Sameer Kochhar, Chairman of Skoch Group, is a passionate advocate of social, financial and digital inclusion. In 1997, after spending 15 years in the corporate world, he decided to follow his inner calling and become a development thinker. Ever since, he single-mindedly applied himself to the rigours of self-education, academic research and field tours. The Skoch Group—which has think-tank, media and consultancy arms—was established as part of this endeavour. His expert opinion is sought by the government. In Sameer’s thinking, writings and activities, his profound admiration for India’s economic reforms—and in extension, those outstanding personalities who strive to make these reforms more meaningful and broad-based—comes out clear and unambiguous.

Isher Judge Ahluwalia • Montek Singh Ahluwalia • Tarun Das • Gursharan Dhanjal • Ashok Jha • Vijay L. Kelkar • Sameer Kochhar • C. Rangarajan • M. Govinda Rao • Parthasarathi Shome • N.K. Singh • U.K. Sinha • Duvvuri Subbarao • Y.S.P. Thorat

In presenting an updated review of the employment and labour market situation with clarity and analytical rigour this Report will be invaluable to government, policy makers and experts. It will facilitate in realizing the objective of high, sustainable and equitable growth which India has set for itself, for the creation of remunerative, productive and decent employment as the most effective means of achieving this goal.
— Rashid Amjad  Director,
    Graduate Institute of Development Studies,
    Lahore School of Economics and Former Chief Economist,
    Pakistan Planning Commission.

Recent employment trends in India raise many momentous issues—the sluggish growth of real wages, the continued exclusion of women, and the limited reach of workers’ organizations, among others. This Report will be of great value in bringing these issues closer to the centre of attention in economic policy, public debates and democratic politics.
— Jean Drèze
    Honorary Professor, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi.

To understand labour worldwide, we must understand India, with its huge growing workforce, many self-employed or working in the informal sector. The India Labour and Employment Report offers an invaluable picture of the Indian labour scene. I learned much from this edition and look forward to future editions. Required reading for labour and development specialists.  
— Richard Freeman
    Herbert Ascherman Professor of Economics,
    Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA.

This excellent Report presents comprehensive and well organized information on labour and employment in India, as well as a balanced discussion of achievements and policy challenges. It will prove essential reading for researchers and policymakers alike.
— Ravi Kanbur
    Professor of Economics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

The fact that most Indians still work in low-productivity occupations at very low incomes and lack access to social protection poses major challenges for the country’s development… By carefully disaggregating the diverse experience of working Indians, the Report identifies areas for action that could make economic growth more inclusive and distribute opportunity more broadly.
— Sandra Polaski
    Deputy Director General, International Labour Office, Geneva.

Based on latest data, the India Labour and Employment Report succinctly brings out the emerging pattern of labour market outcomes and challenges of employment. Its emphasis on creating more employment in the organized sector and enhancing the productivity and income of workers in the unorganized sector will facilitate the gradual formalization of the workforce—a dire need of the country. The Report will be very useful for all those concerned and engaged with the inclusive development agenda.
— Abhijit Sen
    Member, Planning Commission, Government of India, New Delhi.

The India Labour and Employment Report is a landmark undertaking. It collects together diverse information on the state of Indian labour markets… Its emphasis on the development of the manufacturing sector as being the key to economic develop-ment of the country, is particularly welcome—as is the stress on inclusive growth. It’s a must-read addition to the literature on labour economics in the Indian context.
— Ajit Singh
    Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Cambridge, UK.

The Institute for Human Development (IHD), a leading centre for studies on labour markets, livelihoods and human development, aims to contribute to the building of a society that fosters and values and inclusive social, economic and political system, free from poverty and deprivations. Towards achieving its goal, it engages in analytical and policy research, teaching and training, academic and policy debates, networking with other institutions and stakeholders, and publication and dissemination of the results of its activities. The major themes of current work of IHD are: growth and employment; education and capabilities; health and nutrition; gender and development; security and vulnerability; governance and institutions.

The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE) is a broad-based professional association of researchers, scholars and other stakeholders interested in the areas of labour and development issues. The Society promotes scientific studies of labour markets, industrial relations and related issues and provides a forum for exchange of ideas and dissemination of knowledge. The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, a quarterly Journal of the Society, now in its 56th year of publication, is peer reviewed and widely-circulated, promoting and featuring scientific studies on labour issues.

Arpita Mukherjee is a Professor at Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi. She has several years of experience in policy-oriented research working closely with the governments in India and the UK. She has conducted studies for various international organisations and Indian industry associations. Her research is a key contributor to India’s negotiating strategies in the on-going Doha Round of WTO negotiations, in bilateral trade agreements and in domestic policy reforms. Dr Mukherjee has a PhD in Economics from the University of Portsmouth, UK. Her research interests include: services, WTO, bilateral/regional agreements; infrastructure, FDI, agriculture reforms, retail, migration and labour market programmes. She has over 80 publications including books, journals, working papers and government reports. Dr Mukherjee has presented her research at various international and national conferences.

Debolina Mukherjee is a Consultant at ICRIER. She has an MA in Economics with a specialisation in monetary economics and finance from the University of Calcutta, Kolkata. Her research interests include: retail and the food and agro-processing industry. At present she is working on a study of India’s agro-processing sector with an emphasis on the non-alcoholic beverage manufacturing industry. She is also associated with a study on India’s special economic zones (SEZs). Before joining ICRIER, she worked at Tata Consultancy Services, Bangalore, as a business analyst, where she was associated with an AC Nielsen-funded project that analysed the retail sector in the UK.

Deboshree Ghosh is a Research Assistant at ICRIER. Prior to this, she was with the Institute of Applied Manpower Research (IAMR)–Planning Commission for two years as a young professional. Her experience includes policy-oriented research on employment, skills and other areas of development economics such as sanitation. Her contributions comprise assistance in the India Human Development Report 2011 and a report on factors impacting the growth of non-agricultural employment in selected states in India. She has co-authored a report on employment in the food processing sector and co-authored a paper on financing skills in India. Apart from research, she has taught macroeconomics to international students at IAMR. She has a BA degree in Economics from Delhi University and an MSc in Economics from the University of Warwick, UK.

Divya Satija is a Trade Analyst in the delegation of the European Union to India. Previously, she was a Research Associate at ICRIER. She has also worked on other bilateral trade issues such as the India-EU Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement, and on sectors such as retail and consumer behaviour, non-alcoholic beverages and IT/IT-enabled services in India. Her broad areas of interest are consumer behaviour analysis, sectoral research, international trade and investments and microfinance. She has several publications as book chapters, journal articles and working papers.  She has a BA in Economics from Delhi University and an MA degree in Economics from Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi.

Preface

Section - I
Basic Issues in Economic Development
 

 1. Economic Development and
     Under Development
 – Introduction
 – What Does Development Mean
 – Economic Growth and Economic Development
 – The New View of Economic Development
   • Development as a Multi-dimensional Process
   • Three Core Values of Development
 – Development, Freedom and Opportunities
 – The Three Objectives of Development
 – The Millennium Development Goals
 – Developed and Underdeveloped Countries
 – Defining the Developing World
 – Characteristics of the Developing World:
    Diversity within Commonality
   • Lower Levels of Living and Productivity
   • Lower Levels of Human Capital
   • High Rate of Population Growth and Dependency Burden
   • Higher Levels of Inequality and Absolute Poverty
   • Greater Social Fractionalisation
   • Larger Rural Populations but Rapid Rural-to-Urban Migration
   • Substantial Dependence on Agricultural Production and Lower
     Levels of Industrialisation and Manufactured Exports
   • Underdeveloped Financial and Other Markets
   • Lingering Colonial Impacts
   • External Dependence
 – Nature of Indian Economy

 2. Human Development
 – Human Development
   • Human Development Index
 – A Changing World, A More Global South
   • Are there Limits to Human Development?
   • Sustainability, Equity and Human Development
    – What Makes Development Unsustainable?
 – The Current State of Human Development
 – State of Human Development in India

