CHAPTER WISE SUMMARY Macroeconomic Policy in India Since the Global Financial Crisis - Trends, Policies and Challenges in Economic Revival Post-COVID
Research & Publication (Infrastructure & Regulation)
Financing Green and Brownfield Private Infrastructure in India
Approaches that recognize the specific kind of market failure/s, in the policy and design of infrastructure, greatly reduce the financing costs and improve the ability of to attract finance in the private provisioning of infrastructure. This is particularly so in the case where there are dual mar
Real Estate and Infrastructure Resolution
We propose a mechanism that uses the financial markets to mobilize the resources of a large population of investors, to revive the impaired assets in the real sector in India today. This should also allow the economy to escape from the strangle hold of the “doom loop”, in which
The Problem of Financing Private Infrastructure in India Today
Optimal approaches that recognize the specific kind of market failure/s, in the policy and design of infrastructure, greatly reduce the financing costs and improves the ability of to attract finance in the private provisioning of infrastructure. When state systems are weak organizationally it is
Examination Of Affordable Housing Policies In India
This paper provides a critique of the Indian Government’s programmes for affordable housing, namely the Rajiv Awas Yojana and Housing for All 2022. It analyses the efficacy of these policies in being able to provide the sections of the population who are unable
Container Train Operations: Introducing Competition (A)
In May 2005, the Committee on Infrastructure took a decision that Ministry of Railways, in consultation with Planning Commission, would prepare a policy for permitting private and public sector operators to run container trains through the Indian Railways (IR) network
Container Train Operations: Introducing Competition (B)
In October 2005, the representatives of the Planning Commission, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and Ministry of Shipping met to discuss the RITES recommendations to work towards framing a policy document for running container trains by private
Structuring PPPs In Aviation Sector: Case Of Delhi And Mumbai Airport Privatization
The concession agreement for the modernization and operation of Indira Gandhi International airport in Delhi and Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport in Mumbai respectively is referred to as Operation Management and Development Agreement (OMDA). The OMDA was a pa
The Question Of Land And Infrastructure Development In India: Urgently Required Reforms For Fairness And Infrastructural Development
Land in India is problematic, largely because of archaic and perverse provisions in the practice and the law. The new Land Acquisition Amendment Bill does go some way to correct the anti-democratic and imperial provisions of the old 1894 Act. Other regulatory restrain
Introducing Competition in Container Movement by Rail
The Minister of Railways, in his budget speech on 26th February, 2005, had announced that the Ministry of Railways (MoR) and the Government of India would permit private operators to run container trains. Before then, a subsidiary of the Indian Railways, Container Cor
The Emphasis On PPP Model Is In The Right Direction
The large budgetary support in general of plan and investment should bring cheers to the producers, investors and financers of infrastructural equipment and services on roads, urban services and power equipment. Given the large rises on doles under the NREGA, Bharat N
Land Markets In India: Distortions And Issues
There are certain inherent problems with land because of its peculiar characteristics, which impede the natural emergence of a well-functioning market. The legal and regulatory framework can potentially overcome these problems. In India, despite some reform efforts, t
Electricity Reforms and Regulations: A Critical Review of Last 10 Years Experience
Following liberalisation and reform of the economy in 1991-92, the electricity sector also witnessed major policy and regulatory initiatives. The sector, while it was growing rapidly in the eighties, faced issues of a debilitating and serious nature. Losses, especiall
Simhadri Super Thermal Power Project (A)
The Indian electricity sector was opened to the private sector under the Independent Power Producer’s (IPP) policy. The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), India's largest and perhaps most efficient generator had to respond to the changing scenario. It se
Simhadri Super Thermal Power Project (B)
This case follows case (A) which discusses National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NTPC)- response to the Simhadri project that created a record of sorts in timely implementation of large projects and within a tight budget NTPC’s record of 39 months for a gr
Small And Medium Enterprise In India - Overcoming Policy Constraints To Achieving Rapid Growth In A Globalizing Economy
