SwamyG wrote:Sadly nobody is there to stop them. Lessons learned from history are just in books sitting on the shelves.
Why should it be stopped ?. After all they are selling only 10%. Some amount of public accountability will come in. Govt still has ownership. India's experiene has been that after stake sales, the PSU profitability and performance increases exponentially in most cases. Definitely need BSNL etc to become more professional and accountable and for heavens sake get some more modern accounting and business practices in.Jarita wrote:This is where the trade unions need to come in. SOmewhere we have to stop this
vina wrote:Why should it be stopped ?. After all they are selling only 10%. Some amount of public accountability will come in. Govt still has ownership. India's experiene has been that after stake sales, the PSU profitability and performance increases exponentially in most cases. Definitely need BSNL etc to become more professional and accountable and for heavens sake get some more modern accounting and business practices in.Jarita wrote:This is where the trade unions need to come in. SOmewhere we have to stop this
Glad those particular gents are largely out of circulation. They are just Saffron Prakash Karats. Just as brain dead, but equally dogmatic and obvioulous to facts and stuck in an echo chamber where they can hear nothing but thier own voices!Jarita wrote:Gurumurthy, Govindacharya are people to contact in this regard.
SwamyG wrote:Jarita: You just threw some red meat to the crowd
Vina: NDA too indulged in these kinds of sale. And NDA had a big saffron party in its folds.
SwamyG it took me 6 years to unlearn everything I had grasped from so called Elite Indian education inst. and the media. I thought I knew my economics. Need analogies, stories and history to correctly articulate the essence. But it is the second category, the socio-political one, which is likely to worry foreigners most because it has very deep roots, which, moreover, are watered from time to time by the major and not so major upheavals. At the heart of this problem lies a religion-based social division which most Indians turn a blind eye to at the collective level, but which they nurture very assiduously at the individual level.
Or, as economists would say, this is a classic example where the maximisation of individual utilities does not maximise social utility. One, therefore, hopes that when he speaks tomorrow, the Prime Minister will reassure foreign businessmen on this score.
What he needs to do (but won’t) is to tell the gathering that the Congress has adopted the Narendra Modi model of development because success anywhere is worth emulating. The Modi model consists, at its core, of ensuring that the Government works for the people and not against them.
The success of Gujarat today is the result of just this one thing. The Modi government does its best not to get in the way and ensures that the bureaucracy and service-delivery employees of the Gujarat government pay attention to all the small things that make a difference to peoples’ lives.
Abhijeet,Abhijeet wrote:Can the people opposed to selling off even minority stakes in PSUs explain what are the strategic imperatives that are impacted by this? The case for private efficiency versus government sloth - especially in India - is well known. What are the strategic imperatives that balance the need for efficiency?
The chairman's meeting with Indian Prime Minister Singh is the latest sign the retail giant is lobbying for greater access to the market.
S Robson Walton, chairman of Wal-Mart Stores, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Wednesday, in what is seen as an effort by the world's second-largest company to press its demand for permission to invest in multi-brand retail.
The $404-billion Wal-Mart, which has a joint venture with the Bharti group that runs the country's largest telco for cash-and-carry wholesale trade and a franchise agreement for front-end retail, has been lobbying hard with the government for permission to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.
Great. Why not bring those benefits in via a JV, sir? In any case, pls show some net benefits on the ground before aam aadmi here can take your word for it, no? Seems like GoI is of similar mind too.This is Mr. Walton's first visit to the country. It highlights the importance of India, the second-fastest growing economy after China, in Wal-Mart's scheme of things.
According to people familiar with the matter, Mr. Walton impressed upon the prime minister the benefits an organised retailer like Wal-Mart can bring to farmers as well as small and medium enterprises and in job creation.
The conversation last time veered on the Indian establishment asking the retailer to strengthen the supply-chain that could benefit Indian farmers. Mr. McMillon had then said Wal-Mart's progress in India would have no dollar constraint. "We have a $4.8-5.3-billion fund earmaked for our international business. India can use as much as it wants," he had said.
