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Subject: Economics

  • Why the SilverLine Project makes sense for Kerala

    Context

    The SilverLine Project to be built by the government of Kerala will link Thiruvananthapuram in the south to Kasargode in the north.The project has received its share of criticism, much of it from political quarters, but also some academic sections.

    Need for high-speed rail in Kerala

    • Saturated road network: For Kerala, with its saturated road network, the building of a fast, environmentally-sustainable high-speed rail link must surely be seen as a sound governance response.
    • Indeed, a study of INDC (Intended Nationally Determined Contribution) plans under the Paris Climate Agreement is instructive in this context.
    • Low-cost emission option: The EU study on mobility notes that HSR is the least-cost emission option among all modes of long-distance transportation.

    The arguments against the project

    • Critics have put forward three principal lines of argument, namely, its alleged adverse environmental impact, financial unviability, and technical unsuitability.
    • Environmental impact: The most compelling environmental issue before us is climate change.
    • Building capacities now to achieve a carbon net-neutral world over the next three to four decades is a core aspect of the national strategy of all nations.
    • In this context, the SilverLine project scores high with respect to India’s own climate objective of achieving net-zero emissions by 2070.
    • Let us recall the driving forces behind Japan’s decision to develop the Shinkansen.
    • In the context of the global oil crisis, energy-insecure Japan wanted to develop a public transportation system that was energy-efficient and would also address national concerns with respect to imbalanced regional growth.
    • After the Kyoto Protocol was signed, more efforts were made to increase the speed of the various series of Shinkansen to meet the objectives of energy efficiency and CO2 reductions.
    • Financial viability: Large-scale infrastructure projects are not based on short-term financial viability considerations alone.
    • When the London Underground was conceived, it was not considered financially viable.
    • Today, London’s economic activities are inconceivable without it.
    • Green technologies that we consider cheaper than fossil fuel technologies were not initially financially viable, and were unable to survive without government subsidies.

    Conclusion

    There are abundant international examples of the role played by large capital-intensive infrastructure projects in the transformation of the town and country, regions, and nations.

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  • GST revenues cross 1.3 lakh crore in Feb

    The Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue in February was 26% higher than the pre-pandemic levels at ₹1,33,026 crore.

    What is GST?

    • GST is an indirect tax that has replaced many indirect taxes in India such as excise duty, VAT, services tax, etc.
    • The Goods and Service Tax Act was passed in Parliament on 29th March 2017 and came into effect on 1st July 2017. It is a single domestic indirect tax law for the entire country.
    • It is a comprehensive, multi-stage, destination-based tax that is levied on every value addition.
    • Under the GST regime, the tax is levied at every point of sale. In the case of intra-state sales, Central GST and State GST are charged. All the inter-state sales are chargeable to the Integrated GST.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.All revenues received by the Union. Government by way of taxes and other receipts for the conduct of Government business are credited to the (CSP 2015):

    (a) Contingency Fund of India

    (b) Public Account

    (c) Consolidated Fund of India

    (d) Deposits and Advances Fund

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”91v2rbtz17″ question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

    What are the components of GST?

    There are three taxes applicable under this system:

    1. CGST: It is the tax collected by the Central Government on an intra-state sale (e.g., a transaction happening within Maharashtra)
    2. SGST: It is the tax collected by the state government on an intra-state sale (e.g., a transaction happening within Maharashtra)
    3. IGST: It is a tax collected by the Central Government for an inter-state sale (e.g., Maharashtra to Tamil Nadu)

    Advantages Of GST

    • GST has mainly removed the cascading effect on the sale of goods and services.
    • Removal of the cascading effect has impacted the cost of goods.
    • Since the GST regime eliminates the tax on tax, the cost of goods decreases.
    • Also, GST is mainly technologically driven.
    • All the activities like registration, return filing, application for refund and response to notice needs to be done online on the GST portal, which accelerates the processes.

