Restart: The Last Chance For The Indian Economy?
MUMBAI, 13 March, 2015 – In an engaging whirlwind tour of the Indian Economy - past, present and future, Asia Society India Centre was delighted to host a conversation with Mihir Sharma, Author, ‘Restart: The Last Chance for the Indian Economy’, Sajjid Chinoy, Chief India Economist, J.P. Morgan and Gaurav Gupta, Regional Director - Asia, Dalberg.
Centred on Mihir Sharma’s latest book ‘Restart: The Last Chance for the Indian Economy’ the evening began with a short reading of an excerpt from the book instantly engaging the audience. The panellists then deliberated various concrete facets of the Indian economy and the challenges it faces.
Sharma began by citing the changing demographic dynamics in India to demonstrate the need for a robust manufacturing sector as a driving force for the economy. Acknowledging that the new administration in India has the political capital to make real change, Sharma also advocated for heavy weight political reforms. This was countered by Chinoy who stated that incremental reform has had a greater, and longer lasting impact on the economy.
Putting political reforms in practice all the panellists agreed that there exists a need for creation of capacity on the ground to implement and sustain economic reform. Chinoy remarked that a major factor holding back private investment in India is implementation problems on the ground. Two other required reforms in Chinoy’s opinion are a move toward allocative efficiency in pricing mechanisms and a change in the tenor of dialogue between the public and private sector.
Responding to the audience’s questions, on primary education, the land acquisition bill and the goods and service tax the panellists covered the many nuances of the Indian economy concluding with optimism that a bright future lay ahead for India.
Reported by Antaraa Vasudev, Programme Assistant, Asia Society India Centre
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