Ahead of the Union Budget for 2015-16, to be presented on February 28, Business Standard looks at how India's key economic indicators have moved since 2010-11

A SNAPSHOT OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY

Business Standard

What are the benchmarks against which the Budget, to be presented on February 28, will be judged? The biggest is likely to be fiscal consolidation. The context is available in Table 1. The spike in the deficits at the time of the financial crisis in 2008 is yet to be addressed. The revenue deficit is still around 3 per cent of GDP.The specific problem with fiscal consolidation is shown in Tables 2 and 3. Expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) has been largely brought down and kept steady over the past few years. Receipts have also come down but have kept decreasing. Table 4 shows that this is in spite of an increase in indirect tax receipts.Some components of expenditure compression, even in revenue expenditure, are shown in Table 5: Both subsidies and defence expenditure have gone down as a percentage of GDP. Table (6) shows the path of capital expenditure as a percentage of GDP, which some argue needs to be boosted to escape an investment slump. Table 7 shows som

StatsGuru: 23 February 2015

Here is a reality check on the implementation of the recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission

Implementation of the 13th Finance Commission suggestions: A reality check

Last year, a certain airline received a severe reprimand from aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation and saw two of its pilots getting suspended after a video of its crew's mid-air Holi dance routine went viral. But that hasn't deterred the airline - which went into a tailspin over mounting losses since then and saw its ownership being transferred - from planning for the festival again this year. With the festival coming up next month, some crew members have started practising their dance moves, though the word is that they will not dance on board to avoid the regulator's ire.

Dance again

Apart from the hope and activism it has generated among sections of the middle class, usually given to cynicism and passivity, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)'s sweep of the Delhi elections has had a particularly comical fallout in the most unlikely places - the corridors of ministry offices. From personal secretaries to contractual workers, people with different political affiliations are still - even after a fortnight of the result announcement - arguing whether Delhi lost Narendra Modi or gained Arvind Kejriwal and what it means for the future of India's capital city. Mostly, these differences are settled amicably over tea and oily pakodas available at the ministry canteens. Perhaps, our politicians could take a lesson or two on how to get over disagreements and concentrate on the task at hand from their humble followers.

Delhi-dally

Publishers will never admit it on the record but the market for pirated books is one of the best proxies for judging people's reading habits. Most offerings on this efficient grey market tend to be best-selling novels (including the occasional Booker winner) and popular self-help books (for example, Who Moved My Cheese? and The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari). Recently, however, the reading public appears to have evolved in another direction. Seen on the piles displayed by roadside hawkers is Jugaad Innovation, the 2012 management book by Navi Radjou, Jaideep Prabhu and Simone Ahuja. More interestingly, this book was released in this parallel market at the same time as Random House launched the sequel Frugal Innovation earlier this year. That could be called the ultimate in jugaad marketing.

Jugaad piracy

This refers to Indrajit Gupta's column "Are people really your biggest asset?" (Strategic Intent, February 24). In business enterprises, it is almost customary to consider employees as resources and assets. The author is correct in contesting the very idea as to whether "man" could also be treated as resources in a way similar to materials, machines or methods.When we talk about a resource, it is supposed to deliver in a predetermined and profitable way to have a sustainable business. If it does not perform, it becomes a liability and we try to get rid of it.Obviously, human beings - because of their unfailing evolution process - are far from satisfying the conditions for being considered as resources. Human beings can be "trained" to design systems and procedures to effectively utilise the other three resources. The role here is more of a creator or an enabler who needs to evolve in order to make a difference in business.Ashok Chakrabarty  KolkataLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mail

Letters: Defining a 'resource'

This refers to the editorial "Reform resolution". Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rhetoric of "bitter medicine" has remained airy. The 12 LPG cylinders are still being doled out. The resolve of desubsidising diesel prices will be tested once the prices bounce back. The Bharatiya Janata Party government should take this as an opportunity to fulfil its promises. If it doesn't deliver on them this time, it never will. The excuses that were given for the last Budget will not hold good this time. The "bitter medicine" has to be administered now.Karan Kumbhare  New DelhiLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201E-mail: letters@bsmail.inAll letters must have a postal address and telephone number

Letters: The bitter medicine

The former IMF chief economist, credited with predicting the global financial crisis, is an academician at heart but switches roles with ease when the need arises

Rajan, an unconventional central banker

The Road Transport and Safety Bill that will replace the Motor Vehicles Act, is set to be tabled in Parliament in its current session. Third-party motor insurance is expected to undergo significant changes once the Bill is passed by Parliament. Business Standard lists the areas in which insurance customers will be impactedHIGHER COMPENSATION FOR HIT-AND-RUN CASESIn a hit-and-run cases (where the vehicle that caused the incident is not traceable), insurance companies shall pay in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the scheme, compensation in respect of the death of, or grievous hurt to, persons resulting from such accidents.TREATMENT OF ROAD ACCIDENT VICTIMS DURING THE 'GOLDEN HOUR'Insurance companies have to provide for treatment of road accident victims during the 'golden hour' (within one hour of the accident). Further, the central government may, by notification, make a scheme for cashless treatment of victims of road accidents during the 'golden hour', including by way

Changes on the horizon

India's coal-fired plants just not good enough

Power that pollutes

Government must not give up on difficult reform

Reform resolution

Does one bad apple really spoil the whole bunch? Shastri Bhawan is the cynosure of all eyes, with a corporate espionage case filed by the Delhi Police against some employees working in the petroleum and coal ministries, which are housed in the same building. With some journalists dragged into the controversy, officials at the Ministry of Coal are not in the mood to answer journalists' questions. When a posse of journalists arrived at the ministry yesterday seeking details on the ongoing police investigation, one official rebutted: "Go and ask those who are involved in this mess; they are part of your fraternity, aren't they?"

