Arun Shourie Interview – It’s a must watch.
One must bear in mind that Shourie was one of the front runners for the Finance Ministry and was obviously not chosen given he is not in PM’s circle of close confidants. His interview partly reflects his disappointment at not being given any role within the government.
On the Economy – I think he made some very valid points. There is dearth of Big Picture thinking.
The most pressing point being reinvigorating the Infrastructure sector and building up the Manufacturing sector to lay down the foundations for ‘Make in India.’
The fag end of UPA regime saw multiple projects get stalled because of lack of government approvals and a credit crunch. A lot of stalled projects have been provided requisite permissions now, however, credit continues to be a problem.
The balance sheets of most Infra players look ugly. Obviously their lenders i.e. the banks are no better. In essence ‘India’s’ home grown subprime crisis has by-passed its ‘hard working’ middle class but the excessive lending to the rich (politically powerful) Infra players continues to pester.
If the government is really serious to ‘Make in India’ – all other key aspects – ‘Labor’, ‘Land’ and ‘Credit’ need to be reformed. Eliminating ‘Red Tape’ in Permits which the government takes credit for is not only the minimum it is a ‘Given.’
Whilst, Shourie is fair when he points out that the efforts to restart the economy have been far from comprehensive, think he is being too harsh. These are all politically sensitive subjects and can cause a lot of political burnout. I dont think any government would have been able to achieve comprehensive reforms in under an year.
The other interesting aspect I think is the centralization of power – think this requires serious thought. Every leader has their own style of functioning and you cant argue one is better than the other. I personally prefer devolving power even though in a country like India it is a strategy filled with risks.
All said and done, Shourie continues to believe that Modi is the only person capable enough to lead the change. I dont disagree.