His outburst has to rank among the most bizarre episodes of two arms of the government fighting in public.
In its mid-quarter review of monetary policy, RBI on Wednesday kept all key interest rates unchanged notwithstanding persistent high inflationary pressure.
Addressing an international meet on key inputs for accelerated development of Indian power sector at New Delhi on Tuesday Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission said that India's growth projection could be trimmed due to a poor monsoon.
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.
Montek welcomes investment in infrastructure; deals worth over $5 billion signed at the 2nd India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue.
Addressing the fourth India Investment Forum in New York, Montek Singh Ahluwalia highlighted the steps the government was taking to attract investments in the infrastructure sector, saying it is open to suggestions which they might have to offer.
The Planning Commission on Thursday said the surge in global oil prices should be passed on to customers, but favoured having some provisions to safeguard the interests of vulnerable sections of the society.
Says tradability will ensure greater economic efficiency & higher revenues for the government.
The Planning Commission on Tuesday made a case for increasing prices of petrol and diesel arguing that it was not a good idea to check inflation by keeping prices of petroleum products low.
The interest of the poor can be protected by providing targeted subsidy, Planning Commission's Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said, adding that increased energy cost would have to be shared by the consumers as the burden is currently being largely borne by public sector oil companies.
India's gross domestic product grew at a decade low of 5 per cent last fiscal.
Wipro Chairman Azim Premji, Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia, former diplomat Brajesh Mishra and Telugu thespian A Nageshwara Rao were chosen for country's second highest civilian award--Padma Vibhushan--this year.
In the October-December quarter, India's economy grew below expectations at 4.7 per cent on falling output in the manufacturing sector.
Major economic policy reforms in India that require legislative changes is most likely to slip away until the next general elections, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Thursday.
Set up by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the Planning Commission brought 12 five-year plans and six annual plans involving fund outlays of over Rs 200 lakh crore in its nearly 65-year-history.
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.
The Reserve Bank of India announced measures late on Monday to curb the rupee's decline by tightening liquidity.
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.
Defending the government's decision to raise prices of petroleum products, the Plan panel said on Wednesday it would suck money from the system and ease inflationary pressure in the long run.
Ahluwalia argues that India can attract more capital even in today's world, provided the country retains an open system
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.
The country's economic growth rate slipped to 5.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011-12, lowest in nearly 9 years due to poor performance of the manufacturing and farm sectors.
Says govt and Vodafone would have a reasonable compromise.
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.
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.
There is no doubt that economic growth has picked up. It's also true that inflation has edged up. We had said at the beginning that sometime in the course of the year we would begin to slowly wind it down and what has happened is on course for that decision but exactly what, it's too early to say, says Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
The Indian economy is expected to grow at least 7 per cent in the next financial year on the back of the two stimulus packages given by the government, but in the immediate-term there would be some pain and a rise in unemployment levels, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.
"I am in favour of generally multilaterally liberalising trade and I think the rest of the world is moving towards doing that in a parallel track," says Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
Says govt's focus is to re-assure foreign investors that India is wide open for business.
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.
He also indicated that the current position of the rupee is competitive against world currencies.
The government hopes of registering GDP growth rate ranging between 6.1-6.7 per cent in 2013-14.
Ahluwalia was married to former deputy chairperson of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and is survived by her husband and two sons.
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
Within hours of the government announcing a new body to replace Planning Commission, the Yojana Bhawan staff began hectic preparations to welcome new Vice-Chairman of Niti Aayog and other members who are likely to be appointed shortly.
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