Wal-Mart announced its alliance with Bharti in 2006, but has opened only one cash-and-carry wholesale store since. Mr. McMillon had then said the company was not in a hurry. "Our aim is to get it right."
I agree with that. Having many smaller foreign-local JV and small local players would be better. It would give the farmer & local manufacturers some bargaining power to have a variety of small/medium sized retailers to choose from. I'm thinking more along the lines of the 7-11 type stores.there must be a low enough ceiling to filter out the big players from this space
Look at what we are importing and also what is being provided.Singha wrote:well lack of a good web presence doesnt necessary imply an industry is
incapable or sitting idle. by that yardstick almost all govt run orgs in india
pale in comparison to pvt sector.
but wrt OFB ofcourse a 'truth and reconciliation task force' headed by someone like anand mahindra or ratan tata should be setup for a overall
audit and identify what needs to be done to drag them by their tails into
21st century.
I am not opposed to minority selling or disinvestment per se. I don't want the people to be dependent on just the Government or private sector. Long term I do not like to see we end up with companies that are too big to fail types and that the population are totally dependent on just few of these companies. I used the word "indiscriminate" and that is key in my opinion.Abhijeet wrote:Can the people opposed to selling off even minority stakes in PSUs explain what are the strategic imperatives that are impacted by this? The case for private efficiency versus government sloth - especially in India - is well known. What are the strategic imperatives that balance the need for efficiency?
The commission has roped in Rohini Malkani, an economist with Citigroup, in an honourary position to formulate a format for the government’s macroeconomic reports. Malkani, who brings out similar reports for Citigroup, is expected to bring a sea-change in the way government organisations publish economic data.
The trigger: Economists and analysts have always taken government data with a pinch of salt due to obvious gaps and time lags.
All that may change, courtesy the initiative by the Planning Commission, which is expecting Malkani to help it work out a standard format for maintaining and releasing reports comprising major macroeconomic data. The aim is to make essential data easily accessible in a simple analytical format. The reports will be more than a mass of data and analyse the health of the economy and give an outlook on a monthly basis.
The practice of releasing periodic reports is followed by private banks, economic research organisations and credit rating agencies. But the Planning Commission’s move means all these will face competition.
“We are currently working on the format in which such reports can be prepared and put in the public domain. It will be on the lines of the economic reports put out by private agencies,” said a source in the know of the matter.
The Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) and the Reserve Bank of India publish reports summarising past data along with their outlook. The government also presents to Parliament a mid-term review of the economy in December and the Economic Survey before the Budget.
But no government agency regularly comes out with any analysis of the data put out by the government. For the record, the finance ministry makes public a monthly update of the economy, but it is a mere compilation of all major economic data without any analysis.
Rahul, am just curious. Any specific reason for it ?Rahul M wrote:I'm not much in favour of entry of big players into retail space, all the noise about organised retail notwithstanding.
Does everything boil down to just numbers; rephrasing does everything boil down to privatization or nationalization?Regarding the PSU selloff debate, just repeatedly stating the bogey of strategic dangers is not productive, and is just nukkad material; such posts will be moved/deleted in future. The reason I requested additional information is so that there's data behind the claims made.
Replied in neta-babu thread.pandyan wrote:Anyone has insight into what this Madhu Koda guy is doing/has done? There are reports that assets over 4000 Crore were recovered...how did he managed to amass the wealth in under 2 years? Is this the "salary" rate for CM?
I agree with your assessment & demand for backing up claims. Without the references what we say becomes just opinions. Opinions can raise from fear or desire. Unfortunately I am not an economist who can get down to the equations and numbers. I also agree if we are having discussions without much data, we could move this to other threads - the Perspective thread might be another good option.Suraj wrote:No SwamyG - I'm requesting a detailed analysis of the issue, as opposed to a superficial claim made ad nauseum. What is the point of making such a claim if it turns out that all the PSUs in question remain under overwhelming GoI control, with a stake dilution primarily affording greater revenue to GoI ? That is why I requested those interested in the topic to first collect information and then analyze.