In the bad books

E-commerce players Amazon and Flipkart have had a history of trying to go one up on each other. In June 2014, Flipkart raised a mammoth $1 billion in funding. Exactly one day later, Amazon said it planned to pour $2 billion into its Indian operations. This weekend there was a fresh round of friendly fire, when Reddit India tweeted a picture of an Amazon-labelled box in a Flipkart office. Flipkart responded: "We recycled said packaging as our reception's dustbin." Amazon reminded the company of its roots - Flipkart's founders worked at Amazon before leaving in 2007 to start their own venture with a similar business model - to which Flipkart said, "We'll drink to that."

Friendly fire

India is not the only bureaucracy that chooses to make literal interpretations of the law. An Indian company had couriered 75 papier-mache elephants to the US as mementoes for a function it was holding there. The invoice read "75 elephants", so, the boxes arrived after being duly cleared by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Which makes you wonder about the expertise in the said department if its officials think 75 Indian elephants can fit into cardboard boxes.

How many elephants can fit...?

This refers to Amartya Sen's letter to members of the Governing Board of Nalanda University, "Academic governance in India remains deeply vulnerable" (Opinion, February 22). Sen, the Nobel laureate, has discovered the phenomenon of government interference in academic matters rather late. He did it only when he realised that his term as the chancellor of Nalanda University was not going to be renewed. He did not discover it earlier when the position was waiting to be renewed.Knowing him from my student days, I have immense respect for Sen's greatness as a professor, an economist, a charmer of audience and a brilliant speaker. But at the same time, this entitles me to ask some stark questions relevant to the current issue. Is his high moral stand not on shaky ground? When Jyoti Basu's Communist government in West Bengal went on interfering in all the academic matters for decades and ruined the Calcutta University and Presidency College, Sen did not speak up against Basu's brand of Commun

Letters: Professors and politics

This refers to the editorial "Keep to fiscal path" (February 23). The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act seems to have been kept aside for quite some time. Its relevance today assumes a lot of importance in the context of keeping the fiscal deficit under control, when the means to find resources to finance infrastructure development are scary given the fact that the government remains averse to taking some bold decisions. The economy has abundant resources not only to wipe out the fiscal deficit but also to fund infrastructural development.These resources can be found in the country's gold reserves, black money held in and outside the economy and the non-performing assets held in public sector banks and undertakings. If the government can take some steps to convert these unproductive and undesirable assets into productive ones, they would be enough to convert the fiscal deficit into a surplus.T V Gopalakrishnan  BengaluruLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Edit

Letters: From deficit to a surplus

This refers to Sunanda K Datta-Ray's column "The unmaking of India" (Where Money Talks, February 21). While implementing the 'Make in India' policy, the government must keep in mind that Indian consumers will choose between the products made in India and those imported only by comparing their quality and price. They cannot be expected to buy Indian products of the same quality as that of the foreign ones at a higher price just to show their love for the country. For them, patriotism demands bigger sacrifices. The government also needs to avoid getting inspired by successful stories of domestic manufacturing in other countries since it is difficult to replicate them in India.The government must not make the mistake of putting in place tariff or non-tariff barriers to give an edge to the local products in the market. This would militate against its own policy of liberalising and globalising its economy.Tarsem Singh  HoshiarpurLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Busine

Letters: Choosing 'Make in India'

Assam-based Tamul Plates Marketing, which sells palm leaf tableware, has raised an undisclosed amount from Upaya Social Ventures and Artha Initiative, the company stated. It plans to use the money to diversify its product line, expand its reach and tap export markets for its products.Previously, Tamul Plates Marketing had received a seed investment from Upaya Social Ventures through Upaya's Lift UP Project in December 2013.Helion invests $5 mn in WooplrWooplr, a mobile fashion discovery and shopping platform, raised Series-A funding round of  $5 million led by Helion Ventures. The Wooplr application helps consumers decide what to buy and where to shop, based on their interests, location and social circle. It gives the user a personalised feed of curated fashion products. The funds will be used to hire top talent, expand the team and grow the Wooplr community.Stayzilla raises $20 millionChennai-based Inasra Technologies, which runs hotel service Stayzilla.com, raised $20 million in a Se

Tamul raises follow-on funding

M-commerce

As internet usage over smartphones surges in India, leading players in different e-commerce categories are already getting over 60 per cent of their traffic from mobile. Online fashion company Myntra is planning to phase out its web presence by the end of this year to concentrate more on the mobile app. If this materialises, the company will become the first example of a mainstream online retailer morphing into a mobile-only player. At present, Myntra draws as much as 80 per cent of its traffic and 60 per cent of sales from its mobile app. Are Indian buyers ready for a mobile-only marketplace?

Why mobile-only is the only way to go

One billion: That's how many IoT (Internet of Things) devices will be shipped globally in 2015, according to Deloitte's 2015 TMT Predictions. The study predicts by 2015 one billion wireless IoT devices will be shipped, up 60 per cent from 2014, and leading to an installed base of 2.8 billion devices.The IoT-specific hardware (which could be a more expensive cellular modem, or a much cheaper Wi-Fi chip) is likely to be worth $10 billion, and the associated services enabled by the devices worth about $70 billion. Services include all of the data plans that may be necessary to connect a device over a network, the professional services (consulting or analysing the data) and then things like an insurance policy discount for a telematics device in a car or a wearable device for health purposes.IoT hardware and connectivity revenues are growing at about 10-20 per cent annually, while the apps, analytics and services are growing even more rapidly at 40-50 per cent.Evens as a lot has been writt

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