 

Section - II
Basic Features of Indian Economy at Independence
 

 3. India’s Economy at Independence.
 – Introduction
 – The Relative Importance of Various Industrial Activities
   • Composition of National Income
   • The Working Force
 – The Agrarian Scene
   • Stagnating Agriculture
   • Causes
    – Regressive Organic Structure
    – Internal Drain of Capital
    – Poor Technology
 – India’s Industrial Production and Its Structure
   • India’s Industrial Resources
   • The Decline of Traditional Industry and the
      Development of Modern Industry
 – Some Positive Features

 

Section - III
Policy Regimes
 

 4. Economic Planning: Evolution and Strategy.
 – Evolution of Planning
 – Role of the State as Visualised in the Fifties
 – Early Experience with Five Year Plans
 – Changing Perceptions
 – Role of Planning in a Market Economy
 – Redefining the Role of State
 

 5. Economic Reform.
 – Debate on Liberalisation
 – The Background
 – The Macroeconomic Crisis
 – Rationale for the Reforms
 – Macroeconomic Reforms
   • Structural Reforms
    –  Implementation of the Agenda
     ¡ Industrial Policy Reforms
     ¡ Trade Policy Reforms
     ¡ Removal of QRs
     ¡ Exchange Rate Reforms
     ¡ Capital Markets
     ¡ Financial Sector
 – Economic Progress Post-1991
   • Fiscal Adjustment and Stabilisation
 – Impact of Economic Reforms on the Vulnerable Sections
 – Conclusion
 – The Next Round of Reforms

 

Section - IV
Growth, Development and Structural Change
 

 6. Growth and Structural Changes since 1951.
 – Periodisation of Indian Growth Experience
 – India's Growth Turnaround
   • 2003-2008 The Best Phase in Growth
   • Recent Deceleration since 2011
 – Investment
 – Growth Prospects
   • Risk Factors and Constraints
 – Performance on Inclusiveness
   • Multidimensionality of Inclusion
 – The Need for Faster Growth
 – International Comparisons
 – Growth and Structural Change
   • Share of Services in GDP
   • What are the Factors behind the Dynamism of
     the Services Sector in India
 – Inter-Regional Disparities in Growth and Development
 – The Way Ahead
 – Growth Prospect: An Assessment
 

 7. Land Reforms.
 – Objective of Land Reforms
 – Effects of Land Reforms on Productivity and Poverty


 8. Unemployment and Employment

 

Perspective.
 – Concepts and Measurement
   • Labour Force and Workforce Participation Rates
 – Some Characteristics of the Indian Labour Market
 – Trend and Pattern of Employment Growth
   • Growth in Employment, GDP and Employment Elasticity
   • Organised Versus Unorganised Sector Employment
   • Sectoral Employment Shares
 – Quality of Employment and Disparities
 – Weaknesses in Past Performance
 – Employment and Labour Policy
 – Indian Labour Laws and Labour Markets
 – Public Employment Programme for the
    Unorganised Workers: The Case of NREGA
   • An Overview of the Scheme
   • The Performance
   • Success Stories
   • Remaining Gaps
 – Employment Perspective

 9. Poverty in India.
 – Magnitude and Determinants
   • The Selection of Poverty Lines
 – Multidimensional Poverty Index
 – Reduction in Poverty
 – Comparison of India and China in Terms
   of Poverty Reduction
   • Causes of Poverty
   • Growth and Poverty Reduction
   • Growth and Inequality
   • Growth, Employment and Poverty
   • Growth Pattern and Poverty
 – Poverty and Inclusive Growth
   • Non-income Poverty Dimensions
 – Poverty Alleviation Programmes
   • Programme for Socially Disadvantaged
   • Land Reforms
   • Public Distribution System
   • Public Investment in Human Capital and Public Goods
   • A Stronger Welfare System and Improved Social
    Service Provision are Needed
 – Concluding Remarks
 

 10. Demographic Constraint: Population
     Change and Economic Development.
 – Economic Development and Population Growth
   • The Theory of Demographic Transition
   • The Microeconomic Theory of Fertility
   • How does Population Growth Affect Economic Development
 – India’s Demographic Transition
   • Causes of High Birth Rate
    – Social Factors
    –  Economic Factors
     ¡ Poverty
     ¡ Lack of Social Security
     ¡ Illiteracy, Ignorance and Belief in Fate
     ¡ Ineffective Family Planning
   • Fertility Rate
   • Causes of Decline in Death Rate
    – Control of Epidemics
    – Control of Famines
    – Improved Medical Facilities
    – Spread of Maternity Homes
    – Impact of Economic Development
 – Measures to Reduce Birth Rate
 – Concerns about Population Growth
 – Gender Equity and the Demographic Transition
 – Population Policy since 1947
 – National Population Policy, 2000
   • Objectives of National Population Policy
 – The Experience of Kerala and Tamil Nadu
 – Enabling Factors
 – India's Demographic Dividend
   • 'Window of Opportunity' for India
   • Estimated Demographic Bonus for India
   • India's Response to 'Window of Opportunity'
 – The Future
 

Section- V
Sectoral Trends and Issues
 

V.1. Agriculture:
 11. Agriculture: Role and Growth Performance.
 – Importance of Agriculture in National Economy
   • Linkage between Agriculture and Other Sectors
 – Agricultural Growth
   • Role of Institutional and Technological Factors in
    Agriculture Growth
   • The New Technology
    – Characteristics of New Technology
     ¡ Better Agricultural Practices
    – Economic Aspects of New Technology
 – Green Revolution
   • Three Phases of  Green Revolution
     –  The First Phase, 1966-1972
     –  Debacle and the Second Phase, 1973-1980
     –  The Third Phase, 1981-1990
 – Reform Period, 1991 to the Present
 – Deceleration in Agriculture Growth
 – Performance of the Agriculture Sector during the
   Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012)
 – Instability in Ouput
 – Regional Disparities and Intra-Personal Disparities
 – New Technology and Environmental Degradation
 – Major Factors Affecting the Growth Potential
   • Lack of Long Term Policy Perspective
   • Investment in Agriculture and Subsidies
   • Lagging Research and Development Efforts
   • Technology Generation and Dissemination
   • Rising Soil Degradation and Over-exploitation of Ground Water
   • Degradation of Natural Resources
 – Rural Distress in Post-Reform India
 – National Policy for Farmers, 2007
 – High Value Commodities: The Future Sources of
    Growth in Agriculture
   • Potential of Secondary Agriculture
 – Reforming the Three 'I's: Investments, Incentives, and Institutions
   • Reforming Incentives
    – Price and Marketing Policy
   • Reforming Institutions
    – Marketing and Warehouse Facilities
    – Reforming Land and Credit Markets
 – Challenges and Outlook
 

 12. Agricultural Price Policy, Food Management
     and Food Security.
 – Agricultural Price Policy
 – Food Management
   • Food Procurement Policy
   • Price and Distribution Controls in the Food Grain Market
   • Public Distribution System (PDS)
   • Food Subsidy
   • Buffer Stock
 – Recent Policy Initiatives
 – Food Security and Future Sources of Growth in Agriculture
 – Pre-Green Revolution
 – Green Revolution
 – Post-Reform Revolution

V.2. Industry and Services:
 13. Industrial Policy.
 – The Industrial Scene at Independence
 – Industrial Control Regime 1950s to 1970s
 – Performance of the Industrial Licensing System
 – Industrial Policy Reforms 1980s
 – The Policy Regime in the 1990s
 – New Economic Policy 1991
   • Opening up to Foreign Investment
   • Public Sector Reforms and Privatisation
 – Industrial Policy: Recent Policy Initiatives
 – Industrial Policy Eleventh Plan
 – Industrial Policy Objectives for the Twelfth Plan
   and Beyond
   • The Architecture of a Strategy to Accelerate
     Growth of Manufacturing
   • Three Components of India’s Manufacturing
     Strategy and Plan

