Suchergebnisse

Government is a major player in the development of an economy. Government's public financial operations involving mobilization of revenue, and its spending has considerable implications on the growth, distribution and stability necessitating a careful study to enable informed mid course policy corrections to the macroeconomic developments. A critical review of public expenditure is imperative in ensuring optimal use of public resources for the maximization of welfare. The book provides an empirical understanding of historical trends and composition of public expenditure at the central and the sub national levels; the effectiveness of public expenditure control systems and accountability issues; the political economy of spending decisions; public expenditure reforms undertaken in India and international best options that can guide the corrective process in India.

This article attempts to document the status of environmental fiscal instruments (EFIs) so as to explore relevant international experiences on ecotaxes in the context of India and to examine India's specificities in these taxes within a wider perspective of other fiscal measures. Environmental levies across 15 countries were reviewed and the countries categorised are into two groups: Annex II and Non-Annex I. The revenues from levies imposed in the countries were also analysed. The most common form of taxes in Annex II countries in the form of energy taxes, followed by transport taxes. For India, energy and transport taxes could prove to be vital types of ecotaxes for addressing issues of climate change. Pollution taxes are difficult to levy for administrative reasons, but resource taxes are imperative because of severe environmental problems associated with mining and related activities. The revenue generated from environmental taxes and charges for all Annex II countries hovered between 2 and 4 per cent of their respective GDPs, except for Canada and the United States of America, whereas for Non-Annex I nations, this ranged only between 0 and 1 per cent. JEL Classification: H23, Q50, Q58

To clip infrastructure inadequacy both in India and rest of the World Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs) emerged as an alternative to the traditional mode of infrastructure provisions of governments. The article analyses trends and patterns of various infrastructure sectors and regional distribution of PPPs at India's national and sub-national levels to identify to what extent this has been able to curb infrastructure deficit. The growth empirics reveal that there has been a sharp increase in the number of PPP projects. This has been contributing to enhanced regional and sectoral infrastructure availability. In addition, the article has observed that PPP projects under the national highway category are time and cost efficient as compared to the non-PPP projects. However, these projects have tended to concentrate in certain sector and regions, thus being the case both in the global and Indian context. This is despite the incentives available for the purpose. The present article explores the possible reasons for this uneven growth in India to be due to differences in the political will among the national and sub-national governments in promotion of the infrastructure PPP policies, effective functioning of governments' various infrastructure executive departments including PPP nodal agencies for identifying, executing, coordinating various departments and in promotion of projects for hassle-free quick implementation and to redress the various differences. Financial assurances to the concessionaires on their investments, availability of land and other incentives like tax incentives, capital grant (viability gap funding), and coordination by users and nature of project risks, and the degree of private sector risk management capacity are some the important factors explaining the differences.

This article analyses two important issues pertaining to Indian economy. One is the numerical target under rule-based fiscal correction mechanism being followed by Indian government and second is on infrastructural investment requirements. India lags behind many countries in the world including some of the developing ones both in terms of stock and quality of infrastructure. There exist huge investment requirements in order to foster the economic growth and efficiently utilise the available resources. In the recent years, there is a significant contribution from the private sector towards infrastructural investment. However, private participation is concentrated in few sectors which are commercially viable and hence in the remaining key areas, like rural infrastructure, government is the sole investor. In India, excess spending by the central government is restricted under Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003 and for the state governments under state-specific Fiscal Responsibility Legislations. The Act limits the fiscal deficit (FD) to 3 per cent of GDP for central government and 3 per cent of GSDP for state governments. FD is capped due to its adverse impact on macroeconomy. However, the available literature shows mixed evidence. Most importantly, revenue deficit (RD) component covers major portion of FD and only a meagre amount is left for capital investments. This article debates whether 3 per cent cap on FD is advisable in all the circumstances and also analyses whether infrastructural investment gap can be filled with available fiscal-deficit amount. This article finds that there is an infrastructural investment gap of '5,165.20 billion in the 12th Plan period and concludes that it makes no harm even though FD crosses 3 per cent cap given that amount in entirety is spent on capital formation.

Chapter 1 Introduction and Overview -- Chapter 2 Community Colleges In India And Canada: A Comparative Analysis Brijender Singh Panwar -- Chapter 3 A Roadmap For India-Canada Collaboration In The Higher Education In India's Northeastern Region Suwa Lal Jangu -- Chapter 4 Pluri-Lingual Education: Step Towards Multicultural Citizenry in India and Canada Papia Sengupta -- Chapter 5 Examining The Cosmopolitan And The Local In Science And Nature: Building A Canadian/Indian Research And Education Partnership - Gordon McOuat -- Chapter 6 Youth and Education: Interrogating Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Canada and India Debashree Dattaray -- Chapter 7 Empowering People: Implementing 'Eco-Museum' for Sustainable Development for the Meenas of Western India and Métis of Western Canada Nandini Sinha Kapur -- Chapter 8 Climate Change and Interlinking of Indian Rivers: Lessons from Canadian Inter Basin Water Transfer Experiences - Deepak Kumar Das -- Chapter 9 Foreign Policy Of Canada Vis-À-Vis India Under Stephen Harper From Cold Storage To Warmth Of Billion-Dollar Trade K. Mansi -- Chapter 10 The Inclusion of Competition Clauses in Bilateral Trade Agreements between India and Canada: Issues and Challenges Ritu Gupta -- Chapter 11 Triggering Conversations about Mental Health Anuradha Sovani -- Chapter 12 Monitoring and Evaluation of Government programs in India and Canada – K. Gayithri -- Chapter 13 Paradigms of Art Practice: The Artist within the Community Gitanjali Kolanad -- Chapter 14 Feeling Well Kalaripayat: An Embodied Practice of Insight Problem Solving Hans Wolfgramm -- Chapter 15 Sport History as an Area of Comparative Study between Canada and India John G. Reid -- Chapter 16 Training in the Homeland: Negotiating Artistic Travel in the Transnational Field of Indian Classical Dance Sitara Thobani -- Chapter 17 Building Bridges across Canadian and Indian History: Interrogating the 'Twin Disasters' of Indo-Canadian Migration through Literature and Non-Fiction Representations Urmi Sengupta