…AND FACTORS THAT MAY HELP HER STEER THE ECONOMY
INTEREST RATES TOUCH ROCK BOTTOM 444 INDUSTRY SHOWS SIGNS OF COMING BACK TO LIFE
10 0 -10 -20 - 30 - 40 - 50 - 60
The implementation of the massive infrastructure scheme that the government has announced should start quickly. The Budget is an appropriate juncture for that.
Reforms pay off with a lag. We had reforms in 1991, but growth touched 8 per cent in the 2000 decade. For lifting the growth potential, efficiency enhancing reforms should continue and not be a single event.
Shah: Our exports are not competitive due to power and logistics costs. In India, power for agriculture is free and transmission and distribution losses are high. Manufacturers pay more for power because of this unfair burden sharing. Can the Budget take away the extra burden? Globally, most cargo moves on water, followed by the railways and road. Environmentally, too, road is more polluting. But our railway freight bears the burden of passenger subsidy {and is uncompetitive}.
The second thing the Budget should do relates to the PLI Scheme. We need to learn from mistakes in the Textiles Upgradation Fund ( TUF) Scheme. Honest entrepreneurs took far less loans from TUF while crooks borrowed more. Easy TUF financing is the source of some