The transformation of firms and especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) which have little autonomous capacity is a function of growth oriented policies. Lacking a very rapid growth in the market sufficient to overcome disguised unemployment, the transformation
A Small Step Towards Growing Out Of The Mess In Electricity Supply
Growth in the electricity sector had been stalled ever since 1994 on account of reforms (unbundling for its own sake and the IPP policy) that were technically unsound and designed to fail. This was because they did not address the real problem that of revenue interrup
Rural Infrastructure Needs A Fillip
The article evaluates the scope of rural development in India. It demonstrates that the Indian states weaknesses in cross-functional policy design and in coordination across departments and functions is the obvious cause of lack of rural development, and urges to reco
SPVs No Solution To Infrastructure Woes
The article suggests that there is no financial side constraint on infrastructure in India at present. With a well developed financial market, it is only the lack of good bankable projects that is the limitation, and there is no way another Special Purpose Vehicle (SP
Some Key Issues In Policy, Pricing, Regulation, And Financing Of Irrigation Development In India Today
The paper discusses the stylised problems relating to water and irrigation in India and argues that most of the inefficiencies, misuse and environmental damage have their roots in the mispricing of water and electricity. Since the only kind of subsidies thus far
Infrastructure Development and Strategy for Gujarat
The phenomenon of foreign direct investments (FDI) from India is substantial and systematic enough to warrant attention. In this empirical study; the pattern and nature of control exercised by the Indian parents, local parties, and possible transnational capital and l
The Beginnings Of Distribution Reforms In West Madhya Pradesh: A Report
Despite opening up the sector to private participation through independent power producers (IPPs), the actual progress of reforms in electricity has been atrociously slow. The unbundling of the industry by trifurcating the SEB and allowing private participation in the
India Infrastructure Report 2004: Overview
The text discusses and summarises the principal findings of the various articles in the report. It also develops the theme of ensuring value for government expenditures through inter alia Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and Public Finance Initiatives (PFIs). Government expenditures on vital so
Competition, Regulation and Strategy: The Information Technology Industry
The Information Technology (IT) industry, both software and hardware, is characterised by 'vast consumer side scale and scope economies' which are incomparably larger than in other industries with supply side network economies like pipelines or electricity distributio
Commercial Aircraft Industry And Governments
This paper deals with the evaluation of the civil aeronautics sectors since the 1930s in the background of Government intervention & technological changes. The paper has tried to contrast the active interference by European nations in the domestic aviation sector
Comments On The Draft Electricity Bill 2001
The paper comments upon the Draft Electricity Bill of 2001. Given than the reform of the power sector had made little headway, there is much concern that something needs to be done. Little progress has been made in the Bill, so that most of the comments made then rema
Explaining Foreign Direct Investments In Gujarat: A Study Based On An Opinion Survey Of Persons Involved In The Foreign Direct Investment Process
Gujarat has attracted more foreign direct investment (FDI) than what its GDP size alone would suggest. But relative to its peer states, it has fallen short significantly. The above findings which were made in an earlier study are further confirmed through a survey of
Restructuring Gujarat Electricity Board: Outline Of A Strategy And Proposal For Action
This paper argues that the GEB (Gujarat Electricity Board) needs to be restructured urgently. The principal challenge for restructuring is to overcome the major ‘agency problem’ that results in leakage of enormous revenue. Plugging the leakages alone would
India Infrastructure Report 2001: Overview
The first in the series, the book reviews infrastructure development since the reform of the Indian economy began in 1991, discussing the policies required to create an appropriate market structure for infrastructure provision along with its constraints as well as lay
Issues in Infrastructure Development Today: The Interlinkages
Today, infrastructure development is at a crucial juncture in India. Since only tentative steps have been taken towards a more pluralistic provisioning, especially by the private sector, the infrastructure as a whole has reached a point of irreversibility. It is no lo
Power Sector Reforms And Regulation: The Road Ahead
The reform of the electricity sector, especially the decision to unbundle and privatize, has in India been based on the premise that the state (government) does not have adequate financial resources, given its need to control the fiscal deficit. The assumption is that
