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'.
The Planning Commission on Monday said the fiscal deficit, the difference between total revenue and expenditure, will not exceed the budgetary estimate of 6.8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).
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.
This failure of basic short-term policy is surprising, given the star power that this government brings to its economic management.
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.
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.
Batting for the Reserve Bank of India and the finance ministry, the Planning Commission on Friday said concessions to special economic zones should be at par with those provided to infrastructure projects.\n\n
Hailing the Budget 2009-10 as "growth oriented", Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday said there would be no need for another stimulus in the current fiscal.
The meetings with the investors at New York, according to sources, are being organised by the US-India Business Council. The USIBC is the premier business advocacy organization representing America's top companies investing in India, joined by global Indian companies, promoting economic reforms with an aim to deepen trade and strengthen commercial ties.
The Planning Commission on said food prices will come down in the next two months easing the overall inflation, which is currently at over 8.5 per cent.
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.
India is expected to record a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6 per cent this fiscal, which will improve further in the next fiscal with likely recovery in the global economy, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.
Deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia has been awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil law at the University of Oxford.
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.
Higher economic growth can be sustained only in an atmosphere of reasonable price stability
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Wednesday called for sweeping reforms in education and health to make the surging economic growth truly inclusive.
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.
Private partners like GMR and GVR, humiliated from time to time, have good reason to shrug their shoulders and argue that matters are outside their control.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on Tuesday lashed out at the Planning Commission, holding it responsible for the delay in the modernisation of Kolkata and Chennai airports.
Planning Commission echoed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's concern that corporate salaries were excessive but said there was no proposed move to impose any cap on their salaries.
In a note, titled 'IIFCL financing for PPP projects,' sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Ahluwalia wrote, 'It was pointed out in the meeting that the term of the current CMD (chairman and managing director) of IIFCL ends on March 10. The FS (finance secretary) had indicated that the term can be extended. Action on this front should be expedited to avoid loss of momentum.'
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia warned that any extraordinary steps to contain inflation may prove counter-productive.
The Planning Commission said on Tuesday the current upswing in the economy, which is showing signs of overheating, was unlikely to continue in the long term, while attributing pressure on prices to high growth rate.
The Planning Commission does not foresee any significant disruption of state finances on account of increase in salaries of state government employees.
Ahluwalia argues that India can attract more capital even in today's world, provided the country retains an open system
The Planning Commission said on Tuesday that emphasis on inclusiveness by the government should not be misconstrued as dilution of the overall growth agenda and the benefits should percolate to all strata of the society.
The impact of stimulus measures was evident as manufacturing grew by 10.2 per cent, electricity by 10.6 per cent in August.
With industrial production contracting by 0.4 per cent in October, for the first time in 15 years, and the exports declining by over 12 per cent during the month, the government came out with a stimulus package on December 7 to spur growth and help the industry combat the impact of global financial meltdown. As part of the stimulus package, the government cut excise duty by 4 per cent across the board, except on petroleum products.
India has said it would exercise caution in embracing fuller rupee float since the gradual approach towards liberalising the foreign exchange regime has paid in the past.
The Planning Commission may suggest an increase in education fees for higher education to Finance Minister P Chidambaram this year. Do you think this hike is justified?
The Planning Commission sees stronger economic expansion in the second half which could push up the growth rate for the current fiscal to beyond 6.3 per cent projected earlier by the panel.
The Planning Commission on Tuesday warned that sector-specific regulators could become 'tension points' between them and the ministries and said there should be a common regulator for transport and energy sectors.
"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.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will not be able to attend the annual World Economic Forum meeting to be held at Davos from January 24-28 next year.
Population growth rate would be 1.5 per cent during the period 2007-12. "The next 10 years, India will register four major changes. The economic growth will accelerate, the technology will also grow and domestic industry will experience major liberalisation," Ahluwalia said after inaugurating the 22nd Indian Engineering Congress in Udaipur.
He rejected the recommendation of the report that "major emitters" in developing countries should aim at an emission trajectory that peaks in 2020 and leads to a 20 per cent cut by 2050.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances