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Conference Reports |
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Anwarul Hoda
The difference in growth trajectory of India and China becomes evident from the foreign direct investment figures that China has garnered over the last decade or so. This would suggest that India should emulate China in its growth efforts. Replicating the Chinese growth model in the Indian context is difficult given India's pluralism and diversity. India's political system provides room for dissension and debate. This makes 'big bang' kind-of-policy decisions difficult in India.
Apart from economic liberalization in 1991, we have never managed to make drastic changes in a short period - a case in point being the recent debate over relaxing FDI norms in insurance, telecom and aviation. Nevertheless, there have been some changes - removal of quantitative restrictions, reduction in import duties - not many countries have liberalized at this pace. Therefore there is not much difference in these areas between China and India.
The key difference lies in the infrastructure. While China has managed to garner a lot of investment in infrastructure, India has been constrained by its financial resources. We need to find ways to allocate greater financial resources towards infrastructure building in India.
Anwarul Hoda is a member of the Planning Commission and is a leading expert on trade policy and trade policy negotiations.
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