Ministries readying to hit the ground running with Modi

After months of little or no activity on the policy front, the power corridors of Delhi are abuzz again.

With the Narendra Modi Government keen to hit the ground running, ministries and departments are limbering up. They have been making presentations to the Cabinet Secretary, Ajit Seth, on their hits and misses the last few years and the goals they have set for themselves for the next two-three years.

While the Telecom, Environment, Finance, Civil Aviation and HRD Ministries have made their presentations, a few have been asked to come back with shorter versions.

Low-hanging fruits According to senior officials, the idea is to identify “low hanging fruits” on which the Modi Government can act quickly. Some officials said several proposals were thus a continuation of the policies of the UPA-II government, such as the Telecom Ministry’s plan to allow spectrum trading, roll out a National Optical Fibre Network, and introduce full Mobile Number Portability.

Though there was talk of a common ‘Infrastructure Ministry’, the officials said the discussions were fluid. Ministries that are being considered for a merger include Road Transport and Highways, Urban Development, Shipping, and Railways, with a rider that the Railways may be too large to be just a department in a ministry.

Price stability Achieving price stability and initiating measures to boost growth quickly topped the Finance Ministry’s agenda. It also suggested giving a fillip to manufacturing to create more jobs.

The ministry’s other recommendations included kick-starting the investment cycle, a contingency plan to deal with a weak monsoon, reviewing multiple trade agreements and removing the inverted duty structure.

The Department of Telecom’s presentation offered a multi-pronged strategy to deal with issues of rural connectivity, spectrum management, rationalised charges for telecom companies, and the introduction of a new communications Bill to replace existing laws.

The Commerce Ministry saw a major hurdle in the lack of inter-ministerial coordination. A senior official cited the case of the Special Economic Zone policy remaining a non-starter because of the friction between the Finance and Commerce Ministries.

“The Ministry wants to focus on ways to increase and diversify both goods and services exports, make Free Trade Agreements work better for India, and streamline the FDI policy to attract more investments,” the official said.

Flagging the modernisation of six metro airports, including those in Chennai and Kolkata, the Civil Aviation Ministry said work could start immediately on updating some 30 non-metro airports. It also called for steps to make domestic aviation more affordable and to get India off the Federal Aviation Administration downgrade list.

The Environment Ministry is said to have highlighted the need to streamline clearances and a Compensatory Afforestation Fund.

Among the key issues flagged by the HRD Ministry are increasing the gross enrolment ratio, skill development, linkages, and how to make youth employable.

The Road Ministry’s proposals will include electronic toll collection on all national highways, setting up a safety transportation board, and amending the Motor Vehicles Act. It will also pitch for relaxing norms so that road developers can buy and sell equity in one another’s projects.

The three key issues the Oil Ministry will flag are gas price implementation, full diesel deregulation, and a review of LPG and kerosene subsidies.