Saturday, April 23, 2016

Economic growth is growth of Indian cities

Economic growth is growth of Indian cities

Nisha Desai Biswal

The pace and scale of India's past and future urbanisation are simply staggering. Twenty-five years ago, if you drove 30 kilometres south of here to Gurgaon, you'd see mostly farmland, and the population then was about 120,000. Today, Gurgaon has 2.3 million residents and a gleaming skyline of glass and steel.

India's cities have added 90 million new residents over the last 10 years, and in the next 15 years, 250 million more Indians will have moved into cities, bringing the urban population to some 600 million - nearly twice the population of the United States today. Delhi will likely surpass Tokyo to become the largest city in the world, and Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad will all become megacities, with over 10 million people each. The GDP (gross domestic product) of Mumbai's metro area alone will be larger than Malaysia's is today.

So when we talk about economic growth in India, we're basically talking about the growth of its cities. Over the next decade and a half, India's cities could account for 70 per cent of all new jobs and 70 percent of GDP. The cities are where most of the one million people entering India's workforce every month will find their jobs. But to pull all this off will require a tremendous amount of investment - about $1 trillion over the next 15 years, an unprecedented amount of funding and about eight times what India is spending today. According to McKinsey, 70 to 80 per cent of the infrastructure that India needs by 2030 is yet to be built.

It's a tall order, but if it's not filled, demand for affordable housing will be four times supply, demand for water will be two times supply, demand for sewage treatment will be three and half times supply. So the right investments in urban infrastructure and services will be critical for India's economic growth. The right policies could help India leverage its demographic dividend and launch hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and into the global middle class, transforming India and the region.

India's economy could drive global economic growth, bringing shared prosperity across the world, including to the United States. And that is why we have made economic diplomacy such a major pillar of our relationship. Trade between our nations has grown by a factor of five over the last 15 years, to over $100 billion. And we are working hard to accelerate that growth. Last year, we elevated our economic ties by holding our first-ever Strategic and Commercial Dialogue. The new commercial track of the dialogue had several work streams, such as facilitating help to build India's smart cities, and strengthening the business climate.

As part of that latter effort, we've also reinvigorated our CEO Forum, which gives our business leaders input into government policymaking in trade and investment, technology exchanges, and workforce development. We were also able to break through a deadlock on the Trade Facilitation Agreement at the WTO, and, through our Trade Policy Forum, we agreed on comprehensive work plans in services, agriculture, intellectual property, and manufacturing. These moves are already paying dividends, and American investors are showing with their dollars that they believe in India. According to data compiled by the US Treasury, our companies now invest more in Indian equities - over $12 billion in 2015 - than they do in China. And according to the US-India Business Council, US firms invested over $15 billion in India in the last two years, and will reportedly sign deals worth another $27 billion over the next two years.

GST to pave way for better e-commerce; will be a game changer for economy: CII-Deloitte report

India can achieve 8-10% growth in three years: Arvind Subramanian, CEA


India can achieve economic growth rate of 8-10 per cent in the next three years, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian said.

Indo-US ties can get a leg-up if India grows at 9-10%: Kant



Indo-US ties can get a leg-up if India grows at 9-10%
United States Ambassador to India Richard Verma with Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Niti Aayog Amitabh Kant releases a publication during the 24th Annual Meeting of American Chamber Of Commerce In India, in New Delhi




CEO on Friday emphasised the need for India to grow by 9-10 per cent every year for at least three decades. This, he, said could be instrumental in taking to the next level. He asked the US to open up its services sector for India, which has been liberalising its economy.
"It is possible to provide greater momentum, greater fillip to Indo-US relationship if India continues to grow rapidly. India is growing at about 7.5 per cent per annum. It's an oasis of growth in the midst of a very barren economic landscape," Kant said at an event organised by the American Chamber of Commerce in India.
"But, the challenge for India is to grow at 8-9-10 per cent per annum, year after year, for three decades or more. Only when we grow at those rates, will our (Indo-US) relationship get strengthened," he added.
Kant also spoke about the importance of taking several measures for India to grow at this clip. He said the US should do its bit for imparting greater momentum to the bilateral ties.
Another factor that could aid such growth is to make India an easy country to do business with, Kant stressed. "We need to make things very easy, and this government is determined to do this... We have done away with a number of approval processes at the central level."
In a presentation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kant had on Thursday said growing by 10 per cent a year would transform India to become a $10-trillion economy with no poverty in 2032.
The economy is officially expected to have grown 7.6 per cent in 2015-16. The government expected the economy to expand 7-7.75 per cent this year. However, it also keeping its fingers crossed for the India Meteorological Department's prediction of above-normal monsoon rains to come true, in which case the economy might grow 8-8.5 per cent for 2016-17. Only once did India's economy witness a two-digit growth since independence - 10.2 per cent in 1988-89.
Kant was of the view that although Indo-US relationship has done "very well" during the past year, it is yet to be fully tapped and can be taken to far greater heights.
Kant acknowledged that the more the market opens up, the greater is the scope for manufacturing expansion. He called upon the US to roll out a red carpet to the Indian service sector and software companies.
"While I advocate free trade for India, I must say while India is becoming more and more open, the US should also open its services sector for Indians to go and work there. There can't be a half-way house," he noted.
Last year, the US Congress imposed a special fee of up to $4,500 on H-1B and L-1 visas - popular among Indian IT companies - to fund a 9/11 healthcare Act and biometric tracking system. While agreeing on the $1.1-trillion spending Bill, Congressional leaders decided to impose a special fee of $4,000 on certain categories of H-1B visas and $4,500 on L-1 visas.

India to become $10 trillion economy by 2032: Amitabh Kant

NEW DELHI: Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Thursday gave a 2032 date to India becoming a $10-trillion economy, a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India should dream of a $20 trillion economy but did not fix a target. 

The PM, while speaking at the ET Global Summit last year had asked why the country could not dream of a $20-trillion economy and said his government was preparing the ground for it. Kant, in a presentation before the Prime Minister on Thursday, said the count .. 




When contacted by ET, Kant said the aim was to create 175 million jobs and achieving zero percent of Below Poverty Line population by 2032. "If we achieve a $10 trillion economy target by 2032 by a 10% growth rate year-on-year, the compounding effect would be such that ours could be a $20-trillion economy in the next 6-7 years after 2032. The 10% y-o-y growth is the biggest challenge." 

In his presentation, Kant said if India grows at 7% till 2032, its GDP will only be $6 trillion i .. 

India, France launch $1 trillion potential solar programme for developing countries

India, France launch $1 trillion potential solar programme for developing countries

ITED NATIONS: India and France have launched a programme with $1 trillion potential to help developing countries harness fully their solar resources for a clean energy future to meet the "biggest challenge humanity has ever faced".

Power minister Piyush Goyal and French environment minister Segolene Royal announced on Friday the solar finance programme that aims to lower the cost of finance and facilitate the flow of more than $1 trillion investment to members of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

A second programme they launched at the ISA meeting held during the signing ceremonies for the Paris Climate Change Agreement here aims to make available solar technology for farmers. The meeting was attended by representatives of over 25 countries including the US, Brazil, Bangladesh and Nigeria.

Goyal said the ISA initiatives were in "response to probably the world's largest challenge humanity has ever faced".

Beyond providing clean energy and dealing with climate change, the harnessing of solar energy was also about energy security, he said.

Royal said: "I would like to emphasise the cooperation we have had with India, which is exceptional."