States hold growth levers: US body

Asserting that India's growth rate is more a product of its 29 chief ministers, a top American think-tank on Tuesday said that states do not feel the pressure or urgency to take important steps to revive the economy.

Weeks after the International Monetary Fund slashed India's growth rate projections for the year 2019 to 6.1 per cent, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said that precious little attention is paid to the role India's state leaders must play in facilitating growth.

“Most of the areas where economic reforms are most pressing are primarily controlled by India's state leaders. So instead of focusing solely on a 'Modi Plan' for growth, we should also be pressing for the 'Fadnavis Plan', the 'Yeddyurappa Plan', the 'Nath Plan', and the 'Adityanath Plan' for an economic resurgence,” Richard M Rossow, senior adviser and Wadhwani Chair in USIndia Policy Studies at CSIS said. In an op-ed released on Tuesday, Rossow said state governments have primary control over many potential levers for growth. These include: the issuance of most industrial licences; control over various inspections that can cripple productivity

Little attention is paid to the role state leaders must play in growth when abused; pricing and availability of electric power; and pricing and availability of clean water and effluent disposal.

Other potential levers of growth include building most infrastructure; land clearances for industrial development; labour regulation and policy continuity, he said. States can be leaders in sparking growth by taking steps to expand access to quality infrastructure, cut unnecessary licenses and make land acquisition a transparent.