IIR 2001: Overexploitation of Ground Water Can Be Overcome by Correctly Pricing Electricity and Diesel
The text within develops a simple model to show that mispricing of electricity-at nearly zero usage prices- is the principal reason for over drawl of ground water and social waste in subsidising of agriculture in India, and how direct subsidies could overcome the same
IIR 2001: How Low Usage Charges for Drinking Water Act Against the Interests of the Poor
The box shows, analytically, how low charges for drinking water can hurt the poor in a situation of limited supply when the price elastic demand of the rich compete with the (need) inelastic demand of the poor. It argues that this is a core problem in many Indian citi
GEB Reforms: A Note On Regulatory Strategy And An Approach To Privatisation
The paper makes a proposal for market competition in generation, through the development of a hybrid wholesale and retail (for bulk consumers alone) market. It is not a marker for all the electricity in the system, but largely a market that would allow distribution-cu
Infrastructure Development And Financing: Towards A Public-Private Partnership
This book initiated academic work in the area of private investment in infrastructure in India. Divided into five parts, the book contains eleven articles and thirteen case studies on power, telecom and transportation. In this book, infrastructure development and fina
Political Economy Of Electric Power In India: Part 2
Since the cancellation of the Dabhol Power Project (DPP), the debate about electric power in India has come into the public view, raising hopes that corrective measures can be taken to have a cost effective and growing power industry. A critical examination of the rec
Political Economy Of Electric Power In India: Part 1
Since the cancellation of the Dabhol Power Project (DPP), the debate about electric power in India has come into the public view, raising hopes that corrective measures can be taken to have a cost effective and growing power industry. A critical examination of the rec
Cost And Time Overruns In Public Sector Projects
Delays and cost overruns in public sector investments can raise the capital-output ratio in the sector and elsewhere, bringing down the efficacy of investments. Yet there are no estimates of the delays and cost overruns, and of their opportunity cost. This study arriv
Blog (Infrastructure & Regulation)
A Video Presentation : Will the Stimulus of Rs. "20 lakh crore" Work to Arrest the Economic Crisis? An Assessment
Will the Stimulus of Rs. “20 lakh crore” Work to Arrest the Economic Crisis? An Assessment
The Deepening Crisis of the Indian Economy
This VIDEO Presentation[from 15 minutes onwards] is preliminary to a working paper that I would soon be bringing out on a tragedy that is going
Macroeconomic Challenges Posed by the COVID19 in India
Massive intervention in the capital markets to greatly enhance liquidity and reduce the policy rates would be necessary. Otherwise the financial sector would tumble like nine pins. We suggest a rate cut by 1.5% and massive injection of liquidity well above the r
The Change Imperative
At the recently held conference on Building Infrastructure–Challenges and Opportunities at Vigyan Bhavan, the Prime Minister underscored the importance of infrastructure in India being able to sustain high growth, above 8%. What was remarkable
Dwelling On Delhi's Master Plan
The Delhi government would soon have to legislate to make special exemptions to Delhi’s Master Plan to override the Supreme Court’s (SC) order banning commercial activities in residential areas. Policy-makers and planner sitting in ivory towers
Metro And BRT Can Go Together
Substantial monies are being made available to large cities to build metros. Yet between metros and the newly emerging metropolitan cities , there is a misfit, as between a square peg and a round hole. Over years of town ‘planning’ that
Unlock SMEs To Tap Full Export Potential
SMEs are the backbone of exports from India, especially of manufactures and increasingly of services if the source of value addition is taken into account. Indeed manufacturing in the ‘original sense’ is very much an SME business. The reasons are not far t
Mismanaging National Assets
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) now admits that the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) completion is going to be delayed and the cost overrun would be substantial. What it is not admitting is that its poor management of tolls and of the highw
One-Sided Law On Land Acquisition
Delays and risks in land acquisition are the overwhelming retardants in infrastructural construction. The problems are widely believed to arise in politicking and poor governance, but it is important to understand the deeper reasons lying in the law
The Fine Art Of Zero Maintenance
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation got a few hundred new CNG buses some months back, which look worn out already. No replacement of tail-lights, no repair of dents, no painting. The ph
A Small Step Towards Growing Out Of The Mess In Electricity Supply?
