India’s approach in negotiating regional and bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) is again in sharp focus. Concern is rising over long delays in concluding a number of major agreements of which India is a part. Foremost among these is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) involving the 10 ASEAN economies, Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.
India recently revised its tax treaty with the island nation of Mauritius. The revisions should help close loopholes that allowed investors to use the island nation as a tax shelter. The move comes after the infamous “Panama Papers” revealed similar tax sheltering and thrust the issue to the forefront of the public consciousness around the world.
India’s rapid economic growth has resulted in a substantial increase in solid waste generation in urban centres. Urban areas in India alone generate more than 100,000 metric tonnes of solid waste per day, which is higher than many countries’ total daily waste generation. Large metropoles such as Mumbai and Delhi generate around 9000 metric tonnes and 8300 metric tonnes per day respectively. Due to sustained rapid economic growth, Indian cities are expected to only intensify their consumption patterns.
The state of India’s manufacturing sector is concerning. Especially when compared to the massive transformation registered in this sector by other Asian countries in similar stages of development. Contributing around 16 percent of India’s GDP, manufacturing remains far below its potential, which should be at least 25 percent.
One of India’s most promising economic features is its large working-age population. Yet if India doesn’t find jobs for its young people, this boon will quickly turn into a powder keg, as evinced by the recent agitations of unemployed Jats in Haryana. The most important impediment to job growth in India is the country’s outmoded labour regulations.
On 29 February, Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the National Democratic Alliance government’s third Union Budget. The government, having assumed office a little less than two years ago, is no longer new to the job.
It was expected to deliver on its promises of pro-growth, pro-business reform, issues that are of considerable importance to its urban, middle-class core constituency. The financial media in India, which draws its viewership from the same constituency, had warned that this would be a ‘make-or-break budget’ for the government.
On 31 March 2016, a tribunal set up by the Indian government upheld a ban on the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) (NSCN(K)) for five years. The case pertains to the 4 June 2015 attacks carried out by NSCN(K) insurgents on Indian military personnel, which claimed the lives of 18 Indian soldiers.
When India voted in the Narendra Modi government with a stable majority in the last election in 2014 it was widely expected to pave the way for major changes. However, political obstacles and a tendency to follow the path of least resistance have limited progress. The new direction, which emphasises infrastructure, agricultural productivity and marketing as well as health, education and training, governance and making it easier to do business, is the right one — but implementation is critical.
Since the turn of the 21st century, the Asia-Pacific region has become central to Indian strategic thinking. The Act East policy, unveiled by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in late 2014, reinforced this objective. Moreover, during his visits to Mongolia, Australia and at the ASEAN summit, Modi vigorously underlined how India’s destiny was tied to the future of the Asia Pacific.
Global growth has been tepid since the global financial crisis broke out almost 10 years ago, having declined from an average of 4.5 percent during the five years preceding the crisis to 3.5 percent over the past five years. Both advanced economies and emerging markets have suffered. Given that global trade was growing significantly faster than global gross domestic product (GDP) in the pre-crisis period on the back of global production chains, the extent of its decline is particularly surprising.
