensure completion of all legislative works before the start of financial year In 2000, the NDA Government, under the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, switched the timing of the presentation of the Budget from the customary 5 pm to 11 am. While this move was symbolic, the current NDA dispensation has now taken a major step by de-linking this exercise from the vestiges of colonial raj. The Modi Government is likely to advance the presentation of the Budget from the last day of February to the last week of January or the first week of February. This will unleash huge benefits. Under the existing arrangement, by the time the Finance Bill and the...
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