 14. Industrial Growth since 1951
 – Industrial Growth
   • Phases of Industrial Growth
   • The Pre-Reform Regime
   • Industrial Growth in the 90s
   • Comparative Growth Rates in the 80s and the 90s
    – Relative Contribution of Sectors to Total Production
    – The Manufacturing Slowdown (1996-2002)
   • Factors Causing the Slowdown: Some Hypotheses
    – Infrastructure Constraints in the Industrial Sector
 – Recovery in Industrial Growth since 2002-03
   • Recent Industrial Growth
 – Index of Industrial Production (IIP)
 – Why has Growth Moderated since 2011-12?
   • Investment in the Industrial Sector
   • Credit Flow to the Industrial Sector
 – Why did Manufacturing Sector's Share in Total
   Employment Stagnate
 – Other Aspects of Industrial Change
 – Why did the Reforms Fail to Deliver the Expected Results?
 – India's Unique Pattern of Development
   • Labour Market Regidity Hypothesis
   • Infrastructure Bottlenecks
   • The Cost of Doing Business
 – What Should be Done Now?
   • Balanced Growth
   • Integrating into Global Networks
   • Improving Physical Infrastructure
 – National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) Nov. 2011
 – Conclusions

 15. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSEs)
 – Role of SMEs in Global Economy: International Scenario
 – Defining MSEs—MSMED Act, 2006
 – Role of MSEs in Indian Economy
   • To Generate Large-Scale Employment
   • To Sustain Economic Growth and Increase Exports
   • For Making Growth Inclusive
 – Globalisation and Small Industry Performance
   • Infrastructure
    – Economic
    – Technological
    – Financial
   • Marketing
 – Future Prospects of Small Industry
 – New Initiatives
 – Summary and Conclusions

 16. Public Sector in the Indian Economy
 – The Rationale
 – Performance of Central Public Sector Undertakings
   • Output and Capital Formation
   • Fall in Public Sector Employment Growth
   • Central PSEs’ Profitability
    – Reasons and Implications
 – Public Sector and 1991 Industrial Policy
   • Policies toward CPSEs and their Implementation
 – Privatisation
   • Privatisation: Indian Experience since 1991

 17. Services in the Indian Growth Process.
 – Importance of the Services Sector for India
     Services GDP
     Services Employment in India
 – Growth and Sectoral Shares, Cross Country Evidence
   and Indian Experience
     Services GDP: International Comparison
     State-wise Comparison of Services
 – Important Services for India
 – Which Services have Grown Rapidly?
 – Factors Underlying the Services Growth
 – World Trade in Services Sector
 – India’s Services Trade
     India’s Services Exports
     India’s Services Imports
     India’s Balance of Trade in Services
     FDI in India's Service Sector
 – Liberalisation of Services in India
     India and Trade Negotiations in Services
     India Moving towards a Services-led Export Growth
 – Challenges and Outlook

18.  Foreign Direct Investment
 – Introduction
 – Role of FDI
 – FDI Policy: A Historical Perspective
     First Phase 1950-1967
     Second Phase 1967-1980
     Third Phase 1980-1990
     Fourth Phase–1991 Onwards
 – Trends in FDI Inflows
     Investment Climate and Prospects for FDI Inflows
 – Quality of FDI Inflows
     Sectoral Composition
     Impact of FDI on Growth and Domestic Investment
     FDI and Export-Platform Production
 – FPI Inflows and their Impact
 – India as an Emerging Source of FDI Outflows
 – Concluding Remarks and Policy Lessons
     Policy Lessons
     Changes in Sectoral Composition
     Changes in the Sources of FDI
     FDI Outlook

V.3. Financial Sector:

 19. The Financial Sector: Structure, Performance and Reforms.
 – Growing Importance of Finance in India
 – Financial Sector Development in India
     Institutional Structure
     Capital Markets
     Money Markets
     1991 and After: The Reform Years
     Role of Competition
     Capital Adequacy and Government Ownership in
    the Banking Sector
 – Conclusion

V.4. External Sector:
 20. Foreign Trade and Trade Policy.
 – Constraints Arising from Foreign Trade and
    Import Substitution-based Policies
 – Exports and Imports: Broad Trends
   • Exports
    – Composition of India's Exports
    – Direction of Exports
    – Export Diversification
   • Imports
    – Composition of Imports
 – Direction of Trade
 – World Merchandise Trade: Global Recession
   • Services Trade
 – Special Economic Zones (SEZs)
 – Challenges and Outlook
 – Appendix: Balance of Trade
 – Trade Policy: An Overview
   • Import Substitution based Strategy
    – Towards Efficient Import Substitution
   • Trade Policy since 1991
    – Outward Orientation Focusing on Export Promotion
   • Recent Trade Policy Measures
 – Annual Supplement 2012-13 to the Foreign Trade Policy
   2009-2014 (June 5, 2012)

 21. Balance of Payments.
 – Concepts
 – India’s Balance of Payment Trends: 1950-51 to 2011-12
   • First and Second Oil Shocks of 1973 and 1980
   • External Payment Crisis of 1991
    – The Crisis: 1990-1992
   • India’s BoP during 2011-12
   • Current Account during H1 of 2012-13
 – Sustainability of Current Account
 – Capital Account
 – External Debt
   • International Comparison
 – Foreign Exchange Reserves
   • Approach
   • Developments
   • Issues
    – Foreign Exchange Rate Policy
     ¡ Exchange Rate of Other Emerging Economies
     ¡ Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) and Real
      Effective Exchange Rate (REER)
 – Exchange Rate Management
 – Concluding Remarks

 22. India and the WTO
 – World Trade Organization 13-18, 2005)
 – India and the WTO
 – India's Participation in WTO Meetings, 2005)
 – WTO Negotiations and India 2005)

 
 23. India and the Global Economy
 – State of the Global Economy
 – Locating India in the New Global Economy
 – Engaging the World
 – Challenges and Outlook

  Questions

  Glossary

  Select Bibliography

Montek S. Ahluwalia

Dy. Chairman, Planning Commission, New Delhi.

Pulapre Balakrishnan
Professor, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.

Ramesh Chand
Director, National Centre for Agricul. Econ. & Policy Research, Delhi.

Angus Deaton
Professor of Economics & Int. Affairs, Princeton University, USA.

Jean Drèze
Hony. Professor, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi.

S. Mahendra Dev
Director, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai.

Tim Dyson
Prof., Population Studies, DESTIN, London School of Economics.

Ramesh Golait
Asst. Adviser, DEAP, Reserve Bank of India, New Delhi.

K.S. James
Professor & Head, Population Research Centre, ISEC, Bangalore..

Uma Kapila
Reader (Retd.), Dept. of Economics, Miranda House, Univ. of Delhi.

Vijay Kelkar
Chairman, National Stock Exchange of India Ltd.

K.L. Krishna
Chairman, Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai.

Nagesh Kumar
Chief Economist & Director, MPDD, ESCAP, United Nations.

Pankaj Kumar
Asst. Adviser, DEAP, Reserve Bank of India, New Delhi.

Dipak Mazumdar
Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto.

Prachi Mishra
Sr. Economist, Office of the Chief Economic Adviser, Min. of Finance.

Rakesh Mohan
Consult. Prof., Stanford Inst. for Economic Policy Research, USA.

R. Nagaraj
Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai.

Arvind Panagariya
Professor of Economics, Columbia University, USA.

T.S. Papola
ICSSR National Fellow, Inst. for Studies in Industrial Develop., Delhi.

Shinoj Parappurathu
Scientist, National Centre for Agricul. Econ. & Policy Research, Delhi.

C. Rangarajan
Chairman, Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, Govt. of India.

N. Chandrasekhara Rao
Professor, Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad.

C.H. Hanumantha Rao
Chancellor, Hyderabad Central University, Hyderabad.

S.K. Ray
Professor (Retd.), Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi.

