The Wholesale Price Index-based inflation fell to 4.7 per cent in May, driven mainly by decline in prices of manufactured items, even as prices of food articles inched up.
While about 8,000 people are in the long list of invitees, the select list features 506 A-listers, including prominent politicians, leading industrialists, top film stars, sportspersons, diplomats, judges and high priests.
Planning Commission on Friday said there is no case for providing stimulus to the industry to arrest moderating growth as the fiscal deficit is high and may exceed the Budget estimate of 4.6 per cent by about one percentage point.
Amid criticism over engaging experts from multilateral agencies like World Bank, Planning Commission on Wednesday asserted that none of the "outside bodies"
Setting at rest speculation about the possibility of tax cuts to boost growth, the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Tuesday said the government will not change the tax structure during the current fiscal, ending March 31.
"This year, at the Planning Commission, we expect growth rate will be around 8 per cent. We are not expecting 9 per cent in the year 2011-12," Ahluwalia said while speaking at the convocation ceremony at Vijna Jyothy Institute of Management.
India's gross domestic product grew at a decade low of 5 per cent last fiscal.
Ahluwalia argues that India can attract more capital even in today's world, provided the country retains an open system
Seeking to set at rest controversy over Aadhar, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said that UID is a number and not an identity card.
The Planning Commission does not foresee any significant disruption of state finances on account of increase in salaries of state government employees.
It's imperative for the govt to reassure investors: Montek Ahluwalia
The Planning Commission on Tuesday said that inflation is not coming down as expected and it would be little higher than earlier forecast of close 6 per cent for the month of December.
Planning Commission on Monday said India will not be able to achieve USD 1 trillion target for investment in the infrastructure sector during the 12th Plan (2012-17) in view of lower economic growth prospects.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia warned that any extraordinary steps to contain inflation may prove counter-productive.
The 'Pran Pratishtha' of the idol of Ram Lalla -- the childhood form of Lord Ram -- will be attended by people from all walks of life, including representatives of major spiritual and religious sects of the country and of various tribal communities and prominent personalities.
"It is completely false. I don't know what is the basis of this. I am not a candidate. This is some speculative thing in the New York Times," Ahluwalia said.
Economic liberalisation has not resulted in rapid reduction in poverty, as was expected, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.
Plan panel Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia welcomed the initiative to set up a Rail Tariff Regulatory Authority for rationalising fare and freight rates, in the Railway budget.
The Planning Commission on Saturday sought to play down fears that the hike in excise duty on petroleum products would lead to a surge in inflation.
Government sources in the PMO said Montek Singh Ahluwalia and other panel members will continue till the next Planning Commission is constituted by the prime minister. The apex panel plays a crucial role in the budgetary process. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to present the Budget in the first week of July. Though the recommendations of the Plan panel are not legally binding, the inputs are crucial in dealing with the planned expenditure by the government.
Reserve Bank, in its mid term review of the monetary policy on Friday, decided to hike short term policy rate by 0.25 per cent after a gap of two years and ease liquidity by reducing the marginal standing facility rate for banks.
The Rs 67,700-crore (Rs 677 billion) revenue boost from the auction of 3G spectrum licences will help the government reduce its borrowings in the current fiscal, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.
Social sectors like health and education will get a leg up in the Eleventh Plan (2007-12), even as some other sectors may see a reduction in fund allocation.
The two-day conference, which saw participation of ministers and senior officials from all the states, was marked by brainstorming in the run up to the expected enactment of the government's ambitious Food Security Bill.
The Planning Commission on Tuesday said it expected industrial production to beat last year's growth and attributed the revival to various stimulus measures. His comments came after latest government data showed that factory production grew 11.7 per cent in November last year.
Deficient monsoon is likely to pull down the economic growth in the current fiscal to about six per cent, from 6.5 per cent a year ago, the Planning Commission said on Friday.
Addressing a high level debate on 'State of the World Economy and Finance in 2012' at the United Nations General Assembly in United Nations on Thursday, Ahluwalia said the Indian economy grew at an average rate of 9 per cent in the five years prior to the financial crisis of 2008.
He was the chief guest of UIDAI's function in New Delhi.
The Planning Commission on Monday said the fiscal deficit, the difference between total revenue and expenditure, will not exceed the budgetary estimate of 6.8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).
The government last month revised the growth forecast for the current fiscal downward to 7.5 per cent on domestic concerns like high inflation and slowing industrial output, besides a global slowdown.
India, whose economy has been coasting along at 8 per cent for the last three years, can achieve 9.5 per cent GDP growth even in the absence of hard labour reforms or foreign direct investment in the retail sector.
He said that land, a state subject, was a big destination of black money while reform in political funding was also important
Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Thursday that inflation would go up and hover between 4 and 5 per cent by the end of this year.
Terming the Union Budget as an excellent document, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday said efforts were on to break the impasse on turnover tax on securities transactions.
In an interview with Karan Thapar on the CNN-IBN channel's Devil's Advocate programme, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia explains why he faults the controversial report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on 2G telecom spectrum allocation. Edited excerpts:
According to latest Central Statistical Organisation's estimates, the economy will grow at a rate of 5 per cent in the current fiscal -- the lowest in over a decade.
The Planning Commission's latest poverty estimates, based on the 2011-12 consumption expenditure survey, shows that across India, the number of people living below the poverty line declined by more than 15 percentage points -- from 2004-05 to 2011-12 and from 37 per cent to 21.9 per cent.
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