Getting India Back on Track: An Action Agenda for Reform

India has fallen far and fast from the runaway growth rates it enjoyed in the first decade of the twenty-first century. In order to reverse this trend, New Delhi must seriously reflect on its policy choices across a wide range of issue areas.

Getting India Back on Track broadly coincides with the 2014 Indian elections to spur a public debate about the program that the next government should pursue in order to return the country to a path of high growth. It convenes some of India’s most accomplished analysts to recommend policies in every major sector of the Indian economy. Taken together, these seventeen focused and concise memoranda offer policymakers and the general public alike a clear blueprint for India’s future.

Contents

Foreword

Ratan N. Tata (Chairman, Tata Trusts)

Introduction

Ashley J. Tellis and Reece Trevor (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)

1. Maintaining Macroeconomic Stability

Ila Patnaik (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy)

2. Dismantling the Welfare State

Surjit Bhalla (Oxus Investments)

3. Revamping Agriculture and the Public Distribution System

Ashok Gulati (Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices)

4. Revisiting Manufacturing Policy

Rajiv Kumar (Centre for Policy Research)

5. Generating Employment

Omkar Goswami (Corporate and Economic Research Group)

6. Expanding Education and Skills

Laveesh Bhandari (Indicus Analytics)

7. Confronting Health Challenges

A. K. Shiva Kumar (National Advisory Council)

8. Accelerating Infrastructure Modernization

Rajiv Lall and Ritu Anand (IDFC Limited)

9. Managing Urbanization

Somik Lall and Tara Vishwanath (World Bank)

10. Renovating Land Management

Barun S. Mitra (Liberty Institute) and Madhumita D. Mitra (consultant)

11. Addressing Water Management

Tushaar Shah (International Water Management Institute) and Shilp Verma (independent researcher)

12. Reforming Energy Policy and Pricing

Sunjoy Joshi (Observer Research Foundation)

13. Managing the Environment

Ligia Noronha (Energy and Resources Institute)

14. Strengthening Rule of Law

Devesh Kapur (University of Pennsylvania) and Milan Vaishnav (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)

15. Correcting the Administrative Deficit

Bibek Debroy (Centre for Policy Research)

16. Building Advanced Technology Capacity for Competitive Arms Acquisition

Ravinder Pal Singh (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute)

17. Rejuvenating Foreign Policy

C. Raja Mohan (Observer Research Foundation and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Ashley J. Tellis is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace specializing in international security, defense, and Asian strategic issues. As senior adviser to the U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, he was intimately involved in negotiating the civil nuclear agreement with India. Previously, he was senior adviser to the ambassador at the U.S. embassy in New Delhi. He also served on the National Security Council staff as special assistant to the president and senior director for strategic planning and Southwest Asia. Bibek Debroy is a professor at the Centre for Policy Research, Delhi. He has worked in academia, industry chambers, and for the government, including in leadership positions in the Legal Adjustments and Reforms for Globalising the Economy project and the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor. Debroy is the author of several books, papers, and articles. Reece Trevor is a research assistant in the South Asia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he previously served as a junior fellow focusing on South Asian security and U.S. grand strategy.