Newsmaker: Rahul Khullar
Trade specialist fills a hot seat
When Rahul Khullar’s name was announced as chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai)—a body that has courted its fair share of controversies lately—everybody from the telecom industry to businessmen were taken by surprise. Khullar—who bested RP Singh, former secretary of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP)—is primarily known for his unbending negotiating demeanour when clinching bilateral deals with other countries and for his brilliance in getting greater market access for India’s produce in international markets. He has no prior experience in the telecom and broadcasting sectors.
A doctorate in economics from Boston University, Khullar, 59, should do just fine at Trai—he has donned many hats ever since he completed his training as an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the reputed Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in 1975. In 1994, he joined the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as a senior economist. At the height of the Asian crisis, in 1997, he was able to mobilise a $5-billion loan for Korea—the single largest at the time. He also acted as Manmohan Singh’s secretary and right-hand man, when Singh pushed through India’s first-ever economic reforms in 1993-1994, under the Narasimha Rao government.
Recently, he created a stir in political and business circles by doing something that many had tried their hand at earlier, but failed. It was Khullar who won many hearts and minds across the border and normalised trade relations between Pakistan and India, with solid support from commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma. Yet, Khullar never tooted his own horn even though his first meeting with his counterpart Zafar Mahmood turned out to be a huge success. It has subsequently led to what people are calling a “turning point” in Indo-Pak history, as Pakistan has allowed a flood of imports from India and is on the verge of conferring upon it the ‘most favoured nation’ trading status. It is also due to Khullar’s perseverance that a relaxed visa regime for Pakistani businessmen is now going to become a reality. The inauguration of a swanky new integrated checkpost at Attari-Wagah border took place while he was secretary in the commerce department.
Khullar joined the ministry of commerce and industry in 2004 as joint secretary, to address matters related to anti-dumping and Northeast Asia. It was then that Khullar commissioned a joint study group with Japan and Korea to gain greater access for Indian goods and services in these territories—previously unexplored by Indian businesses. This decision culminated in the creation of the comprehensive economic partnership agreements with these countries in 2009 and 2011. One of the most difficult challenges he says he faced was in drafting the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Act and getting it passed in Parliament in 2005 in an effort to enable Indian exports to take a quantum leap.
In 2006, he was given charge of the plantation sector and he left his mark there by launching a special purpose tea fund that rescued plantation workers from penury. This scheme has now been extended to coffee, cardamom and pepper.
But, Khullar hogged the limelight mostly as additional secretary, department of commerce, where he became the chief negotiator for India at the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations. He soon became known for his sharp tongue and unyielding disposition vis-à-vis demands of developed countries. By 2008-end he became special secretary, which was equivalent to the post of secretary.
In 2009, he joined the ministry of finance’s department of disinvestment as its secretary but returned to his old ministry in June 2009, retaining his title. During this period India signed an ambitious trade deal with South Korea. This was also a period when Indian exports were taking a bath due to the ongoing financial downturn. Known for his straight talk, Khullar kept warning exporters to not depend only on the traditional markets of US and Europe but to venture into newer terrain. Along with Anand Sharma, he drew up a “very different” Foreign Trade Policy 2009-2014 that gave incentives to exporters to explore the markets of Latin America, ASEAN and Africa. Last year, he floated an ambitious strategy paper for doubling India’s exports to $500 billion by 2013-2014. Ironically, under him India saw the largest ever trade deficit in history—a whopping $185 billion.
Now, Khullar is probably facing one of the most challenging assignments of his career, given his task of having to pacify both the telecom industry and consumers. The immediate challenge that he faces is what to do with the controversial recommendations made by his predecessor JS Sarma over spectrum allocations that has irked the entire industry. Khullar will be here for a full three-year term although he was to retire as commerce secretary next year.
He will have to strike a delicate balance between maintaining call tariffs and protecting consumers’ interests. Says Khullar: “The biggest challenge in the broadcasting and telecom sector today is rapidly changing technology.”