How to quench smart cities’ thirst
The Asian Age, May 18, 2015

By Pradeep S Mehta

Round the clock water supply is one of the indicators for the highly ambitious smart cities programme launched by the government. Consequently, it is absolutely essential that the government treats this as a top priority area With the objective of providing 24x7 power supply to consumers by 2019, the Modi government has pushed for regulatory and consumer-oriented reforms through the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2014. Perhaps, the government may want to consider a similar initiative for a more critical basic need — water. For all purposes, water is something which a person cannot live without. Thirty per cent villages in India do not have access to electricity, while the same number still lack access to tapped water. More...

Resource-rich Mongolia has much to offer India
The Asian Age, May 16, 2015

By Pradeep S Mehta

A new era is expected to usher in stronger India-Mongolia ties when for the first time an Indian Prime Minister sets his foot in Ulaanbaatar on May 17. Mongolia is a country with which India shares centuries-old cultural and historical linkages. The relationship was renewed in the mid-20th century when the two countries reciprocated diplomatic relations in 1955. Since then there has been a steady but sluggish improvement in the strategic dimensions of our bilateral relationship including trade and economic cooperation among others. More...

The Railways needs new policy signals
The Hindu Business Line, May 15, 2015

By Pradeep S Mehta

India has adopted the mixed economy approach as a mantra. The same applies to the Bibek Debroy Panel’s treatment of private participation in the Railways. It does not recommend privatisation of the Railways anywhere in its report. There has been much noise over whether the report recommends privatisation, which the minister Suresh Prabhu has contested. India liberalised the airline sector but did not wind up the haemorrhaging Air India…The draft report is well done and can change the face of the Railways if the recommendations are implemented in a defined time frame. More...

The new trade order
Business Standard, May 02, 2015

By Pradeep S Mehta

One of the two mega regional trade and investment agreements being negotiated by the US will soon reach the winning post, by, say, the end of the year. The US Congress might soon give "fast-track authority" to the US President to sign on the dotted line of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade and investment agreement covering 12 countries. The other big one is the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the US and the European Union, which will take a longer time. That said, the TPP becoming a reality in the Asia-Pacific region would have many implications for India, not only in tariff preferences but also higher standards. More...

Jan Dhan- easier said than done
The Hindu Business Line, May 01, 2015

By Pradeep S Mehta

The unfolding of the financial inclusion tale in India provides significant lessons about the need for regulators and market players to come together…Two recent initiatives aim to completely transform this scenario. First, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), which saw the opening of 12.54 crore bank accounts and issued 11.08 crore RuPay debit cards by January 2015. Second, technological innovations, which have enormous potential to cut costs, making business sense to cater to the rural populace. More...