A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that his government has decided to let the land ordinance lapse, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in an interview to television news channel ET Now, said that he does not see the statutory order as a setback to the Land Bill. “Instead, the statutory order will help make changes, more like a bypass with low political cost”, he added.
Land Bill: A Step Backwards?
In Jaitley’s words, the lapsed 2013 UPA Land Bill is ‘one of the worst drafted legislations ever’ and its content may hamper India’s development. He claims the Congress changed its stance after the government sought to amend the Land Bill at the request of the states, due to political posturing.
The Finance Minister added that the Bill to replace the ordinance is before the joint panel of the Rajya Sabha and that he is hopeful of some kind of consensus.
The FM’s comments are significant as in the previous sessions of Parliament, the government had sought to pass the same Bill, with amendments. In fact, Jaitley’s BJP had signed up for the Bill when it was tabled during the UPA regime.
Any Delay in Reforms to Cost India
On the goods and services tax (GST), the Finance Minister said the delay in implementation arose as the Congress was unsure of its stance on the Bill. He claimed that the Opposition’s tactic of stalling would cost India, given the global situation and the benefits that India can reap from it. Jaitley stressed that the time is opportune for India to take advantage of the current global situation.
‘India Must Seize This Opportunity’
Days after the governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Raghuram Rajan said India may yet not be ready to lead global growth after that space is relinquished by China, Jaitley concurred with Rajan but pointed out that India will benefit from the current global turmoil.
We are the only economy which last year grew 7.3% and we hope to better it this year. There are not too may major economies with a similar growth rate.
— Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister
He pointed out that India will be a beneficiary of the slowdown in oil and prices of other commodities and is not a part of China’s production chain. Under the current situation, he said, if investors are looking for an alternate investment venue, reforms (like GST, the Land Bill), effective monetary policy steps and a pick-up in private sector investment, can give India better leverage.
Will Governor Rajan Oblige?
While steering clear on the question of when the RBI should undertake its next rate cut, Jaitley hoped the RBI Governor will take note of the fact that inflation is under control and that monsoons were robust in the month of July. The fact that he does not expect food prices to rise is probably a subtle hint to the Governor that a rate cut is in the offing.
Fiscal Headroom for OROP?
When asked if he has the fiscal room to implement OROP, the Finance Minister said while he would be vigilant about fiscal prudence, he is, at the same time, committed to OROP. The arithmetical translation has to be worked out and has to be within reasonable and rational criteria as “pensions can’t be revised every year”, but he maintained it should be implemented very soon.
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