The political storm over foreign consultants in the Planning Commission took a new turn on Wednesday amid indications that experts from the World Bank, McKinsey and ADB
The Planning Commission has suggested an investment of up to $30 billion from the burgeoning foreign exchange reserves of over $100 billion in the country.
The Planning Commission will bring out a policy paper on the regulatory framework for the infrastructure sector by end of 2004.
The Planning Commission and the finance ministry have discordant views on the size of the 2007-08 Plan.
Coinciding with the 3-day traders stir against the implementation of value added tax, the Mid-term Appraisal of the 10th plan has pointed to "serious design flaws" in the tax even as Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh
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.
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.
The 64-year-old Planning Commission, a vestige of the socialist era, will soon become history.
In the October-December quarter, India's economy grew below expectations at 4.7 per cent on falling output in the manufacturing sector.
The Planning Commission on Friday said the economy is expected to grow between 6-6.5% in the current fiscal
India will become the third-biggest economy in the world by 2030, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.
Commerce Minister Anand Sharma on Wednesday sought to assure prospective American investors that India is a 'welcoming investment' destination where the climate is 'totally conducive' to such actions.
No other corporate house in India is in a better position than Tata group for the takeover of debt-laden airline Air India, former deputy chairman of erstwhile Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Thursday. Tata Sons has emerged as the top bidder for the takeover of the state-run airline but the bid is yet to be approved by a group of ministers headed by Home Minister Amit Shah. "You can't have a better corporate, with a better position than the Tatas, we can hand it (state-run airline Air India) over," he said while replying to a question in a virtual event.
The country's economic growth hit a decade low of 5 per cent in the last fiscal on account of poor performance in the farm, manufacturing and mining sectors.
In his book, Backstage: The Story Behind India's High Growth Years, Montek Singh Ahluwalia accepted the Act "increased the cost of land to financially unsustainable levels ... and made it easier for anyone who wants to stop a project to use the various consultative processes required under the law to delay matters".
Ahluwalia said the government has taken steps to push the infrastructure sector and there are signs of improvement in the core sector production performance of steel, power, coal and cement during July and August.
On Monday, Reserve Bank hiked the lending rates to banks by 2 per cent to 10.25 per cent.
Irked over the notice sent to him by the National Commission for Women over his remarks on rape, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday accused the NCW of insulting him.
In its mid-quarter review of monetary policy, RBI on Wednesday kept all key interest rates unchanged notwithstanding persistent high inflationary pressure.
He said that land, a state subject, was a big destination of black money while reform in political funding was also important
There is a need for tax reforms in the country in a bolder way, Singh said.
The economy had grown at 5.4 per cent in the corresponding quarter of April-June last fiscal.
India's gross domestic product grew at a decade low of 5 per cent last fiscal.
The term of the members of the Planning Commission is co-terminus with the Prime Minister and they would be submitting their resignations once the new government is formed after the ongoing general elections next month.
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.
Costlier food items, including vegetables, pushed the October wholesale inflation to 7 per cent, the highest in the current financial year.
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The growth has not been very robust in the first two financial years of the 12th Plan.
He also indicated that the current position of the rupee is competitive against world currencies.
The current account deficit is the difference between inflow and outflow of foreign exchange.
As the country faces the possibility of a fractured mandate after the 2014 general elections, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia is of the view that in an era of coalition governments, special steps are needed to build consensus around policies or else, India will not be able to grow at its full potential.
"The theme of tomorrow's meeting is 'Economic Policy Reform, Road Ahead'. The prime minister will make opening remarks. There are 15 invitees who will make their presentations before the prime minister," a senior government official said.
All members of the Planning Commission have submitted their resignations to the Prime Minister's Office paying the way for reconstitution of the institution.
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.
Hours before Bharatiya Janata Party's Parliamentary Board meeting in New Delhi, senior party leader Murli Manohar Joshi had called Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as "chokh maal" (best product).
The government hopes of registering GDP growth rate ranging between 6.1-6.7 per cent in 2013-14.
Diversified business house Trident Group would become the first corporate to use Aadhaar Payment Bridge (APB) for disbursal of salaries to its employees.
The RBI has enough "fire power" to deal with the rupee volatility and will intervene in the forex market as and when required, said Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
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