States are increasingly borrowing to finance subsidies. This reduces fiscal space for capital and other developmental expenditure, compromising long-term growth.
State govt provides an annual average subsidy of Rs 52,000 per pump set. And while rising subsidy costs are straining state finances, cutting back on these carries political risks.
Most Indians are spending more on essential items than last year while earning either less or the same amount. No wonder they turn to 'buy now, pay later' schemes.
Subsidies are here to stay. Worryingly, subsidy expenditure will likely increase as Indian politicians try to meet a wider set of aspirations through more diverse freebies.
The Narendra Modi government is looking at ways to check states’ spending on handouts like free electricity and rations. The first step is to tighten the noose on state borrowings.
Budget deficit target is doable, increased capex is a positive & it takes a realistic, if political, view of disinvestment. But protectionism, rising debts, slashed subsidies are problems.
Mark Tully witnessed the BBC turn into an anti-India outfit and repeatedly shame and humiliate itself in world circles. Never mind. Tully lives on, and his old BBC lives on.
Premier David Eby, the leader of the minerals- and gas-rich province of British Columbia, spoke with executives at Tata Steel and Reliance Industries on a trade mission to India.
Authored by military historian Adrien Fontanellaz, the study reveals the drone strategy used by Pakistan & how they tried to hit S-400 air defence system, both of which failed.
No nation other than China can negotiate one-on-one with Trump on an equal footing. That’s why the middle powers who so far formed the core of multilateral bodies now feel orphaned.
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