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Uttam Gupta
Plug leakages in fertiliser subsidy
The real reason behind the leakage is control of the MRP at an artificially low level. Dubious players have a huge incentive to divert and rake in the moolah As part of the 100-day agenda of Modi 3.0, the Government intends to administer fertiliser subsidies more effectively and cut down on...
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With power freebies, debt comes calling
22 April 2024 | Uttam Gupta -
Income inequalities hamper sustainable growth
15 April 2024 | Uttam Gupta -
RBI maintains status quo despite inflation optimism
12 April 2024 | Uttam Gupta -
Address the root cause to stabilise food prices
08 April 2024 | Uttam Gupta -
Sustainable agriculture with nano-fertilisers
01 April 2024 | Uttam Gupta -
Debunking claims of fiscal discrimination
25 March 2024 | Uttam Gupta -
Rationalise and simplify GST
20 March 2024 | Uttam Gupta
The practice of offering freebies must stop
Not too long ago, poll freebies used to be an exception. But now it has become a norm with almost every other party promising it Barely a week before the Election Commission of India (ECI) is set to announce the schedule for the polls for Lok Sabha elections when the Code...
WTO deadlock over agricultural subsidies
At the WTO Ministerial Conference, India stood firm on its stance on public stock-holding programme, drawing strong opposition from the developed countries The 13th ministerial conference (MC) of WTO (World Trade Organisation) held on February 26-29, 2024 in Abu Dhabi has ended in a deadlock. This is because India leads about...
MSP methodology and farmer demands
Questions arise about the rationale and implications of adopting Dr Swaminathan's proposed methodology for MSP calculation Co-terminus with the legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops, another demand raised by the farmers relates to how the MSP is fixed. They want it to be calculated based on the...
Farmers' demands are impractical and unrealistic
The farmers want the Govt to withdraw from the WTO and all Free Trade Agreements, which is next to impossible in a globally interdependent world After three years of hibernation, farmers mostly from Punjab are back on the roads with over a dozen demands from the Union Government. If taken on...
Balancing welfare and fiscal responsibility
The Centre should go for a complete overhaul of its food subsidy programme. It should exclude from the beneficiaries’ list those who are better off Seen in the backdrop of 250 million persons coming out of poverty during the last nine-and-a-half years of incumbent government (as per a recent report released...
Delink disinvestment from the Budget
There is a need for a paradigm shift in the approach to disinvestment; the Government must detach it from budgetary constraints and tackle legacy issues In a briefing following the presentation of the interim Budget for the financial year (FY) 2024-25 by the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2024,...
The conundrum of fertiliser pricing
The fact is that non-urea fertilisers, in practice, have consistently remained under regulatory control In an office memorandum dated January 17, 2024, the Department of Fertilisers (DoF) has issued detailed guidelines for the evaluation of “reasonableness” of the MRPs (maximum retail price) for all non-urea fertilizers covered under the Nutrient Based...
