Against the all-state average of Rs 3,049 per capita development expenditure, Bihar registered Rs 1,446 during 2005-06. Similarly agaisnt all-state average of Rs 3,826 and Rs 4,208, Bihar recorded per capita development expenditure of Rs 2,123 and Rs 2,184 during 2006-07 and 2007-08 respectively.
Broad convergence on GST rollout in NDC meet.
The summit in Korea, Ahluwalia pointed out, was the first to be held in a newly developed nation, as well as in Asia, home to many emerging nations. With the financial crisis that necessitated the meeting of minds in 2008 a thing of the past, Korea is keen to bring development to the forefront.
Replying to a question related to the possibility of additional fiscal stimulus measures in the forthcoming Budget, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said: "We have started some discussion with the finance ministry. This is related to what should be an appropriate size for planned expenditure for 2009-10." In the interim Budget announced in February this year, the planned expenditure for 2009-10 was budgeted at Rs 2,85,149 crore.
Besides Parikh, Singh sent letters of appreciation to V L Chopra, B Mungekar and Anwarul Hoda indicating that they may not find a place in the reconstituted body.
Indian industry began this financial year on a strong foot, with robust growth of 17.6 per cent in April. This has surpassed analyst expectations and fuelled concerns of a rate hike by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Earlier on Wednesday, an expert group, headed by former Planning Commission member Kirit Parikh, suggested freeing of fuel prices.
The Planning Commission on Monday lowered the target for construction of roads under the NHDP scheme to 2,500 km for the current fiscal from 3,165 km in the previous year, which was not met by the road ministry.
The Planning Commission on Monday set targets to augment the country's infrastructure this fiscal, including adding 20,359 MW of power generation capacity and 2,500 km of highways, its Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.
A day before the announcement of the inflation data for August, the Planning Commission said that the figures would remain high but would start declining in subsequent months to reach a level of 6 per cent by December-end.
No comments could be obtained from the spokespersons of either Reliance Industries Limited or Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group.
The Union government's response to the many comments and criticisms of the 2009-10 Budget was explored by Karan Thapar for Devil's Advocate, the CNN-IBN channel programme, with deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
International economic diplomacy will be a major focus for the new government.
Even as the flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme continues to face problems at the implementation level, Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, ignoring suggestions by Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia and other economists, has refused to bring any major change in the scheme.
The government plans to resurrect the ministry of disinvestment in a bid to raise resources by selling its shareholding in public sector companies.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday expressed confidence that in the years to come India could emerge as the fastest growing economy in the world, beating China as the nation has yet to achieve its full growth potential.
India's per capita green house gas (GHG) emission in 2030 will be well below those in the developed countries in 2005, according to a report.
The government is likely to raise the Gross Budgetary Support (GBS)-- the amount of assistance provided by the Centre for Plan schemes-- by 15 per cent to Rs 2.60 lakh crore during 2010-11.
This failure of basic short-term policy is surprising, given the star power that this government brings to its economic management.
Brazil, Russia, India & China (known collectively as BRIC) on Sunday sought a re-balancing of representation on the executive board and the International Monetary and Financial Committee of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The committee is the policy-making arm of the IMF.
"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.
More often than not unskilled workers end up getting a raw deal.
The commission had earlier projected a 2.5 per cent fall in the farm output due to weak monsoon but expects the drop to be less than that.
"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.
The country's new home minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, today said he prefers a Congressman as his successor in the finance ministry, setting off speculation about the implication of his statement.
Even if you raise the poverty line as much as the Expert Group does, it turns out just 11 per cent of Indians are poor, not 37 per cent -- that's a huge poverty of estimation.
The government may raise the number of job days under the NREGA scheme to compensate rural households for loss of income due to a poor monsoon in large part of the country.
This is a 22 per cent hike compared to the funding the state received last year.
The impact of stimulus measures was evident as manufacturing grew by 10.2 per cent, electricity by 10.6 per cent in August.
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.
While Lalu's chances of retaining Cabinet berth seems remote, experts believe there may not be too many new faces as far as important ministries are concerned.
"Second quarter will be worse (than 6.1 per cent growth in Q1) and may be Q3 also," Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said today after the full plan panel meeting. However, he said the economic growth will rebound in the fourth quarter to enable the economy to clock 6.3 per cent for the entire fiscal.
India can now, if required, borrow up to $30 billion a year, up from $6 billion, from the International Monetary Fund for a three-month period which can be renewed twice more in 3-month cycles.
The principal Opposition party said an immediate cut in petrol and diesel prices was required in the larger interest of the nation. The BJP also demanded that interest rate on housing loans be brought down to 6 per cent and a real push be given for infrastructure development to 'avoid a catastrophe'.
A core group of ministers on Wednesday held inconclusive deliberations on a proposal to raise fuel prices, necessitated by a spike in global crude prices that threatens to spawn an oil import crisis.
The campaign aims to raise 1.25 billion pounds, and begins at a high profile international event in London on Wednesday. The launch event at the British Academy features the university's chancellor Lord Chris Patten, and vice-chancellor John Hood. Oxonians from various fields and countries have been roped in to raise funds that will be used to meet rising costs and steep competition from American universities.
The meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was attended by Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Industry leaders, including Ratan Tata, Rahul Bajaj, Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal, who are members of the council, also participated in the discussions.
Talking to reporters accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his US visit, the deputy chairperson of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said the trend of constant rising inflation in India was disappearing. Maintaining that the financial meltdown in the US has not had a direct impact on India, Ahluwalia said the country had an ample stock of foreign exchange reserves to deal with the temporary meltdown in financial markets.
The meeting is likely to focus on removing impediments which are hampering implementation of the announced projects and policies which have been on the drawing board for long, official sources said. The social sector agenda of the prime minister includes pushing the Aam Admi Bima Yojana and Old Age Pension for the labour class, besides revamping Integrated Child Development Scheme and strengthening the public distribution system.
They are of the view that calling the new institutes "IITs" would dilute the brand image of the existing premier institutes, which figure among the world's 100 best technology universities and are compared with the likes of MIT, California University and Berkeley. The seven IITs are located in Kharagpur, Mumbai, Chennai, Kanpur, Delhi, Guwahati and Roorkee.