Sandip Sarkar
Professor, Institute for Human Development, New Delhi.

Alakh N. Sharma
Director, Institute for Human Development, New Delhi.

M.H. Bala Subrahmanya
Prof. & Chair. (Mgmt), Indian Inst. of Science, Bangalore.

Parthapratim Pal is Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta. He has a PhD in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. He has worked in the areas of financial markets and international economics. Before joining IIM, he worked with ICRIER and the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT). His recent areas of interest include: international trade, regional trade agreements, WTO related issues and international capital flows. He has a number of publications in nationally and internationally reputed journals and books.

Arpita Mukherjee is a Professor at Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi. She has several years of experience in policy-oriented research working closely with the government in India and the UK. She has conducted studies for various international organisations such as UNCTAD, WTO, ASEAN Secretariat, ADB, ADBI, OECD Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), Italian Trade Commission, Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in India (TECC) and European Commission. Her research is a key contributor to India’s negotiating strategies in the on-going Doha Round of WTO negotiations and in bilateral agreements with countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey and regional blocks such as the EU and ASEAN. Her research has contributed to India’s domestic policy reforms in the services sector. She has a PhD in Economics from the University of Portsmouth, UK. Her research interest includes; services, WTO, bilateral/regional agreements, infrastructure, FDI, agriculture reforms, retail, migration and labour market programmes. She has several publications and has presented her research in various international and national conferences.

Kristy Tsun-Tzu Hsu is an Associate Research Fellow at the Taiwan WTO & RTA Center and Program Director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center (TASC), Chung Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) in Taiwan. Her areas of research interests include: international trade policy and economic/trade law, economic integration, Southeast Asia study and dispute settlement. She obtained her LLM from the School of Law, Soochow University, Taiwan and BA in Foreign Literature and Languages from National Taiwan University, Taiwan. She involves the government’s WTO and FTA negotiations by participating in government-commissioned research projects and providing consultation and has led research projects of the joint/separate Economic Cooperation Agreement (ECA) feasibility study with a number of countries. She is currently Advisory Member to the Trade and Development Committee, ROC National Confederation of Industries, International Affairs Committee, ROC Chamber of Commerce, and adviser to the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce’s, or CNAIC’s monthly publication CNAIC Magazine, and Secretary General of the Chung-Hua Association for Financial and Economic Strategies (CAFES).

Ramneet Goswami is a Research Associate at ICRIER, New Delhi. She has done Masters in Economics from CCS University (Uttar Pradesh). Her primary research areas of interest are: trade in services, regional free trade agreements, foreign direct investment, infrastructure, transport, education, audiovisual and telecommunications. She is currently working on a study on ‘Facilitating Investment between India and Germany”. She has recently completed “Joint Feasibility Study on Enhancing Trade, Investment and Cooperation between India and Taiwan” sponsored by Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. Her other important projects include “Enhancing Trade in Services in the Context of India-Thailand and India-Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement (CECA)”; “Trade in Audiovisual Services for India-European Union (EU) Broadbased Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA)”—sponsored by Department of Commerce, Government of India; “Enhancing Bilateral Trade, Investment and Collaboration in Services between India and EU” sponsored by KAS; and retail project sponsored by Italian Trade Commission. She has several publications including book, journal articles, working papers and media articles in her name.

Tanu Goyal is a Research Associate at ICRIER. She has a Masters degree in Economics with specialisation in world economy, from Centre of Trade and Development (CITD), JNU, New Delhi. Her research interests include: trade in services, foreign direct investment issues and retail. She has over five years of research experience and has worked on projects for the Government of India, Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Commission (EC), KAS, Italian Trade Commission, among others. Her other completed projects include studies on the Indian retail sector, direct selling sector and on regional integration in South and East Asia. She has analysed trade agreements and has authored reports providing negotiating strategy for the bilateral agreements being negotiated by the Indian government. She has published several international and national journal articles, book chapters, reports and other popular media articles on policy and trade issues.

Yu-Chia Hsu is an Assistant Research Fellow at the Taiwan WTO & RTA Center, CIER, Taiwan. She is currently doing tariff analysis, international trade in goods, and potential of cooperation between India and Taiwan. She holds BA in Political Sciences from National Taiwan University (NTU) and MSc in Public Policy from University College London (UCL). She was a research assistant for Dr Dennis Weng-Jeng Peng at the Graduate Institute of Journalism, NTU from 2008 to 2009, and she assisted in the preparation and execution of two research projects, “The Spiral of Silence in the Hakka Language” and “How Cross-Strait Business Ties Affect Taiwanese National Identity and Nationalism.” After completing her Master’s Degree in the UK, she has been an Assistant Research Fellow at CIER since 2011. Her areas of research interest include: WTO issues, international trade, industrial economics, health policy, education policy, and political economy. She has several articles published in Taiwan WTO & RTA Center.

Rajat Kathuria is Director and Chief Executive at ICRIER, New Delhi. He has over 20 years experience in teaching and 10 years experience in economic policy, besides research interests on a range of issues relating to regulation and competition policy. He worked with Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) during its first eight years (1998-2006) and gained hands on experience with telecom regulation in an environment changing rapidly towards competition. The role entailed analysis of economic issues relating to telecom tariff policy, tariff rebalancing, interconnection charges and licensing policy. Market research and questionnaire development and analysis formed an integral part of this exercise. It also involved evaluation of macro level initiatives for transforming the telecom industry. He wrote a number of consultation papers which eventually formed the basis of tariff and interconnection orders applicable to the industry. He has taught undergraduate economics at the University of Maryland and is currently on leave from the International Management Institute (IMI), New Delhi, where he teaches Managerial Economics and International Trade. He has worked with the World Bank, Washington DC as a Consultant and carried out project assignments for a number of organisations, including ILO, UNCTAD, LirneAsia, Ernst and Young, Consultancy Development Centre (CDC) and Standing Committee for Public Enterprises (SCOPE). He has published in international and national journals, besides in popular magazines and newspapers. He is founder member of Broadband Society for Universal Access and served on the board of Delhi Management Association. He has an undergraduate degree in Economics from St. Stephens College, a Masters from Delhi School of Economics and a PhD degree from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Mansi Kedia is Research Associate at ICRIER. Her area of research covers trade, investment and telecommunication policy. She has published papers/reports on the impact of information technology and telecommunication policies in India. Her ongoing research includes, outlining the future of high value manufacturing in India, estimating the impact of mobile applications on employment and growth, evaluating India’s Preferential Market Access Policy, among others. In addition, she has a background in management consulting and financial services. She has close to four years of experience in the private sector. She received her BSc in Economics from St. Xavier’s, Kolkata, and MBA from Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. She is currently pursuing her PhD at the IIFT, New Delhi.

Hsin-Chen Lee is an Analyst at the Taiwan WTO & RTA Center, CIER, Taiwan. Her areas of research interest include: general equilibrium analysis, industrial economics, international trade in goods and regional integration. She obtained her MS in Economics from National Taipei University, Taiwan, and BA in History from National Taiwan University, Taiwan. She was an Assistant Research Fellow at Research Division IV, Taiwan Institution of Economic Research (TIER) from 2003 to 2004. She has a publication on Taiwan Economic Forecast and Policy (TSSCI), and has several articles published in CIER’s Publications. Her master essay is “The Impact of the FTA between Taiwan and U.S.A. on the Taiwan’s Mobile Industry: The Application of Scale Economics and Imperfect Competition in the GTAP Model.”

Smita Miglani is a Research Associate at ICRIER. Her broad areas of research interest are: international trade and investment, energy and infrastructure. She has conducted studies for the Ministry of Commerce, and organisations such as Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), KAS and the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham). Her research has contributed to India’s negotiating strategies in signing bilateral trade and investment agreements and other policy reform issues at the domestic level. She has published her work in working papers and refereed journals. She holds an MPhil degree in Economics from JNU, New Delhi.

