A two-day international conference on ‘25 years of economic reforms in India’ was held at Kakatiya University, Warangal, on Saturday and Sunday.
About 400 persons from universities across the country, including foreign nationals, took part in the conference which was sponsored by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), University Grants Commission (UGC), and the Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE).
At the inauguration held at the Senate hall of KU, chairman of Centre for Economics and Social Studies R. Radha Krishna said India had experienced unsustainable levels of fiscal and current deficits towards the end of the 1980s since the government had resorted to deficit financing.
In the wake of high inflation and very low foreign exchange reserves, as well as the balance of payment crisis in 1991, the Indian government initiated a wide range of economic reforms to facilitate a shift from a state-led to a market driven growth. These reforms were meant to foster greater competition in the economy, Prof. Krishna said.
Economic reforms placed India on a higher growth trajectory. As a result, the annual GDP growth increased from 4.36% during the 1970-90 period to 7.48% in 2005-06 and 2013-14. The breakthrough in growth could be attributed to the modernisation of the domestic industry as well as strong domestic demand. Surge in high investment supported by easy liquidity put the economy on a high growth trajectory.
He pointed out that the present pattern of development has aggravated inter-state inequality, widened rural-urban disparity, and worsened the intra-rural and intra-urban inequality. The post reform period has not been inclusive, Prof. Krishna said.
Delivering a keynote address at the conference, Biswajit Dhar of the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), said the reduction in average tariffs over two decades since the adoption of trade liberalisation polices was a result of an interesting pattern of protection provided to agriculture and industry.
A conference souvenir was released. KU Registrar R. Sayanna and seminar director B. Suresh Lal were also present. Speaker S. Madhusudana Chary, who participated as the chief guest at the valedictory function, said reforms are imperative for development.
Published - January 30, 2017 07:22 pm IST
