The Great Indian Tamasha!

THE GREAT INDIAN TAMASHA!

Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar


The hot Indian summer bears down upon New Delhi remorselessly. (And we thought there was nothing worse than Police torture!) But in the air-conditioned building that houses the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the esteemed Minister could not control his glee. Times have never been better. Imagine playing God with the various sectors of the Indian economy. In these days of rising demand for energy, the government, through its PSUs or royalty-in-kind shares, owns much gas that it rations (the correct term is 'gas allocation') to consuming industries. And pray, who else but the Minister has the power to make those delicate decisions with acumen that only comes with years of honing one's political skills?

There are, after all, many a factor to consider in allocating gas. The fertilizer sector provides a vital input to the agricultural sector – a sector that cannot be ignored lest farmers turn against the government en masse at the ballot box. But the steel industry is insistent that they be allocated gas preferentially. We are an export industry, they say. The executive from the fertilizer industry association counters it by pointing out the need for raising agricultural productivity, now wallowing in the low single digits. But steel is vital to a country's infrastructure. And if infrastructure is the mainstay of Indian economy, then gas should be offered preferentially to steel. Hmm, true indeed, but infrastructure is built over years, while elections are tomorrow. Besides, the Secretary from the Agriculture Ministry just called up to impress that fertilizer plants are built to utilize gas and must be allocated gas if agricultural targets are to be met. But fertilizer subsidy targets have already been reached and breached. Confusion confusion confusion. Time for a chai. “Arre bhai, chai lana”.

“Saab, Ratan ji se chai”!

Chai notwithstanding, the Minister is perplexed. Did GAIL respond to our directive to increase gas production? And Reliance wouldn't cooperate with more gas? Why? Why didn't the steel trade union leaders call in? I'd have allocated another 'mmscmd' to them. Ratan should know that much! And where are the fertilizer and steel plants located? Did those constituencies vote UPA? How in the world do I juggle Madam Gandhi's CMP, Manmohan's promises, Planning Commission per-capita targets, and Chidambaram's subsidy budget while currying favors with Ratan Tata and fertilizer bigwigs with this amount of gas supply? Wha....What are you suggesting? Leave gas production, pricing and 'allocation' to the market?

And take the fizz out of the 'Great Indian Tamasha'?


ps: The dust gathers on World Bank's recommendations on structural reforms in the Indian economy.