Indian Westerlies

E-commerce policymaking in India is a story of missed chances. As late as couple of months ago, the government was in the process of setting up a think-tank to formulate national E-commerce policy . It would take another six months for the rough contours to be formed, and for the interdepartmental heads to come to some kind of consensus, or not. A reason for not formulating a national policy was that the area of B2C E-commerce is handled by various ministries/departments ranging from India post, RBI, commerce, industries, finance and IT. Coming as late as it would, even if it comes within scheduled time, it would still make a good joke but for the fact that it is true.  To put things in perspective, we are at a stage where India has been reduced to a marketplace for plunder by multinationals. On one had we have what The Economist calls the FAANGs (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google/Alphabet) and on the other we have the Chinese BATs (Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent...

(This post was originally published at the Hindu Business line here ) A belief in weak Rupee A common belief while the Rupee depreciates against USD is that it would help our exports. This ‘weak rupee shall help exports’ is shown as a positive over various negatives arising out of falling Rupee. There is great attractiveness in the argument supported by textbook economics. Undervalued or depreciated currency acts as a direct subsidy for exports while acting as a punitive tax on imports. China used the undervaluation of currency as an effective international trade tool for decades. The undervaluation doesn’t fall foul with the regional or multilateral agreements in the way export subsidies do. However, given India’s situation, it is doubtful if we can have a conscious control on the level of Rupee anymore in light of the central bank’s mandate getting anchored to inflation control. Till some time ago there were calls to depreciate the rupee through direct intervention to help...

India has recently become member to Wassenaar Arrangement (WA), Australia Group (AG) and Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the three leading export control regimes in the world. The memberships to these bodies reflect acceptance of India as a responsible growing power, and an acknowledgement of impeccable non-proliferation record that India has maintained over decades.  However, a mere membership doesn’t confer the desired benefits unless India walks the extra mile to harness the technological benefits these agreements confer. Lest it be misunderstood, one must state here that India has shown tremendous self resolve to develop technologically despite non-cooperation from leading technology powers over decades, especially in the area of missiles, space and computers. However, with the membership to the technology control groups, we may now look forward to develop as a partner and a leader in future if we strategize and work towards it in mission mode.  The ex...