Durgesh Kumar Rai has been working with ICRIER as Research Associate since July 2008. He has worked on several key projects at the institute including India-EU Broad Based Trade and Investment Agreement, India-Turkey FTA, India-Korea Economic Relations, ICRIER-SPF Japan Studies Project and Regional Production Networks. Prior to joining ICRIER, he was associated with National Labour Institute, NOIDA, and worked on an ILO project on “Global Production Systems and its Impact on Labour”. He was also part of an OECD study on “Human Resource in Science and Technology (HRST) in India and International Mobility of High Skill Indians” at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). He has done his MPhil from JNU, New Delhi, and pursuing his PhD from the same university. His broad areas of research interest include: international trade, trade in services, regional/bilateral trade agreements, IT-ITeS sector, trade and development, migration and human resources. He has published articles in journals and books, and presented his works at various national and international conferences.

Divya Satija is a Trade Analyst at the Delegation of the European Union to India. Previously, she was a Research Associate at ICRIER. She conceptualised and coordinated the India-Taiwan project during her stay in ICRIER. She has also worked on other bilateral trade issues such as the India-EU Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement, and on sectors such as retail and consumer behaviour, non-alcoholic beverage sector and IT/IT-enables services sector in India. Her broad areas of interest are: consumer behaviour analysis, sectoral research, international trade and investments and microfinance. She has several publications as book chapters, journal articles and working papers. She holds a BA Economics (Hons) from Delhi University and a Masters in Economics from Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi.

Tai-Yee Wu is a doctoral student and an instructor in the Department of Communication at the University of Connecticut, USA. His research interest is related to the applications of new technologies in communication processes. In exploring the effects of technology use, he focuses on Netizens’ opinion expressions on political and societal issues in social network sites as well as their impacts on the reality. Also, in terms of online interactions, he particularly concentrates on the users’ emotional satisfaction and communication apprehension. Before resuming his academic pursuits, Tai-Yee was an assistant research fellow in the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) from 2009 to 2011. The research projects he participated in were associated with the economic relations and the strategies for advancing economic cooperation between Taiwan and Southeast, South Asia countries. He is also an author of several articles concerning different sectoral developments of Taiwanese corporations in India, which appeared in the magazine Navigating India published by Taiwan-India Cooperation Council.

Yu-Yin Wu is an Assistant Research Fellow at the Taiwan WTO & RTA Center, CIER, Taiwan, an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Chang Gung University and an Adjunct Instructor at National Taiwan University. She is currently analysing international trade in goods, and the potential of industrial cooperation between Taiwan and India. She was a lecturer, a TA for microeconomics of the PhD programme, and an RA for Professor Bih-Jane Liu’s project on China study. She has a Ph.D. in Economics from National Taiwan University. Her research interest includes: international trade, microeconomics, China study, industrial economics and FDI. She has publication on Management Review (TSSCI) and Taipei Economic Inquiry (TSSCI), and has several articles and papers published in conference papers, magazines and CIER’s publications. Some of her representative publication includes: “The Wage Payment Structure in Taiwan: An Empirical Test of Tournament”, “Development Zones in China: Are STIPs Substitutes for or Complements of ETDZs?”, “Are Exporters Always More Productive than Non-exporters? A Contradictory Case in China” and “Determinants of MNEs’ Entry Decisions.”

Chun-Ting Yeh is an Assistant Research Fellow at the Taiwan WTO & RTA Center, and Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center, CIER, Taiwan. He is currently working on analysing the political and economic relations between Taiwan and ASEAN countries, regional economic integration of Asia-Pacific. He was a Confidential Secretary of the Minister of Government Information Office (GIO), Taiwan, and a Research Assistant for Dr Johnny Chi-Chen Chiang’s programme on the regional integration of Asia-Pacific. He is a BA and a MA in Political Science from Soochow University, Taiwan. His areas of research interests include: international relations, international political economy and international organisations. He has participated in several research projects about the issues related to WTO, ASEAN, and Asia-Pacific region. He also published some articles in Taiwan WTO & RTA Center and Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center publications.

Rajat Kathuria is Director and Chief Executive at Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi. He has over 20 years experience in teaching and 10 years experience in economic policy, besides research interests on a range of issues relating to regulation and competition policy. He worked with Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) during its first eight years (1998-2006) and gained hands on experience with telecom regulation in an environment changing rapidly towards competition. The role entailed analysis of economic issues relating to telecom tariff policy, tariff rebalancing, interconnection charges and licensing policy. He wrote a number of consultation papers which eventually formed the basis of tariff and interconnection orders applicable to the industry. He has taught undergraduate economics at the University of Maryland and is currently on leave from the International Management Institute (IMI), New Delhi, where he teaches Managerial Economics and International Trade. He has worked with the World Bank, Washington DC as a Consultant and carried out project assignments for a number of organisations, including ILO, UNCTAD, LirneAsia, Ernst and Young, Consultancy Development Centre (CDC) and Standing Committee for Public Enterprises (SCOPE). He has published in international and national journals, besides in popular magazines and newspapers. He is founder member of Broadband Society for Universal Access and served on the board of Delhi Management Association. He has an undergraduate degree in Economics from St. Stephens College, a Masters from Delhi School of Economics and a PhD degree from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Mansi Kedia Jaju is Research Associate at ICRIER, New Delhi. Her area of research covers trade, investment and telecommunication policy. She has published papers/reports on the impact of information technology and telecommunication policies in India. Her ongoing research includes, outlining the future of high value manufacturing in India, estimating the impact of mobile applications on employment and growth, evaluating India’s preferential market access policy, among others. In addition, she has a background in management consulting and financial services. She has close to four years of experience in the private sector. She received her BSc in Economics from St. Xavier’s, Kolkata, and MBA from Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. She is currently pursuing her PhD at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi.

“This [the period from 1981 to 1997] was by far one of the most challenging periods for the economy. This volume of history takes us through the difficult times when the Reserve Bank and the Government had to contend with unprecedented strains on the external payments situation. In response to the balance of payments crisis, the Government embarked on a wide-ranging programme of economic reforms that defined a marked reorientation of the philosophy of economic management of the country. The Reserve Bank was a partner in this exciting process, generating ideas, processing proposals and implementing reform initiatives.”

— Dr Duvvuri Subbarao

    Governor

“The comprehensive economic reforms, mostly home-grown, that were launched in 1991, with support from multilateral institutions and implemented in a gradual and cautious manner enabled India to gain international credibility. The devaluation of the rupee in 1991 gave a fillip to exports. This, combined with wide-ranging liberalisation efforts in various sectors, helped rather quickly to restore macroeconomic balance in the economy. Policy measures such as the institution of the Liberalised Exchange Rate Management System (LERMS) as a prelude to current account convertibility in 1994, the switch from direct to indirect instruments to improve the efficacy of monetary policy, and developing financial markets for greater market integration facilitated the smooth transition of the economy towards a more dynamic and liberal regime.”

— Dr Bimal Jalan

    Chairman, Advisory Committee, RBI History

PART A

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Chapter 1: Introduction and Overview

I. Consolidation and Early Liberalisation: 1981 to 1989

Chapter 2: Macroeconomic Context

Chapter 3: Monetary-Fiscal Interface

Chapter 4: Monetary and Credit Policy

Chapter 5: Balance of Payments and Exchange Control

Chapter 6: Banking and Finance

Chapter 7: Developments in Banking Supervision

Chapter 8: Rural Credit Policy

Chapter 9: Conclusion: The Decade of the 1980s

II. Crisis and Reforms: 1989 to 1997 (contd...)

Chapter 10: Economic and Financial Environment

Chapter 11: The Balance of Payments Crisis of 1991

Chapter 12: Management and Resolution of the 1991 Crisis

Chapter 13: External Sector Liberalisation

Chapter 14: Monetary Management

PART B

II. Crisis and Reforms: 1989 to 1997 (concld.)

Chapter 15: Public Debt Management

Chapter 16: Financial Markets

Chapter 17: Reforms in Banking and Financial Institutions

Chapter 18: Agriculture and Rural Development

Chapter 19: Conclusion: First Seven Years of the 1990s

III. Organisational Aspects

Chapter 20: Communication Practices

Chapter 21: Institutional Changes

IV. Miscellany

Select Photographs

Appendices, Enclosures and Documents

V. References and Index

Select References

Index

"It is one of the finest publications of its kind that I have seen."

