11 months ago

Dr. Ahluwalia Discusses India's Economic Journey at Memorial Lecture

Dr. Ahluwalia Discusses India's Economic Journey at Memorial Lecture
Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia Delivers Inaugural Dr. Manmohan Singh Memorial Lecture at JGU · theprint.in

Imagine India's economy like a plant growing over time.

Dr. Ahluwalia, an economic expert, talked about this plant's growth at a special talk.

He discussed how important changes in the 1990s, like making it easier to trade, helped the plant grow.

He also explained that while the plant has grown, it could have done better if the changes happened faster.

He mentioned that India's growth is good, but not as fast as China's.

He highlighted future goals that include foreign investment, legal reforms and contract enforcement.

Key facts

Speaker
Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia
Event
Dr. Manmohan Singh Memorial Lecture
Location
O.P. Jindal Global University
Dr. Ahluwalia's Role
Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India (2004-2014)
Focus
Indian Economy & Reforms Since 1990s

Quotes

Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia

Former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India

“If you want to do better, you have to do a lot of things that will be politically difficult. Statistically, the growth rate over the last 11 years has been approximately 6.5%, with a margin of error of one to two percentage points. You must increase by an average of 8% from today to 2047 in real terms. As you move up the income ladder, it becomes more complicated because we know that a middle-income country is more sophisticated. Constraints arise, and you need to address them. And that’s not a simple case of eliminating some minor regulation or control; it’s about creating an institutional framework that can handle this incredible complexity. We need foreign investment, quite rightly, for foreign investors to come and make in India and make for the world. What must we do? It has to do with legal reform, contract reform, contract enforcement, and indeed intellectual property rights issues.”
theprint.in
“We needed to take a comprehensive look at policy changes. For imports, a license was required. And that system was especially difficult for middle- and small-sized people, while it was easier for the big guys because they knew how to obtain licenses. The reason it was licensed was that the exchange rate was controlled. I think what 1991 did was to eliminate all of this. There was legitimate criticism that it wasn’t done all at once. Although the ideas were clear, there was a deliberate political decision to proceed gradually. I agree that it shouldn’t have been done all at once.”
theprint.in

Sources

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