    Issues with GST

    • High operational cost
    • GST has given rise to complexity for many business owners across the nation.
    • GST has received criticism for being called a ‘Disability Tax’ as it now taxes articles such as braille paper, wheelchairs, hearing aid etc.
    • Petrol is not under GST, which goes against the ideals of the unification of commodities.

    Take a look at the share of GST in government earnings for the previous fiscal:

    UPSC can ask about the majority component of the Revenue Receipts of the govt. See how Corporate tax is nearing the GST revenues.

    Do you think it will surpass GST revenue when the economy is fully recovered?

     

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  • In news: Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB)

    Political parties in Punjab are up in arms over the Centre’s decision to amend the rules regarding appointments to two key positions on the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB).

    What is BBMB?

    (a) Origin

    • The genesis of BBMB lies in the Indus Water Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960.
    • Under this, waters of three eastern rivers— Ravi, Beas and Sutlej — were allotted to India for exclusive use while Indus, Chenab and Jhelum rivers were allocated to Pakistan.
    • In India, a master plan was drawn to harness the potential of these rivers for providing assured irrigation, power generation and flood control.
    • Bhakra and Beas projects form a major part of this plan and were established as a joint venture of the then undivided Punjab and Rajasthan.

    (b) Establishment

    • Following the reorganization of Punjab on November 1, 1966, and the creation of the state of Haryana, the BBMB was constituted under Section 79 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966.
    • The administration, maintenance and operation of Bhakra Nangal Dam project was handed over to Bhakra Management on October 1, 1967.
    • On May 15, 1976, when the Beas Projects Works were completed and handed over, the Bhakra Management Board was renamed as Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB).
    • Since then, BBMB regulates supply of water and power to Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Chandigarh.

    What is the constitution of the BBMB management?

    • The BBMB management includes a chairperson and two whole time members who are from the partner states of Punjab and Haryana.
    • They are designated as Member (Power) and Member (Irrigation) from Punjab and Haryana, respectively.
    • There is representation from each member state including Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh as nominated by the respective state governments.
    • The total strength of BBMB is about 12,000 employees and out of these 696 are Group A officers and are posted from the partner states.

    What changes have been made to the BBMB rules?

    • The GoI issued a notification on February 23, 2022 to amend the BBMB Rules 1974, thereby changing the criteria for the selection of whole-time members of the Board.
    • New rules specify technical qualifications for the appointments and pave for the appointment of the members from across India and NOT ONLY from Punjab and Haryana.

    What has been the objection to the new rules?

    • The opposition to the new rules has come from within the engineers’ fraternity, farmers as well as the political parties of Punjab.
    • It is being labeled as an attack on the federal structure of the country.
    • The engineers have pointed out that hardly any engineer would qualify for appointment as per the new specifications.

     

    Back2Basics: Indus Waters Treaty, 1960

    •  The Indus Waters Treaty is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank signed in Karachi in 1960.
    • According to this agreement, control over the water flowing in three “eastern” rivers of India — the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej was given to India.
    • The control over the water flowing in three “western” rivers of India — the Indus, the Chenab and the Jhelum was given to Pakistan.
    • The treaty allowed India to use western rivers water for limited irrigation use and unrestricted use for power generation, domestic, industrial and non-consumptive uses such as navigation, floating of property, fish culture, etc. while laying down precise regulations for India to build projects.
    • India has also been given the right to generate hydroelectricity through the run of the river (RoR) projects on the Western Rivers which, subject to specific criteria for design and operation is unrestricted.

     

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  • Land protests over Deocha Pachami Coal Block

    The West Bengal government’s ambitious Deocha Pachami coal block mining project in Birbhum district has run into hurdles over land acquisition and other issues.

    Deocha Pachami Coal Block

    • The State government is planning to start mining at the Deocha Pachami coal block, considered to be the largest coal block in the country with reserves of around 1,198 million tonnes of coal.
    • It is spread over an area of 12.31 sq. km, which is around 3,400 acres.
    • There are around 12 villages in the project area with a population of over 21,000, comprising Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

    Why are locals upset?

