Dr Manmohan Singh first embossed himself on the national consciousness when as India's finance minister he flagged off economic reforms which changed this nation forever.
His interaction was webcast live on Twitter.
With economic conditions turning better compared to that three months ago, the Planning Commission on Monday said economy should record at least 6.7 per cent growth rate this fiscal, the same as was witnessed in 2008-09.
The Cabinet's decision to auction 3G spectrum in January next year will give a fillip to investments in port, power, telecom and roads in the next 12-18 months, deputy Planning Commission chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.
He also indicated that the current position of the rupee is competitive against world currencies.
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.
India will become the third-biggest economy in the world by 2030, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.
In the October-December quarter, India's economy grew below expectations at 4.7 per cent on falling output in the manufacturing sector.
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.
Inflation rate fell to 0.27 per cent for the second week of March from 0.44 per cent for the week ended March 7. However, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Thursday the Indian economy is not heading towards deflation despite inflation nearing the zero-level in the past few weeks.
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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.
According to sources, Ahluwalia and Rangarajan separately briefed Singh about the economic situation.
Both sides have already agreed on restructuring of the schemes and curtailing the subsidy bill, Ahluwalia told reporters after the meeting.
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 economy had grown at 5.4 per cent in the corresponding quarter of April-June last fiscal.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said agriculture growth in the country cannot double without the involvement of the corporate sector.
Besides undertaking the routine work, Ahluwalia entrusted the task of revamping the Commission to new member Arun Maira, formerly with the Boston Consultancy Group. "We cannot work is silos. We need better lateral inputs," Ahluwalia had said at a recent internal meeting of the commission.
Costlier food items, including vegetables, pushed the October wholesale inflation to 7 per cent, the highest in the current financial year.
This was announced at the Indo-US Economic Cooperation conference held on Friday.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia says Commerce Minister Kamal Nath had warned him in advance that he was going to criticise the apex planning body in public.
No comments could be obtained from the spokespersons of either Reliance Industries Limited or Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group.
He said that land, a state subject, was a big destination of black money while reform in political funding was also important
Modernisation of agricultural marketing is important, says Montek Singh Ahluwalia
Aviation Minister Praful Patel's outburst against Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia is perhaps not difficult to understand since most people think it was actually Patel who should have been keeping an eye on the delays at the Delhi airport.
The government, which had set a reserve price of Rs 14,000 crore for pan-India spectrum broadly drawing from the basis used by Comptroller and Auditor General in calculating the loss in the previous sale in 2008, managed a meagre Rs 9,407.64 crore (Rs 94.07 billion) in the auction that lasted barely two days.
"The word populist has negative overtones, but I am sure (the) finance minister will present a popular Budget. However, we should maintain the mystery of the Budget and you have to wait and see what comes out," Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Alhuwalia said.
Rajasthan's BJP Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday differed on which Union government was behind the expressway project in the state.
Pitching for more public-sector role in health, Planning Commission deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Monday health and education are two areas where the private sector is welcome to make investments but the government needs to be dominant.
A report by a senior official in the Planning Commission has said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is heading towards bankruptcy, as its debt is set to increase five times in the next three years.
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To defuse the crisis over appointment of 'foreign' experts in the Planning Commission, its Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said he would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and find a solution shortly.
Attacking the government over the issue of price rise, the Bharatiya Janata Party said on Wednesday if the United Progressive Alliance dispensation was sincere in addressing the "burning issue" they should agree on a discussion in Parliament under a provision that entails voting.
"The rest of the world should pass a motion of thanks to India for keeping its emission at a level which actually is below the level required to achieve climate sustainability," says Montek Singh Ahluwalia, a key member of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's economic team.
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.
Even though present times were fraught with challenges, there is still inherent, vast and untapped opportunity in India, concludes the 10th India Business Conference at Columbia Business School.
His statement came against the backdrop of a controversy kicked off by his email to Ahluwalia.
Broad convergence on GST rollout in NDC meet.
The committee is expected to submit its report soon.
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.
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