Optimistic about GDP

In what seems to be a refreshing change, India’s top corporate honchos took to crystal gazing in a big way this month when it came to predicting economic growth.

First it was Asia’s richest person, Gautam Adani, at the World Congress of Accountants meeting in Mumbai, predicting that India will be a $30 trillion economy by 2050. Then came RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani, who, in his virtual address at Pandit Deendayal Energy University in Gandhinagar, said that India will be a $40 trillion economy by 2047. HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh also said at an event that India will become a $7.5 trillion economy in the next five years.

Now astute economy watchers were quick to point out that each of the honchos was placed at a vantage to make such prophecies, even as curiously they all belonged to the same State which is going to polls soon. Any inference of their talking up the economy could be naturally coincidental, they observed.

NAA-CCIL merger

With the notification issued by Department of Revenue on November 23, the National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA) ceases to exist. It will be merged with Competition Commission of India (CCI) w.e.f. December 1.

Economy watchers are, however, quite bemused with this sudden development as the notification has given barely a week to CCI to effectuate the transition. Already, CCI is headless and quorum-less and its adjudicatory and regulatory functions have been at a standstill since its chairperson demitted office on October 25.

The NAA will also now remain defunct till CCI gets its new chief and quorum, prompting an observer to remark whether this would end up as a merger or sub-merger of regulatory bodies.

Election and rallies

There is no place for complacency during election time. A case in point is the recent advertisement by the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public rallies. The Gujarati advertisement inviting the general public at the venues read, “Tamari Hajri, Bharosa ni Khatri” (Your presence is the seal of trust). The BJP started these insertions from Monday, a day after Modi reportedly expressed displeasure over the thin public presence at his Botad rally in Saurashtra.

The BJP runs the poll campaign with the tag line “Bhajap etle Bharoso” (BJP means trust). A party functionary said, “Even though everybody knows that public support is with the BJP, the party can’t get complacent. We can’t afford complacency on the voters’ side either.”

Black gold losing shine

Crude may no longer be black gold. The owner of the world’s largest oil refinery and the President of Pandit Deendayal Energy University, Gandhinagar (earlier known as Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University), Mukesh Ambani, apparently skirted referring to petroleum business as a future opportunity for the young graduates of the university.

Addressing the 10th convocation of the university, the Reliance Group chairman highlighted bio-energy, clean energy and digital era as the future instead. Clearly, there is a hint for investors that the old-economy sector of petroleum — on which the Reliance empire was built — is not the future bet.

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