Allaying apprehensions over the possibility of deficit rainfall this monsoon season, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday said it is too early to reach the conclusion that something adverse is happening.
According to sources, Finance Ministry favours a meagre hike of around 6 per cent in the Plan expenditure for next fiscal over budget estimate of the current financial year.
Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission made a presentation in which he pointed out the detailed process through which these targets were finalised and the high level of ambition they represent.
According to the Approach Paper to the 12th Plan, the Commission has pegged a plan expenditure of Rs 5.83 lakh crore (Rs 5.83 trillion) for 2013-14, which is around 12 per cent more than the budgeted plan expenditure for the current fiscal.
The Energy Co-ordination Committee, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, would meet on Tuesday with gas pricing, gas sourcing and gas allocation as the main topics on the agenda, an official source said.
The luncheon at his residence was attended by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Ahluwalia, Chairman of PM's Economic Advisory Council C Rangarajan, former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shanker Menon and officials of the Prime Minister's Office.
Says insurance and pension bills will be taken up in the forthcoming Budget Session.
Interview with Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission.
Ahluwalia said that emerging markets would need to focus more on FDI and bonds among other measures to make up for the fall in bank credit.
Amid threats that India's credit rating could be downgraded and a slowdown in the economy, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said the government is taking several steps to boost investor confidence and more such measures may follow.
As the suspense continued over the presence of 'foreign' representatives in the consultative committees of the Planning Commission, its Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said the issue would be discussed early next week.
Home Minister P Chidambaram and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia rejected reports that they were locked in a turf war over the ambitious UIDAI project to give every Indian resident a unique ID number Aadhar.
The working group on food and public distribution constituted under the chairmanship of Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia is likely to recommend using the numbers effectively for streamlining PDS.
During the fourth quarter of last fiscal, the economy had grown at a nine-year low rate of 5.3 per cent. During the entire fiscal of 2011-12, the economy grew by 6.5 per cent.
Shortly before the commencement of the Sixth G20 Summit in Cannes, France, leaders of the emerging, but powerful, economies -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- met with the intention of designing a joint strategy on how to tackle the Eurozone debt tsunami that could overrun the developing nations causing havoc.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board on March 6 cleared the Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia's bid to launch an airline in India by joining hands with Tata Sons.
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.
Says govt and Vodafone would have a reasonable compromise.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has convened a meeting of senior ministers on Tuesday to discuss the recommendations of the National Advisory Council on the Food Security Bill.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday pegged India's growth this financial year at 6.5-7 per cent. He added the country had taken various steps to boost investment, the results of which would be seen in six months.
Hailing Reserve Bank's decision to cut key rates, Plan panel on Tuesday said it would boost investments and hoped the measures will have significant effect on long term borrowing rates.
RBI has chosen to keep all key rates and ratios unchanged in its policy review unveiled earlier in the day.
Currently 100 per cent FDI is allowed in the sector.
According to principal advisor with the Planning Commission and former chief statistician, Pronob Sen, there were 40-45 million more people in the age group of 15-59 between 2004-05 and 2009-10. The unemployment rate has correspondingly fallen from 2.3 per cent to 2 per cent of the labour force.
The Plan panel on Wednesday said the government's refusal to accord environment clearance to Vedanta's proposed $1.7 billion aluminium project in Orissa would not tarnish India's image as an investment friendly destination.
India's fiscal deficit is expected to be 5.6 per cent of gross domestic product this fiscal as against the budget estimates of 4.6 per cent of GDP.
Showing concerns over hardening inflation, the Reserve Bank today left the key interest rate unchanged but reduced cash reserve ratio by 0.25 per cent to inject Rs 17,500 crore (Rs 175 billion) liquidity into the financial system.
Between 2004-05 and 2011-12, on an average, poverty declined by two percentage points a year say experts who worked on the data.
The authority is set to cross the target by the end of this month, with a million enrolments every day. It has already allotted 116.3 million Aadhar numbers.
Some reactions to RBI's monetary policy announced on Monday.
Ahluwalia asks sector to share and absorb risks associated with concession agreements under PPP model.
The industrial growth number for the month of December has been revised upward to 2.53 per cent from the provisional number of 1.6 per cent released earlier.
Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla, in an impromptu chat with reporters, sided with Sebi, while Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia cited the spat to make a case for setting up a Financial Development and Stability Council (FSDC).
According to official data released on Friday, industrial growth has slipped to 0.6 per cent in February this year due to contraction in power generation and mining output and poor performance of manufacturing sector.
With the five-year term of Reserve Bank of India Governor Y V Reddy coming to an end soon, names of his deputy Rakesh Mohan and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia are emerging as potential successors, a media report said in London.
Raise diesel prices or else face a situation similar to the recent grid failure which led to complete blackout across 20 states for hours, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Friday.
According to Ahluwalia, if everything goes well on the economic growth front for the next three months, then one can say that the economy will be back on higher growth trajectory in the long run.
Says govt's focus is to re-assure foreign investors that India is wide open for business.
Food inflation rose to 18.32 per cent for the week ended December 25, because of rise in prices of food items like onion, milk and meat.
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