This report summarizes the findings of a review aimed at understanding emerging approaches to energy subsidy reform, discerning trends, and identifying major strands of thinking and research in the field, as reflected in major policy and academic journals relevant to the subject. The review was initiated in early 2020 as …
Against the background of a glut in sugarcane production, the State Government has decided to continue with last year's decision to provide transport subsidy to sugar factories to provide relief to sugar factories in varied parts of the state. A meeting chaired by Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh okayed the decision …
The Wholesale Price Index numbers for the week ending March 8, released last week, showed that the inflation rate surged almost a percentage point compared to the previous week. It surpassed all expectations (or fears) to touch 5.92 per cent, a benchmark reminiscent of a year ago, when food prices …
The Rs 60,000-crore farm loan waiver package has come under the scanner of world bodies such as Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The OECD is keen to examine if the package falls under the category of trade-distorting farm subsidies in …
Four Ministers Quote Different Figures, But Govt Showcases It As Commitment To Farmers' Lot What is the anticipated fertilizer bill for 2008-09? Barely two weeks after the Budget was presented, you might think there would be a simple answer to this question. But, it turns out that there are at …
The small farmer might be the solution to the ongoing crisis in the farming sector in India. Policies need to be geared towards helping small farmers perform agricultural operations and marketing their products with greater efficiency. Instead, current policies are hoping to dispossess farmers of their livelihood and push them …
by the time a copy of this magazine reaches you, the finance minister would would have presented the Union Budget in Parliament. The details of the Rs 32,000-crore debt relief package
India has been excluded from a high-profile meeting of the European Union, the US and Brazil that is attempting to hammer out an agreement on the Doha trade negotiations in London, trade diplomats said. The two-day senior officials' meeting began on Monday at an unknown destination in London to address …
Sops to developing countries could break the Doha deadlock. IT's another attempt to evolve a JL consensus between the rich and the poor nations at the wto on the thorny issues of cutting agricultural subsidies and industrial tariffs. Ambassador Crawford Falconer, Chairperson of the Agriculture Negotiation, and Non-Agricultural Market Access …
The Rajasthan Government is planning to expand its ambitious "Akshay Kaleva' scheme for providing cooked food to the poor at subsidised prices at public places in Jaipur by seeking charitable contributions from private donors on their personal and family occasions. State Local Self Government Secretary Manjeet Singh said at a …
There were no gasps of surprise when Palaniappan Chidambaram, Indian finance minister, unveiled a populist budget aimed at boosting the chances of the Congress-led governing alliance in the general election due by May 2009. Even so, the details announced on Friday were disappointing for economists concerned about inflation and alarming …
On February 29 when Finance Minister P. Chidambaram takes guard, his batting average is going to look almost Bradmanesque. Three consecutive years of 9-plus per cent growth, income tax growing at an unprecedented 40 per cent per annum, customs duty collection growing despite lower tariffs, agriculture credit doubling in three …
Cash-rich Haryana has earmarked Rs 2,800 crore for power subsidy to farm sector for the year 2008-09, surpassing even Andhra Pradesh, which has earmarked Rs 2,385 crore for free power supply to the farmers in its 2008-09 Budget presented this month. From Rs 400 crore six years back, it is …
Jan Kerosene Pariyojana was launched to revamp the subsidised kerosene distribution measure in the country. Initial impact analysis leads us to believe that the scheme has the potential to realise the intended reforms. Feb 23-29, 2008
In September 2003, the government of Gujarat introduced the Jyotirgram Yojana to improve rural power supply. Two major changes have since taken place: (a) villages get 24 hour three-phase power supply for domestic use, in schools, hospitals, village industries, all subject to metered tariff; and (b) tubewell owners get eight …
With the Olympic Games breathing down Beijing's neck, the city is racing against the clock to ensure it meets one of the commitments it made when it won the bid for the games in 2001: blue skies. As one alights on the Jingshun highway that connects the airport to Beijing, …
The full introduction of the North American Free Trade Agreement (nafta) has raised concerns among Mexico's farmers who are agitating against it. With nafta kicking in fully on January 1, 2008, all tariffs on us agricultural exports to Mexico have been phased out. Many farmers organized scattered protests, while about …
A food crisis looms large in Bangladesh after two waves of floods and a cyclone. Three natural disasters within four months have ruined the late-monsoon aman paddy, the second major cereal crop in the country. As a result, food prices have soared and the government is finding it difficult to …
Last fortnight, when the world's richest Indian Lakshmi Mittal visited Kolkata, the city of his youth, he was thrilled to see change. Mittal told the media that the biggest difference he saw was the many flyovers dotting the city skyline and "disciplined traffic". This is great progress, he told journalists, …
NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 11: The UPA Government's proposed shift to a nutrient-based fertilisers subsidy from a product-based regime will be a gradual one in the 2008 -09 financial year. According to sources, since the new subsidy regime may lead to price revision of the fertiliser products, the "implementation of the …
