"It is completely false. I don't know what is the basis of this. I am not a candidate. This is some speculative thing in the New York Times," Ahluwalia said.
Earlier on Wednesday, an expert group, headed by former Planning Commission member Kirit Parikh, suggested freeing of fuel prices.
The Planning Commission on Tuesday said it expected industrial production to beat last year's growth and attributed the revival to various stimulus measures. His comments came after latest government data showed that factory production grew 11.7 per cent in November last year.
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).
Following widespread drought and floods in various parts of the country, food inflation climbed to more than a 10-year high of 19.95 per cent in December, driven mainly by higher prices of potato, other vegetables and pulses.
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 Rs 67,700-crore (Rs 677 billion) revenue boost from the auction of 3G spectrum licences will help the government reduce its borrowings in the current fiscal, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.
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.
A good wheat crop this season is likely to ease the near double digit inflation in the next 2-3 months, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Wednesday.
The Planning Commission on Tuesday said the Reserve Bank's decision to tighten the money supply will not have any impact on growth and the economy would do better than 8 per cent expansion rate projected by the central bank.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, however, had said that stimulus measures need to continue till there is robust recovery in the developed world, which account for bulk of India's exports.
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.
Ahluwalia's assessment of economic growth is marginally higher than 6.3 per cent projected by the Commission earlier.
The debate over remuneration of CEOs on Monday grew louder with Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia stating that company heads should not be paid 'indecent salaries'.
Overall inflation, which has been in double digits for the last five months, was 10.55 per cent in June.
The Planning Commission on Friday said that high inflation, primarily driven by rising food prices, is likely to ease in the next few months on the back of an expected good rabi crop.
As the debate is on to decontrol fuel prices, the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Thursday said it would be a bad idea to continue with subsidies to keep oil prices subdued.
Ahead of the G-20 Summit, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia will lead a delegation to a preparatory meet on March 11 in London where deliberations on issues like liquidity crunch and reforms in international financial institutions are likely be taken up.
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.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Tuesday said that poor monsoon will adversely impact farm production and trim economic growth.
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.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Ahluwalia on Tuesday ruled out any more stimulus package for industry as the Budget has given a substantial boost to the slowing economy.
Asked whether the improvement in the index of industrial production data, released today, indicates that the worst is over for industry, Ahluwalia said, "We do believe that the worst is over. (But) there is difference between the worst being over and getting back to robust growth.
"They (prices of petroleum products) should be linked to world prices," Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told PTI when asked about the global crude prices now surging to about $70 a barrel.
"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.
"The full impact of the Dubai debt crisis is yet to be assessed, but there is no need to press the panic button," said Pranab Mukherjee.
This failure of basic short-term policy is surprising, given the star power that this government brings to its economic management.
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.
Reasserting the fact that India could easily attain a growth rate of above 7 per cent in the next financial year, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Sunday India was not extensively dependent on the global economic recovery for its own growth projections.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who has just resigned, on Monday remained non-committal on his prospects of becoming finance minister while describing reports on this as "speculation".
In view of declining inflation and recessionary conditions, the Planning Commission expects industry to cut prices in the normal course to battle economic slowdown.
The meetings with Singh and Ahluwalia have taken place just two days before the announcement of the results of the general elections for the 15th Lok Sabha. Besides Karnik, the other nominees on the Satyam board are HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, former ICAI chairman T M Manoharan, CII chief mentor Tarun Das, LIC executive S B Mainak and former presiding officer of Securities and Appellate Tribunal C Achuthan.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday asked the Planning Commission to prepare by Monday, a report on achievements of the government in different sectors that would later be made public.
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 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.
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 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.
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.
Railways were now less dependent on budgetary support than five years earlier due to the efforts of Lalu Prasad in making the sector financially self-reliant, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Saturday.
Setting at rest speculation about the possibility of tax cuts to boost growth, the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Tuesday said the government will not change the tax structure during the current fiscal, ending March 31.
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