In this thread, we have consistently placed an emphasis on detail and data for a long time, and my goal is to continue to drive it that direction. General discussions on strategic autonomy will be moved to the governance thread. Thanks.
Who is Dr Artiste?KarthikSan wrote:^^^Samuel and Co. are bacchas when you dig deep into what Dr. Artiste and family have amassed.
I guess the CM of TNRahul Mehta wrote: Who is Dr Artiste?
Barack Obama and Timothy Geithner must be as annoyed as they are bewildered.
Didn’t India get the memo? Developing nations are supposed to keep their excess cash in Treasuries, the U.S. president and his Treasury secretary are no doubt thinking. Gold? That relic of the past that doesn’t pay interest or dividends and can’t be eaten? A fool’s game best left to the dinosaurs out there.
...
India’s 200 metric-ton deal wasn’t huge considering how much gold central banks hold. It’s the symbolism that matters as the U.S. struggles to keep the dollar’s slide orderly and panic- free. Consider India the vanguard of central banks more aggressively diversifying reserves away from U.S. assets.
As markets brace for that inevitability, here are four things we can conclude from India’s gold rush.
One, the dollar’s plight just got worse. Mounting U.S. debt is bumping up against a dismal employment picture, a toxic mix that may get the attention of credit-rating companies. This U.S. recovery looks to be a uniquely jobless one, complicating things for a president already grappling with two unpopular wars.
Yes, talk of the dollar’s death is overdone. There is still no obvious replacement. Yet Asia’s tolerance with falling U.S. assets is evaporating. India’s gold grab from the International Monetary Fund’s bullion stash is the latest reminder of that.
Two, India’s got game. China doesn’t talk much about its currency reserves, yet you have to imagine a few top officials in Beijing are red-faced this week. “How on Earth did India beat us to the punch?” policy makers must be asking. China seemed the overwhelming favorite to get the first chunk of the gold the IMF is offloading to shore up its finances.
A question no one can answer yet is whether India will touch off a bidding war among central banks. Not that India cares all that much at this point. As it leapfrogs past Russia to become the ninth-biggest government holder of gold, China is now looking at even higher precious-metals prices.
Hedge-Fund Savvy
While India’s people are major gold hoarders, the government hasn’t been a big one. India really did display the savvy of a hedge fund here. It got what it wanted, surprised markets and will sit back and reap the benefits as gold rallies.
Traders are now betting on who will announce the next big purchase. Will it be China looking to employ its $2.3 trillion of reserves? What about Japan, which has the second-biggest pile of currency? Or Gulf states working to end dollar hegemony? And let’s not forget about Brazil and South Korea. Well done, India.
Three, the IMF is back. The crisis of the last two years put the Washington lending institution back in business. Now it’s flush with fresh liquidity to help the nations that need it most. Along with getting top dollar for its bullion, the IMF managed to avoid shaking up markets.
...
Four, central banks are reverting to the past. Almost 100 years ago, John Maynard Keynes chided India for its “ruinous” love of the “barbaric relic.” Perhaps central banks were reading their Keynes over the last two decades, during which anti-gold sentiment pervaded.
The belief that inflation had been defeated made paper currency seem a safe and more practical bet than bars of gold collecting dust. The dollar’s swoon is prompting a bit of revisionist history, putting gold back en vogue. It says much about where the global financial system finds itself.
This gold revival has a clear geographic profile, too. Expect Asian central banks that took the whole “trust-the- Federal-Reserve-to-protect-the-dollar” hype too literally to be especially avid buyers.
If you are looking for the next big industry in Asia, it may just be manufacturing fortified warehouses. Many nations will need a Fort Knox of their own to store all those gold bars as the dollar’s reign falters.