A Decade of Economic Reforms in India : The Past, The Present , The Future

Contents: 1. Introduction : consensus on economic reforms. 2. A decade of reforms/Ashok V. Desai. 3. Economic reforms agenda : micro, meso and macro economic reform/Vijay Kelkar. 4. Before and after ten years of economic reforms/Bimal Jalan. 5. Economic reforms : a policy agenda for the future/Montek S. Ahluwalia. 6. Second generation reforms/Kirit S. Parikh & Ajay Shah. 7. Growth, poverty and reforms/Jagdish Bhagwati. 8. Economic reforms and their macro economic impact/Nagesh Kumar. 9. Economic reforms : strategy for the next decade/Raja Chelliah. 10. India’s decade of economic transformation : impact analysis of unilateral and global changes in trade policy/Rajesh Chadha. 11. World Trade Organisation : Doha round/Murasoli Maran. 12. WTO ministerial declaration at Doha. 13. Shifts in industrial policy paradigm/C. Rangarajan. 14. Economic reforms and Indian agriculture : long term issues and recent experience/V.S. Vyas & V. Ratna Reddy. 15. Restructuring of public finances and macro-economic stability/Y.V. Reddy. 16. Fiscal reforms at state level : review and prospects/Y.V. Reddy. 17. A decade of banking and financial sector reforms. 18. Economic reforms : a medium term perspective recommendation of Prime Minister’s economic advisory council.

"After pursuing an inward-looking development strategy with the state assuming an all important role for more than four decades, in 1990-91, in the midst of grave balance of payment crisis, India embarked on a comprehensive reform of the economy that would transform India from a controlled to a fairly open economy which is integrated with the world economy and in which the market would be given the prime role in the allocation of resources.

The reforms of the ‘nineties saw some significant achievements. Decontrol of industries, external sector reforms, tariff reductions, financial liberalisation, etc. The state monopoly has been abolished in virtually all sectors. India has done away with quantitative restrictions. Our highest tariff rates have come down from 400 per cent to 35 per cent with the average rate declining to approximately 25 per cent.

Now that ten years have passed, one may ask : Were the reforms done right ? Could they have been better ? What have been the flaws ? Where have we gone wrong ? What is to be the agenda for the second generation reforms ? This volume is an attempt to provide insights into these questions in the writings of eminent economists." (jacket)