-Kaushik Basu,

Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance,

Govt. of India. 

“A pocketful  of data ….. unarguably the best”

-The Free Press Journal

Uma Kapila, PhD, retired as Reader, Department of Economics, Miranda House, University of Delhi. An alumna of Miranda House and Delhi School of Economics, she has taught Indian economy to undergraduate students for 42 years. She has authored/edited numerous books on the subject, including some the most widely acclaimed textbooks on Indian economy. She is also the co-editor (along with Raj Kapila) of the ongoing series Economic Developments in India, a monthly update published by Academic Foundation in the form of a book accompanied by a CD-Rom. Presently, Uma Kapila is Senior Editor, Academic Foundation.

Shankar Acharya
K.C. Chakrabarty
P. Chidambaram
Bibek Debroy
G. Gopalakrishna

Ashok Gulati
Anwarul Hoda
Harun R. Khan
Deepali Pant Joshi
Deepak Mohanty
N.A. Mujumdar
Pranab Mukherjee
Raghuram Rajan
Indira Rajaraman
C. Rangarajan
Shweta Saini
Manmohan Singh
Anand Sinha
Duvvuri Subbarao
Arvind Subramanian
V.S. Vyas

S.K. Goyal, after obtaining doctoral degree from Delhi School of Economics (1961), taught in Deshbandu College, Kirori Mal College and subsequently at the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), where he was Professor of Economics and Public Policy. He founded the Corporate Studies Group at IIPA, which was later transformed into the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID), New Delhi. He steered ISID as its Founder-Director during 1986-2003. He is currently Emeritus Professor and Vice-Chairman of ISID. 

His intellectual journey covered a vast area specifically industrial and trade policies, planning, public sector, monopolies, foreign capital and the corporate sector. He directed a number of research projects relating to the functioning of industrial regulations, public sector, Indian big business, multinational corporations and foreign investments. He has many publications to his credit and has pioneered the building of extensive databases on the Indian corporate sector and Indian social science literature and a Press Clippings Archive. He was also associated with a number of important official committees: Study Team on Machinery for Planning at the Central and State Levels (1966-67), Industrial Licensing Policy Inquiry Committee (1967-1969) and the Research Advisory Committee, Planning Commission, Government of India, in the rank of Cabinet Minister (1991).

V.K. Natraj studied economics in the University of Mysore and University of Oxford. He worked for three decades in the University of Mysore, where he was Professor of Development Studies in the Institute of Development Studies. After retirement, he was Director, Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai. He had a close association with the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex UK. His fields of interest are: decentralisation, panchayat raj institutions and positive discrimination.

A.Vaidyanathan occupies a pre-eminent place in the field of academic research as well as policy making. His contributions to irrigation and water management are hailed for their originality.  He has worked for the National Council for Applied Academic Research, Planning Commission, Centre for Development Studies and the Madras Institute of Development Studies. Apart from this, he was associated with the FAO and the World Bank.  In recent times, he chaired a committee to frame a plan for restructuring ICSSR and also for revitalising rural cooperative societies. His papers include several which incisively examine India’s growth record and in particular focus on some puzzles it exhibits. One of his interests focuses on the use of Census data for gleaning socioeconomic inferences about rural India in particular.

P. Anbazhagan • P. Balasubramanian • J. Jeyaranjan • Vinish Kathuria • K.S. Kavi Kumar • G.K. Mini • K. Nagaraj • V.K. Natraj (co-editor) • S. Neelakantan • Meenakshi Rajeev • P. Geetha Rani • T.K. Sundari Ravindran R. Srinivasan • A. Vaidyanathan (co-editor) • Brinda Viswanathan

Bibek Debroy is Professor, Centre for Policy Research, Delhi. He is an economist and has worked in academic institutes and for the government. His primary research interests are education, health, law, governance and trade. He is the author of several books, papers and popular articles.

Laveesh Bhandari, recipient of best thesis award by the EXIM Bank of India in 1996, and Hite Fellowship for work in International Finance. His areas of work are macro- economic research, large-frame surveys on economic and social sectors and consumer profiles, policy analysis, econometric modelling, monitoring and evaluation. His work on inequality, education and India’s progress is frequently referred to in the policy debate in India. He has authored and co-authored numerous publications on socioeconomic development, health, education, poverty and inequality.

Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar is a research fellow at the Cato Institute with a special focus on India and Asia. His research interests include economic change in developing countries, human rights and civil strife, political economy, energy, trade and industry. He is a prolific columnist and TV commentator in India, well-known for a popular weekly column titled “Swaminomics” in the Times of India. He is the author of Escape from the Benevolent Zookeepers: The Best of Swaminomics (New Delhi: Times of India, 2008) and has been called “India’s leading economic journalist” by Stephen Cohen of the Brookings Institution. He has been the editor of India’s two biggest financial dailies, The Economic Times and Financial Express, and was also the India correspondent of The Economist for two decades. He has frequently been a consultant to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. Currently, he is consulting editor of The Economic Times. Swami spends part of the year in India and part in the USA. He holds a Master’s degree in economics from Oxford University, UK.

      List of Tables
      Foreword
            by Ian Vásquez
      Foreword
            by Siegfried Herzog
      Executive Summary

1.   The State of Economic Freedom in India 2013
      Bibek Debroy and Laveesh Bhandari

2.   Bihar: How the Poorest, Worst-Governed State
Attained Double-Digit Growth and
Became a Role Model
Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar

3.   The Centre and the States: Excessive
Centralisation Hampers Economic Freedom
Bibek Debroy

      Appendices

I: Variables and Methodology
II: Detailed Methodology
III: Mapping of Variables with Economic Freedom
     of the World
IV: Data and Results

N.A. Mujumdar is a distinguished economist whose PhD thesis from Mumbai University was much acclaimed and published as a book titled: Some Problems of Underemployment. He has wide interests in rural issues (particularly the food economy), monetary and fiscal policies and international issues. He taught at Mumbai University and had the distinction of being awarded the prestigious Nuffield Fellowship at Oxford. On his return to India, he joined the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 1960 as research Officer, and retired as Principal Adviser, Department of Economic Analysis and Policy in 1988. He also headed the Monetary Policy unit of the RBI. His services were sought by the International Monetary Fund for secondment to the central banks of five different countries—Zambia, Mauritius, Tanzania, Belize and Cambodia.

After retirement from the RBI, he was Adviser, Central Bank of India, Housing Development Corporation, Society for Development Studies, New Delhi, and Adviser on the RBI History Project. Presently, he is Editor of the Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics. Dr Mujumdar has been a regular columnist on economic issues since 1988. He has also published eight books. His most recent book on India’s New Development Agenda was published in 2011 by the Academic Foundation, New Delhi.