Finally perhaps the wheel has moved, even though an inch. The recent decision to allow captive units to supply at prices (even though only a little) higher than the marginal cost of generation finally means that a win-win move has been made. However
Benefits Outweigh The Costs Involved In The Narmada Dam Project
A great project is being held up on emotional grounds. The loss is the nation’s. Narmada has the potential to supply drinking water to the towns and cities of Gujarat, to irrigate the dry parts of Gujarat, to raise agricultural growth rates to high levels over t
Rural Infrastructure Needs A Fillip
Rural development, especially infrastructural development, by its very nature is holistic. Therefore, it can neither be left to a ministry of rural development, which cannot think beyond sop programmes, nor to the uncoordinated working of departments, like roads, publ
Can Any 'Reform' Be So Perverse And Irrational?
The government has proposed an amendment to the Postal Act that would bar the private sector from carrying articles below 500 gm. The move is regressive, has no rationale, is unimplementable and will not prevent losses in the DoP (department of posts). It will result
Water And Sewerage: The Eco-Politics
Water, among all infrastructure services, has to be the state’s responsibility. If the state cannot arrange to provide for water in the cities and other habitats, then nothing else that it does or provides is meaningful. By that count, most of
Making Reform A Positive Sum Game
Lalu Prasad and his team have been laying out transition path to reform from the mess that Indian Railways were in, steps that would most certainly pay off. The genius in discovering hidden operating leverage and overcoming slack in increasing the loading of wagons, e
SPVs No Solution To Infrastructure Woes
When interest rates are determined through the market, there is only a limited role for development finance institutions (DFIs). In the era of controls, and where the state mobilised and directed (if not monopolised) much of the savings and resource
Promote Markets To Hedge Traffic Risks
While the risks in road construction have fallen steeply since the first BOT roads of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), they remain much higher than they need be. The risks of land acquisition are particularly large in populous areas
Infrastructure Spending And Forex
Foreign exchange reserves are not like a bank balance which can be converted entirely into cash for spending. The issue of government expenditure for infrastructural investment has little directly to do with using or not using these. It has to do more with the e
Water Endowments Need To Replace Tariff Subsidies In Irrigation
Irrigation especially major irrigation cries for large investments especially in maintenance and rehabilitation. The positive externalities of these investments are very large. Waste in water usage too is very high. Crucial to realising the vast efficiency gains
Coal Is Crucial For India
Coal has to be the primary energy for the country. In the very long term of course fusion and solar could become important options, but that would have to await technological developments over which we have little influence or control. China despite having far richer
Why Punish The Users Of National Highways?
Our cities are built with very low densities (floor space indices) means that they are unable to take on the correct spatial orientation of economic activities. This, of course, makes them socially expensive, and much more spread out than they need to be.
Infrastructure Reform Requires Switch To Direct Subsidies
A government which never expected to lose was booted out. A grouping that did not expect to win has now taken on the reins of government. It was neither the pursuit of ‘Hindutva’, nor its dilution, nor the b
Truckers Are Really Overloaded
The truckers’ strike is finally off and the nation heaves a sigh of relief. But one wishes the real issues faced by the industry had been brought up on the table and resolved once and for all, even if it had meant a prolonged strike. Unfortunately, the truckers
Airlines Will Need Service Quality Regulation
With Delhi and Mumbai airport in competent private hands. one can breathe a little easy. The underutilisation of assets, absurd designs, quixotic operational processes that impose huge passenger side discomforts and costs may hopefully go away.