Narendra Modi's thumping election victory is dividing analysts on rupee

Economy News

One of the biggest challenges facing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he begins his second term is ensuring clean air in a country that’s home to some of the most polluted cities in the world.
The country is burning up more coal to supply cheap electricity to its 1.3 billion people, resulting in polluted air across vast stretches. That’s costing lives and denting the nation’s economic productivity, prompting a policy rethink. Air pollution and how political parties plan to tackle it figured in their manifestos for the first time in national elections that ended May 23.
Efforts in the past to clean up the environment have struggled to clear the test of affordability. India’s fleet of coal-burning power plants, among the biggest sources of air pollution and a dominant provider of cheap energy, have dragged their feet over implementing emission standards, citing cost. A campaign to replace firewood with clean cooking fuel in rural homes needs to be affordable to have greater adoption.A look at what the Modi administration needs to do:
Strengthen the electricity distribution companies. Rejuvenating the power retailers will be crucial for transitioning to cleaner, although costlier electricity. Their losses rose from April to December, reversing a declining trend. Efforts to revive them during Modi’s first term have met with some progress but haven’t been completely successful.
Ensure timely implementation of emissions norms for thermal power plants. One of the reasons this process has moved slowly is a possible reluctance by lenders to finance retrofits in a sector already stressed with a mountain of bad debt. Fixing the money-losing power retailers would be key to resolving the bad loan mess.
Bring fuels, such as natural gas, under the national sales tax regime, helping them compete with dirtier options, such as coal and petcoke. Boosting local production of gas will make it more affordable and help raise its share in the mix to 15%, more than double from now.Accelerate capacity addition in renewable energy, while enabling the grid to deal with the rising flow of intermittent power.Increase use of biomass for energy to help reduce the dependence on crude oil imports and prevent burning of crop residue, a leading air polluter in northern India

Clean air: One of the biggest challenges for PM Modi in second term

Economy News

One of the biggest challenges facing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he begins his second term is ensuring clean air in a country that’s home to some of the most polluted cities in the world.
The country is burning up more coal to supply cheap electricity to its 1.3 billion people, resulting in polluted air across vast stretches. That’s costing lives and denting the nation’s economic productivity, prompting a policy rethink. Air pollution and how political parties plan to tackle it figured in their manifestos for the first time in national elections that ended May 23.
Efforts in the past to clean up the environment have struggled to clear the test of affordability. India’s fleet of coal-burning power plants, among the biggest sources of air pollution and a dominant provider of cheap energy, have dragged their feet over implementing emission standards, citing cost. A campaign to replace firewood with clean cooking fuel in rural homes needs to be affordable to have greater adoption.A look at what the Modi administration needs to do:
Strengthen the electricity distribution companies. Rejuvenating the power retailers will be crucial for transitioning to cleaner, although costlier electricity. Their losses rose from April to December, reversing a declining trend. Efforts to revive them during Modi’s first term have met with some progress but haven’t been completely successful.
Ensure timely implementation of emissions norms for thermal power plants. One of the reasons this process has moved slowly is a possible reluctance by lenders to finance retrofits in a sector already stressed with a mountain of bad debt. Fixing the money-losing power retailers would be key to resolving the bad loan mess.

Bring fuels, such as natural gas, under the national sales tax regime, helping them compete with dirtier options, such as coal and petcoke. Boosting local production of gas will make it more affordable and help raise its share in the mix to 15%, more than double from now.Accelerate capacity addition in renewable energy, while enabling the grid to deal with the rising flow of intermittent power.Increase use of biomass for energy to help reduce the dependence on crude oil imports and prevent burning of crop residue, a leading air polluter in northern India

BJP manifesto rooted in reality, prepared with nationalist vision: Jaitley

Election News

BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Monday said the BJP's manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections beginning this week has not been prepared with a 'tukde tukde' mindset but with a strong nationalist vision.
The document, 'Sankalp Patra' (document of resolve), is rooted in reality, Jaitley said after Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the manifesto.

"Our new policy, new doctrine of striking terror in its origin has received global recognition," Jaitley told the gathering.

The Union finance minister said the party was committed to annulling Article 35 A of the Constitution, which provides special rights and privileges to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The provision is discriminatory against non-permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir, he said.
When India is at the cusp of history making most of all its lost opportunities, does it require a fragile government or a decisive one, he asked.

Jaitley added that previous governments only gave slogans, but the Modi-led administration gave resources to the poor.

He said the essence of the BJP manifesto is to deplete poverty over the next five years to single digit and then gradually eliminate it.

"Our fiscal prudence since 1947 has been best ever for any government," the finance minister said.

 (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

BJP manifesto highlights: Rs 25-trn agri push, pension for small traders

Election News

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday released its poll manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections 2019. BJP president Amit Shah highlighted the government's achievements while Home Minister Rajnath Singh read out the key promises in the manifesto. He also headed the committee that drafted it.
Here are the key takeaways of the BJP's manifesto for Lok Sabha elections 2019:

•   Agri loans available on credit cards up to Rs 1 lakh at zero per cent rate of interest
• Collateral-free credit up to Rs 50 lakh for entrepreneurs
• Promotion of Startups through creation of a ‘Seed Startup Fund’ of Rs 20,000 crore.
• 10 per cent material procurement for the government by MSMEs having at least 50 per cent women in their workforce
• Micro, small and medium enterprises to given Rs 1 trillion worth of credit by 2024.
• A pucca house to every family who are either living in a kuchha house or have no access to housing by 2022.
• Expand Ayushman Bharat to include all Anganwadi workers and ASHA workers
• ‘Jal Jivan Mission’ to be launched to ensure piped water supply to every household in India by 2024...Read More