               Introduction                                                                      

I. Growth and Development

        1.    India’s Development Drama (1991-2011):

               From Milton Friedman to Mahatma Gandhi         

        2.    Kalam’s Development Pilgrimage                                     

        3.    Economic Growth: The God that Failed                          

        4.    Reinventing Development Economics                              

        5.    Home-Grown Green Revolution                                      

        6.    Medium-term Prospects for Growth                                 

        7.    Even a 7 per cent Growth is Commendable                     

        8.    Gold Imports: Drag on Economy                                     

        9.    Gold Cliff: Wisdom Dawns on RBI                                   

      10.    India’s Growth: Inflation Dynamics                                

       11.    RBI’s Prescription for Ailing Economy                             

      12.    Reforms Euphoria and Growth Prospects                        

      13.    A Manual for Alleviating Poverty                                      

      14.    Strong Link between Financial Inclusion and Stability   

II. Monetary Policy

      15.    Reserve Bank of India: Years of Glory                             

      16.    Decimating Reserve Bank of India                                   

      17.    The Art of Inflation Management                                     

      18.    Micro Management of Food Inflation                              

      19.    The Spectre of Inflation                                                     

      20.    In the Aftermath of Monetary Tightening                       

      21.    Monetary Policy and the Growth Syndrome                    

      22.    Monetary Policy: Drama and Realities                             

      23.    Our Financial Sector Remains Stable                               

      24.    Monetary Easing: A Heroic Step                                       

      25.    Micro Credit and the Financial System                             

      26.    RBI’s ‘Honeymoon’ with Microfinance                            

      27.    The Microfinance Mess                                                      

III. Banking Policy

      28.    Think Global but Act Local                                                

      29.    The Issues Facing Heads of Banks                                    

      30.    The Bank Customer is King?                                             

      31.    Financial Inclusion or Tokenism?                                     

      32.    Bad Loans and Banking Culture                                       

      33.    Priority Sectors and Banking Policy                                  

      34.    Banking Reforms: Foreign versus Desi Consultants        

      35.    Performance of Banking Sector: 2011-12                         

      36.    Rejuvenating the Cooperative Sector                                

IV. Fiscal Policy

      37.    Budgets: Underlying Economic Philosophy                     

      38.    Economic Survey: Erudition and Policy Making             

V. Food Security

      39.    Total Food Security: An Alternative Model                       

      40.    Hunger, Poverty and Wellness of People                          

      41.    A Sort of Food Utopia                                                        

      42.    Man-made Food Grains’ Mountain                                  

      43.    High Food Prices Erode Purchasing Power                      

      44.    Food Security versus Employment Security                     

      45.    Food, Fun and Quality of Life                                           

      46.    Hunger Insurance is of Prime Importance                      

VI. Global Environment

      47.    Reflections on the American Financial Mess                    

      48.    Global Slowdown and Financial Stability                         

      49.    Crash of Capitalism: Need to Revive Ethical Values        

      50.    Capitalism and the Compassionate Society                      

      51.    Under-belly of Predatory Financial System                      

      52.    The Great Divide: The Royalty and the Publican             

      53.    Social Costs of the Global Economic Crisis                       

      54.    Global Financial Crisis: Some Lessons for Central Banks

Arpita Mukherjee is a Professor at Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi. She has several years of experience in policy-oriented research working closely with the governments in India and the UK. She has conducted studies for various international organisations and Indian industry associations. Her research is a key contributor to India’s negotiating strategies in the on-going Doha Round of WTO negotiations, in bilateral trade agreements and in domestic policy reforms. She has a PhD in Economics from the University of Portsmouth, UK. Her research interests include: services, WTO, bilateral/regional agreements; infrastructure, FDI, agriculture reforms, retail, migration and labour market programmes. She has over 80 publications including books, journals, working papers and government reports. Dr Mukherjee has presented her research at various international and national conferences.
 

Tanu M. Goyal is a Research Associate at ICRIER. Her research interests include trade in services, foreign direct investment issues and retail. She has over five years of research experience and has worked on projects for the Government of India, Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Commission (EC), Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), Italian Trade Commission, among others. She has extensively worked on international agreements and has authored reports providing negotiating strategy for the bilateral agreements being negotiated by the Indian government. She has published several international and national journal articles, book chapters, reports and other popular media articles on policy and trade issues. She has a Masters degree in Economics with specialisation in world economy, from Centre of Trade and Development (CITD), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
 

Parthapratim Pal is a faculty member in the Economics Group at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC). He has a PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. He has done his Masters and MPhil in Economics from the same university. He has worked in the areas of macroeconomics, development, financial markets and international economy. Before joining IIMC, Prof Pal worked with the ICRIER and the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi. He has published his works in various national and international books and journals. He has also worked as external consultant for organisations like TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) and Ministry of Commerce, Government of India.
 

Saubhik Deb is an economist and independent consultant. He has a PhD in Economics from Rutgers University, USA and an MA and MPhil from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He has worked as an Economist with World Bank at Washington DC. He has also worked as external consultant for ADB and ICRIER. He is working in the areas of development economics and open-economy macroeconomics and has published his works in various national and international journals.

“In this book, Prof. Hanumantha Rao who is one of the foremost development economists in the country makes sincere efforts to explain the rationale, challenges and solutions for attaining inclusive growth. The essays on reminiscences would inspire many particularly the younger generation.” 
— Mahendra Dev   
Vice-Chancellor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development 
Research, Mumbai.

“Each chapter of this book reflects the long experience of the author in policy design, and the depth of his understanding of socio-politico-economic realities of India. It reminds us that growth is necessary, but so is inclusiveness. Serious readers of Indian economy will feel grateful that such a collection of essays has been brought together to touch our conscience and pose a challenge to innovate.”
— Ashok Gulati
Chairman, Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices,
Government of India.

“This book brings together the essays which give significant insight on the causes of less inclusive character of agriculture growth. Rao's long engagement with policy research, brings lessons for reducing back-log of poverty, malnutrition, unemployment and regional disparities, suggesting priority to labour-intensive techniques, rural non-farm sector, manufacturing and infrastructure development in the less developed regions,  supplemented by special programmes in spheres where growth failed to reach. Written with passion and involvement the book has lot to offer to make growth pro-poor.”     
— Sukhadeo Thorat
Professor of Economics, Centre for the Study of Regional
Development, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru
University and Chairman, Indian Council of Social Science
Research, New Delhi.

C.H. Hanumantha Rao is Chancellor of University of Hyderabad (Hyderabad Central University); Chancellor, ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (Deemed to be University), Hyderabad; and Honorary Professor at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Hyderabad, as well as at the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG), University of Delhi.

He served as a Member of several expert bodies, including, Seventh and Eighth Finance Commissions; Planning Commi-ssion, 1982-1986; Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, 1983-1985; Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), 1981-82 and 1995-1997; Central Board of Directors, Reserve Bank of India, 1994-2000; and the National Advisory Council, 2004-2008.

He also served as Chairman, Steering Committee on Agriculture and Allied Sectors for Formulation of the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012), Planning Commission, 2007;  High Powered Fertilisers Pricing Policy Review Committee, GoI, 1997-98; Expert Committee  on Rehabilitation and Environmental Aspects   of Tehri Hydro-Electric Project, GoI, 1996-97; Advisory Committee, National Accounts Statis-tics, GoI, 1992-1995; Technical Committee on Drought Prone Area Programme and Desert Development Programme (DPAP & DDP), Ministry of Rural Development, GoI, 1993-94; National Commission on Rural Labour, GoI, 1990-91; Expert Committee for Review of Methodology of Cost of Production of Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, GoI, 1990; and Advisory Council on the Implementation of the 20-Point Programme, GoI, 1987-1989.

Prof Rao was awarded Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Memorial Prize for 1974-75, by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, for Outstand-ing Contribution in the field of Agricultural Economics; he is a Fellow, National Academy   of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi; received K.H. Batheja Award for one of the best books published in Economics in India during 1993-94; received the Financial Express Award for Lifetime Work in Economics, in 1995; and was awarded ‘Padma Bhushan’ by the President of India in 2004 in the field of Literature and Education.

Currently honorary fellow of the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Thiruvanathapuram, A. Vaidyanathan's professional career spans academic and policy-centric research on diverse aspects of development. He worked in the National Council of Applied Economic Research (1956-1962); Planning Commission (1962-1972); as professor in CDS (1976-1984) and Madras Institute of Development Studies (1984-2004); as senior economist in FAO and the World Bank. During this long career, he has combined sustained empirical-analytical research on varied aspects of the country's socioeconomic development with active involvement in planning and policy formulation. Besides numerous articles in professional journals, he has written more than a dozen books some dealing with  broader aspects of strategy and policy and others exploring issues relating to specific sectors notably agriculture, water and education. As member of the PM's Economic Advisory Council and the Planning Commission of Centre and Tamil Nadu, he has first-hand knowledge of the processes of policy making. He has served or chaired several official committees to review policies in specific areas (such as pricing of irrigation, revitalisation of rural cooperative credit structure and improvement of the current system of agricultural statistics). His areas of interest ranges from critical assessment of recent growth experience and strategies for poverty alleviation, the role of politics and institutions, importance of reliable data for informed policy making, the current state of available data and its utilisation for research.

