In a recent WTO meeting, India urges prioritisation of issues, including a permanent solution for public stockholding and special safeguard mechanism In a meeting of the Committee on Agriculture (CoA) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) held in Geneva on December 4, 2024, India insisted that negotiations on unresolved/previously mandated issues in agriculture, including a permanent solution to public stockholding, special safeguard mechanism (SSM) and elimination of trade-distorting cotton subsidies by rich countries etc, be ‘prioritised’ and ‘fast-tracked’ by treating them as standalone issues instead of clubbing them with other issues. The US, on the other hand, criticised the prioritisation of certain issues over others, stating that this was the primary cause of the longstanding stalemate in agriculture. India also...
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Category: Pioneer
Advancing the Centre’s liberalisation agenda
Agri-marketing reforms can be achieved by enabling bulk buyers to purchase directly at farm gates and creating multiple private-sector e-trading platforms In June 2024, the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ welfare set up a 12-member committee, under the chairmanship of additional secretary, Faiz Ahmed Kidwai with the mandate to formulate a national policy framework for marketing of farm items and suggest measures to ensure the remunerative prices to farmers. The committee has recommended (i) allowing direct farm-gate purchases of agriculture commodities by bulk buyers, including organised retailers, without having to go through the state-notified mandis or pay the various levies that the operators of these market yards charge; (ii) declaring warehouses, silos and cold storages, including those run by private agencies,...
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Freebies: A winning strategy or economic pitfall?
The growing trend of offering freebies in elections raises significant concerns about financial sustainability, governance and its impact on voters’ mindset A major factor contributing to the success of the respective political party in the just concluded elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand was freebies – an acronym for “something given free of charge” – particularly those targeted at women. In Maharashtra, the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance launched the Ladki Bahin cash benefit scheme that offered Rs 1,500 a month to every woman with a family income of less than Rs 2,50,000 annually, in the age bracket of 21 to 65 years. The amount was subsequently increased to Rs 2,500 per month. In Jharkhand, under Mukhyamantri Maiyan Samman Yojna (MMSY) Hemant Soren’s...
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Food subsidy: Go for direct transfer to curb leakages
Despite extensive measures implemented by the government, including digitisation, pilferage persists, revealing systemic flaws in how food subsidies are administered According to a Study titled ‘Rationalising Public Distribution System in India’ done by the Indian Council For Research On International Economic Relations (ICRIER), there was grain leakage under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) of 20 million tons (17 million ton of rice and 3 million ton of wheat) which is 28 per cent of the 71 million ton of grain off-take by states (that included 52 million ton of rice and 19 million ton wheat) during August 2022 – July 2023. The Study estimates the annual fiscal cost of this leakage to be around Rs 70,000 crore. Under...
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Delhi discoms in crisis: Debt and regulatory gaps
A convoluted tariff regime, under-recoveries, power theft, and unpaid subsidies are threatening the sustainability of the Delhi discoms Delhi Government is looking at various options to address twin problems facing its three power distribution companies (discoms) namely BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL), discom for South & West Delhi; BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) — discom for Central & East Delhi; and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited or TPDDL – discom for North Delhi. These are (i) “Regulatory Assets” or RAs of Rs 27,200 crore lying in the books of these discoms; (ii) an equally staggering amount of Rs 26,500 crore they owe to power generation and transmission companies viz. Indraprastha Power Generation Co. Ltd (IPGCL), Pragati Power Corporation Limited (PPCL)...
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Are e-commerce giants violating FDI norms?
As policymakers consider future regulatory steps, the ongoing ED investigation may serve as a pivotal moment in clarifying the regulatory framework for e-commerce operations in India Reportedly, on October 7, 2024, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the offices of half a dozen sellers operating on the e-commerce platforms of Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart for alleged violations of Foreign Investment norms and Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The intent behind the searches was to gather evidence on complaints that these sellers have been importing products from China but routing them through other locations to avoid paying higher import duties and longer time in getting the consignment cleared at the ports (that would be the case if the products were imported...
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Nutrient-based subsidy: Support and scrutiny balance
While companies have the flexibility to set their MRP, these prices remain under close government scrutiny, ensuring affordability without undermining competition Just around the time when the Rabi Crops season (October 2024 – March 2025) has commenced, there was a shortage of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) in many parts of the country. DAP is a widely used complex fertiliser that supplies 46 per cent Phosphate or ‘P’ nutrients besides 18 per cent Nitrogen or ‘N’ (a ton of DAP contains 180 kg ‘N’ and 460 kg ‘P’). The annual consumption of DAP is around 10 to 11 million tons. Against this, domestic production is less than half at around 4.5 – 4.8 million tonnes. The deficit is made up of imports...
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Food subsidy reforms: Can Govt tackle mounting costs
Timely disbursement of funds to FCI would go a long way to streamline the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, which provides free food grains to the people The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has released Rs 97,000 crore towards food subsidy expenses in the first half of the current financial year (FY) to the Food Corporation of India (FCI). This is over two-thirds of the required fund support of Rs 147,000 crore to FCI during the current FY. The MoF is expected to release the balance amount by December 31, 2024. Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), the Centre asks the FCI and other state agencies to procure food from the farmers at MSP (minimum support price)...
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Rising import reliance amid regulatory challenge
Despite Government efforts to boost domestic production, policy constraints and pricing caps continue to stifle the energy sector’s growth According to the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MPNG), during the first six months of the current financial year (FY) September 2024, India’s consumption of natural gas (NG) increased by almost 12 per cent to 36.850 billion metric standard cubic meters (bmscm) over the corresponding period last FY. However, the import of NG (it is imported in a liquefied form commonly known as LNG) increased by 23 per cent to 18.975 bmscm during this period. Taken as a proportion of consumption, imports were 51.5 percent during April-September 2024 up from 46.8 percent during...
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Unlocking the full potential of GatiShakti
The PM GatiShakti initiative is revolutionising India’s infrastructure by integrating digital planning tools to expedite project completion and improve multimodal connectivity According to the Secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Amardeep Singh Bhatia, as many as 208 big-ticket infrastructure projects including roads (101), railways (73), urban development (12) and oil and gas (4) worth Rs 1539,000 crore have been recommended for approval under the PM GatiShakti initiative so far. These projects have been recommended by an inter-ministerial group known as the Network Planning Group (NPG) constituted under the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (NMP). Launched in October 2021, the PM Gati Shakti NMP is a transformative Rs 100 lakh crore initiative aimed at revolutionising the...
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