Posts : Economy

AIMA conference on PPPs - a report murali772 - 22-JUL-2010 The following is my report on the "All India Management Association (AIMA) Conference on Public Private Partnerships: Issues of Governance", held at Hotel Lalit Ashok, Bangalore, on Friday, the 16th July.

Consumer Court experience murali772 - 2-JUL-2010 Given the choice, very few amongst the middle and upper classes in the country will ever want to have anything to do with the government or its agencies, plainly because they lack the basic 'technology' of handling them.

Killing the golden goose? murali772 - 21-MAY-2010 India is the world's most competitive telecommunications market. But, the 3G spectrum auction is going to land things as a fiasco for the common man, even while it is a bonanza for the exchequer. The outcome of the 3G spectrum auction in the UK was disastrous. The 3G network did not diffuse for a decade thereafter, because firms were broke. They had no money left to invest in infrastructure after paying for the spectrum licence and interest. The telecom firms could not generate positive cash flow from 3G activities for a decade. In fact, the principal UK telecom company, BT, sold its wireless business to pay off debts incurred to acquire 3G spectrum licences! What happened in the UK can happen in India. The firms that have bid Rs 67,719 crore for 3G licences may not have finances left to fund infrastructure. If they borrow substantially, the combination of licence and interest costs, to be factored into pricing decisions, will make 3G services expensive or completely unaffordable. And, as everybody knows, it is low price that enables high offtake of any product or service.

Step-by-step privatisation of Air India likely murali772 - 10-MAR-2010 Faced with accumulated losses of Rs 7,200 crore, national carrier Air India's deteriorating condition has forced the government to push for privatisation of the carrier. While the UPA government does not favour strategic sale, the civil aviation ministry and the Air India management are likely to consider a piecemeal approach to privatisation.

Stretcher cases and our money murali772 - 7-JAN-2010 It is an extraordinary system where an equipment manufacturer for the telecom industry turns sick and remains sick just as an epoch-making boom takes place in the sector. Lakhs of private units make losses and are unable to cope with the market; only, they don’t have an automatic tap in the public treasury to keep going that way.

Report on MOBILICITY unconference murali772 - 24-NOV-2009 The Transport Policy draft released by the GoK is not exactly very inspiring.

Govt firm on privatising Escoms murali772 - 19-NOV-2009 The Government is firm on privatising the Electricity Supply Companies (Escoms) as per their policy. Both Central, State govts regard the move as key step in power reforms, and also for ensuring financial stability, Energy Minister K S Eshwarappa said here on Wednesday.

The immense cost of Socialism murali772 - 15-NOV-2009 Growth accelerated with tentative reforms in 1980, and shot up to 9% after reforms deepened in the current decade. How much lower would infant mortality, illiteracy and poverty have been had India commenced reform a decade earlier, and enjoyed correspondingly faster growth and human development?

Industry of 'poverty-wallahs' exposed murali772 - 15-NOV-2009 More people on the earth have risen out of poverty in the past 25 years than at any other time in human history, and this has happened primarily because of sustained high economic growth in India and China.

The "Native" Kolkata Metro murali772 - 21-SEP-2009 The 20km long Calcutta Metro Railway completes its 25 years next month, unwept, unhonoured and unsung. It has never had a derailment, no fatality or no structural collapses. It carries 4.2 lakh passengers a day that is three times of the Delhi Metro which is more than thrice as long. It is faster too.

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