Saon Ray is Senior Fellow at Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi. Her areas of interest include international trade, industrial economics, microeconomics and applied econometrics. She has a PhD in Economics from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, on the role of intellectual property rights in transferring technology to developing countries. She has worked in the area of trade policy, technology transfer, foreign direct investment, efficiency and productivity issues, behaviour of firms, energy and climate change related issues. She is currently engaged in projects that examine link between climate change adaptation and competitiveness of cities; and evaluating India’s participation in global value chains. She has publications in various national and international journals as well as in edited books.

Smita Miglani is a Research Associate at ICRIER. Her broad areas of research interest include international/domestic trade and investment, energy and infrastructure studies. She is an MPhil in Economics from JNU. In the past, she has done studies in the areas of international trade and investment, climate change, renewable energy and transport sectors. Her work has contributed to India’s negotiating strategies in signing bilateral trade and investment agreements and other policy reform issues at domestic level. She is currently engaged in projects that involve evaluating India’s participation in global value chains. She has published work in working papers, edited books and refereed journals.

Neha Malik is a Research Associate at ICRIER. She completed her Masters in Economics from the University of Manchester, UK. She has worked on projects such as “The Macroeconomic Impact of Financial Crisis 2008-09: A Capital Account Analysis of Germany, India and Japan”, “Impact of Transaction Taxes on Commodity Derivatives Trading”, “Securities Transaction Tax in India: Motives, Revenues and Effects” and is currently involved in a project on “Covered Bonds: A Complementary Source of Financing Mortgage Lending in India”. Her areas of interest include international finance, monetary and macroeconomic issues.

Dr Uma Kapila retired as Reader, Department of Economics, Miranda House, University of Delhi. An alumna of Miranda House and Delhi School of Economics, she has taught Indian economy to undergraduate students for 42 years. She has authored/edited numerous books on the subject, including some of the most widely acclaimed textbooks on Indian economy. Presently, she is Senior Editor, Academic Foundation.

Montek S. Ahluwalia Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Government of India, New Delhi.

Kaushik Basu Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, New Delhi.

K.C. Chakrabarty Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai.

Bibek Debroy Professor, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi.

Subir Gokarn Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai.

Ashok Gulati Chairman, Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi.

Uma Kapila Reader (Retd.) Department of Economics, Miranda House, University of Delhi; presently: Senior Editor, Academic Foundation, New Delhi.

Vijay L. Kelkar Chairman, India Development Foundation, New Delhi; Chairman, Thirteenth Finance Commission, Government of India, New Delhi.

Deepak Mohanty Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai.

Pranab Mukherjee Finance Minister, Government of India.

N.A. Mujumdar Former Principal Advisor, Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai.

Arvind Panagariya Jagdish Bhagwati Professor of Indian Political Economy and Professor of Economics at Columbia University, New York.

C. Rangarajan Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister; Formerly: Chairman, Twelfth Finance Commission; Ex-Member, Planning Commission, New Delhi.

C.H. Hanumantha Rao Honorary Professor, Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Hyderabad; Ex-Chairman, Institute of Economic Growth (IEG), Delhi and Ex-Member, Planning Commission.

Manmohan Singh Prime Minister of India.

Anand Sinha Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai.

Duvvuri Subbarao Governor, Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai.

V.S. Vyas Professor Emeritus and Member, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, New Delhi.

Dr. S.L. Shetty’s interests in the discipline of Economics have been wide-ranging, with macroeconomics and the financial sector issues being the core. He served the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for 24 years and retired in 1993 as Chief of its research department. On leaving the RBI, he became the Founder Director of EPW Research Foundation (EPWRF) in which capacity he continued for 16 years. While in the RBI, he spent 4 years in a foreign central bank on an IMF assignment.

In academic circles, Dr. Shetty is known for his seminal work titled Structural Retrogression in the Indian Economy since the Mid-Sixties (NIBM, 1978) and a series of other contributions through the columns of the EPW. They have ranged from monetary and fiscal policies to money market studies and development issues in the financial sector.

Nitin Desai is an Indian economist and international civil servant. He was Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations (1992-2003). He studied at St. Xavier’s High School and Elphinstone College in Mumbai. He received a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Bombay in 1962, and in 1965, earned a Master’s degree in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Desai lectured in economics at the University of Liverpool and the University of Southampton in the UK from 1965-1970. Returning to India, he worked as a consultant for the then nascent Tata Economic Consultancy Services (1970-1973). His major work here was on the economic analysis of CIDCO’s Twin City project.

Rajeev D. Mathur is Executive Director at CUTS International since 2001. He studied at St. Xavier’s High School at Jaipur and received a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, as also a Master’s degree. He worked in the banking sector for 24 years before joining CUTS.

Ratnakar Adhikari

Anders Ahnlid

Rahul Bajaj

Nigel A. Barrella

Asha Bhatnagar

Bipul Chatterjee

Bibek Debroy

Allan Fels

Albert Foer

Eleanor M. Fox

Bernard Hoekman

Frederic Jenny

Rhoda H. Karpatkin

Vijay L. Kelkar

Pascal Lamy

Jean-Pierre Lehmann

Arun Maira

Arvind Mayaram

Rohinton P. Medhora

Shivshankar Menon

Kamal Nath

C. Rangarajan

S.L. Rao

Rubens Ricupero

Santiago Roca

Kishore P. Rungta

T.C.A. Srinivasa-Raghavan

T.N. Srinivasan

V.S. Vyas

Joseph Wilson

Martin Wolf

Sameer Kochhar  is Chairman, Skoch Group. He is President, Skoch Development Foundation which is the leading think tank on digital, social and financial inclusion issues in India. He has been passionately working towards promoting participatory democracy, empowerment, and bringing improvements in delivery systems. He is CEO, Skoch Consultancy Services, and is an industry veteran with a multifaceted career spanning over two and a half decades. He is India strategy and management consultant to several Fortune 500 as well as large Indian companies for over a decade. He is also Chief Editor of Inclusion—a quarterly publication focussed on development economics issues. He is considered to be one of the most respected independent voices on inclusive development and citizenship issues in India. He is a member of several expert groups and committees and his research opinion and writings have shaped many a public policy dialogue. He is also a Member of the Expert Group constituted by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India advocating a case for strengthening of Panchayati Raj Institutions (village councils) through use of technology. He is also a Planning Commission nominee on the committee formulating the national ICT plan for the 12th Five Year Plan. This is in addition to the e-Inclusion Committee constituted by the Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and IT.

He has written extensively on areas of emerging management practices, infrastructure, governance, technology, finance, economics, e-governance, Panchayati Raj and ICT for development. He has recently published seven widely acclaimed books, titled Infrastructure and Governance (2008); Financial Inclusion (2009); Urban Renewal: Policy and Response (2009); Speeding Financial Inclusion (2009); India on the Growth Turnpike: Essays in Honour of Vijay L. Kelkar (2010); Building from the Bottom: Infrastructure and Poverty Alleviation (2010) and Growth and Finance: Essays in Honour of C. Rangarajan (2011)—all published by Academic Foundation.

Kaushik Basu

Surjit S. Bhalla

Lord Meghnad Jagdishchandra Desai

Nitin Desai

Gursharan Dhanjal

Ravi Kanbur

Sam Pitroda

Raghuram Rajan

Yaga Venugopal Reddy

Hari Sankaran

Parthasarathi Shome

N.K. Singh

Duvvuri Subbarao

Roberto Zagha