The transition for India if Sonia Gandhi cannot continue her duties as head of the Congress party, could be dangerous. India's democratic institutions are already corroded by political corruption and dynastic politics and its economy in rigor mortis from lack of any serious economic reform for the last seven years of Congress rule, say Neelam Deo and Manjeet Kripalani.
'We have essentially tried to set out an agenda for the next five years and it, in essence, represents the political commitment to that agenda.'
Jaitley promised higher investment in roads and railways.
'Till the time you have the equations right the market will remain concerned.' 'If the (coalition) government is taken care of, then probably (the markets will) come back to its rhythm.'
'Let us also not expect that there will be a clean break with the past, much though the new government might like to think about it. In a functional democracy that is neither feasible nor desirable. But basic change it must be,' says Shreekant Sambrani.
While some visible signs of recovery have emerged, Modi has not announced any sweeping market reforms, with critics saying he has scored high on oratory but low on delivery of his election campaign promises.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will pitch for quota and governance reforms in the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund.
A government that confuses PowerPoints for policy is delaying structural change too much.
Economist Dale W Jorgenson declares that India is doing "very, very well" and forecasts that India might continue to outrun world economies, including China over the next many years.
'GST will bring in much needed transparency and higher investments in the coming years and we hope that a few percentage points to India's GDP.'
Private investment will respond only to sustainable reform.
Riding on a bull run, equity investors became richer by Rs 128.77 lakh crore in the 2023-24 fiscal, driven by robust fundamentals of the Indian economy, increased investment inflows and promising corporate earnings. After a muted performance in 2022-23, equity markets made a remarkable recovery in FY24, giving handsome returns to investors. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 14,659.83 points or 24.85 per cent in 2023-24.
This is the full text of the address to the nation by President Droupadi Murmu on the eve of India's 78th Independence Day.
After one year in power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pretty much on the back foot, even if he continues to display bravado in his public pronouncements. He knows within his heart that he has wasted a lot of his political capital without getting much in return, says M K Venu.
No successive government thought of reviving the idea of an exit policy.
Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) K V Subramanian on Tuesday exuded confidence that India would achieve double-digit growth in the current financial year on the back of policy initiatives and continuing reforms. He also said the country is well poised to meet the fiscal deficit target of 6.8 per cent of GDP. "At this stage, I can say confidently that we should be able to achieve that fiscal deficit number. "Any shortfalls that might happen on the disinvestment side will also be accompanied by positive surprises that have happened on tax revenue," he told reporters.
''Even without major reforms, with a business as usual scenario, and with current inflation trends, we should be clocking around 11 to 12 per cent nominal growth.' 'That is not happening and is a source of worry,' Rathin Roy tells Arup Roychoudhury.
'Not even a single rupee from the electoral bonds should be allowed to be used in the election.' 'If it is used in the election, it will taint India's electoral process itself.'
Chinese leaders may well respond to challenges with heightened rhetoric.
China's economy is in transition, with rising wage costs and massive overcapacity.
It's easy to say investors should focus on fundamentals but this risk can have a significant and lasting impact
The government on Monday indicated that it may tinker with the excise duties and service tax rates in the interim budget in an apparent bid to boost economy but may not pursue key reforms legislations due to lack of political consensus.
'If India can only grow at 5%, why bother spending time on the country?' asks Akash Prakash.
'We will see a lot of investments from the private sector.' 'As long as we are not impacted by some global events, I think we will be in a strong place.'
Till now, the maximum Bharat Ratnas were awarded in 1999 when four recipients were given the coveted award.
The defence minister also took an indirect dig at Gandhi for "doubting" the government's intention in the handling of the border row with China and said politics can not be done on the basis of "falsehood".
Panagariya has advocated a more liberalised spending, arguing that greater capital expenditure could relax some of the infrastructure bottlenecks facing the country.
Indian economy is expected to improve marginally in the current financial year with its GDP at market price projected to expand by 3.4 per cent from 3.3 per cent in the previous fiscal, think tank OECD said.
'What should surprise BJP supporters is Modi's call for 'stability' at the manifesto launch, a theme that he and his team members had not touched ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019.' 'The last time the party called for 'stability at the Centre' was in 1998 and 1999,' recalls N Sathiya Moorthy.
'In India those who want change cannot bring about change, and those who can bring about change do not want change.'
'The failures of private businessmen have set back the process of market-oriented reform, though that is the only way forward,' argues T N Ninan.
The government had earlier announced the country's highest civilian honour for L K Advani and Karpoori Thakur.
In a dazzling resurgence, foreign investors have graced the Indian equity markets with an influx of nearly Rs 1.5 lakh crore in 2023, fuelled by optimism over the country's resilient economic fundamentals amid shadows of a gloomy global scenario. Experts believe that the positive trend may continue in 2024. This follows Indian equities witnessing the worst-ever net outflow of Rs 1.21 lakh crore by FPIs in 2022 on aggressive rate hikes by the central banks globally after net inflows for three consecutive years.
The introduction of GST would constitute India's biggest reform.
India is likely to attract increasing notice from global investors.
The Goods and Services Tax will make India a competitor in Chinese-style manufacturing and employment.
Change will have to begin with Mr Modi, who by all accounts has shown little active interest in macro-economic issues, preferring instead to focus on the effective implementation of projects and programmes, points out T N Ninan.
Mihir S Sharma outlines why this year's Union Budget does not respond to the needs of India's economy, or attempt to frame the economy's future.
Noting that India has 'limitless possibilities and countless opportunities', Modi urged the BRICS business leaders to take advantage of them.