    • The project is facing protests over land acquisition of which a significant part is forest land.
    • Locals, mostly Santhal tribals, have close affinity with the land, with forests and waterways, and rely on it for their needs.
    • The tribals were harassed and had been arrested under false and serious charges for protesting.
    • Also, the project details have not yet been made public; and the environment clearance is awaited.

    Back2Basics:

    Coal

    • This is the most abundantly found fossil fuel. It is used as a domestic fuel, in industries such as iron and steel, steam engines and to generate electricity. Electricity from coal is called thermal power.
    • The coal which we are using today was formed millions of years ago when giant ferns and swamps got buried under the layers of earth. Coal is therefore referred to as Buried Sunshine.
    • The leading coal producers of the world include China, US, Australia, Indonesia, India.
    • The coal-producing areas of India include Raniganj, Jharia, Dhanbad and Bokaro in Jharkhand.
    • Coal is also classified into four ranks: anthracite, bituminous, sub-bituminous, and lignite. The ranking depends on the types and amounts of carbon the coal contains and on the amount of heat energy the coal can produce.

     

  • [pib] Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP)

    National Logistics Portal (NLP) is set to be integrated with Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) to make the multi-modal logistics ecosystem more efficient.

    Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP)

    • ULIP is designed to enhance efficiency and reduce the cost of logistics in India by creating a transparent, one window platform that can provide real-time information to all stakeholders.
    • It was also emphasized that the solution should have the visibility of multi-modal transport, and all the existing systems of various ministries, governing bodies, and private stakeholders should be integrated with the ULIP system.
    • This will create a National Single Window Logistics Portal which will help in reducing the logistics cost.
    • ULIP will provide real-time monitoring of cargo movement while ensuring data confidentiality with end-to-end encryption, comprehensive reduction in logistic cost resulting in competitive costing.

    There are three key components which are defining the ULIP platform:

    • Integration with existing data sources of ministries: As authorization, compliance and clearance are some of the critical activities of Logistics; the integration with data points of ministries shall enable a holistic view and interlink the handshaking points.
    • Data exchange with private players: To enable the private players, logistics service providers, and industries to utilize the data available with ULIP and at the same time share their data (transportation, dispatch, delivery, etc.) with ULIP, thereby streamlining the processes to bring better efficiency through data exchange.
    • Unified document reference in the supply chain: To enable a single digitized document reference number for all the documentation processes in a single platform.

     

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  • How Russia-Ukraine conflict will effect inflation in India

    Context

    With the Russia-Ukraine conflict flaring into a war, global commodity prices, especially that of crude oil and gas, are likely to see a strong surge. This poses a challenge not only for India to contain inflationary pressures but also the world at large.

    The problem of rising inflation

    • At 6 per cent, India’s consumer price index (CPI) inflation crossed the upper limit of RBI’s tolerance band in January 2022.
    • Implications: High inflation inflicts a large “inflation tax” on the general public whose bank savings earn an interest of less than 1 per cent.
    • This is robbing the general public in the name of fuelling growth.
    • India is not impervious to this tendency. Most of the major banks in the country offer interest rates between 3 to 4 per cent to depositors.
    • Both the finance ministry and the RBI are betting on revving up growth, at least for the time being.
    • This is fine as long as they can tame inflation within reasonable limits.
    •  If we want to do justice to the masses on whose deposits the entire banking system hinges, one must ensure positive real rates of interest.

    How to ensure lower rates of inflation

    • Given that food has a weight of more than 45 per cent in CPI in India, understanding the dynamics of food inflation is critical.
    • India imports roughly 60 per cent of its consumption of edible oils, and global prices of edible oils have gone up by more than 50 per cent over the last year.
    • Edible oil inflation in India was touching 35 per cent a few months back.
    • This has come down to 18 per cent after the reduction on import duties.
    • The Union Minister of Commerce has also recently claimed that they have brought down the inflation in pulses by imposing stock limits on traders and by lowering import duties and importing more pulses.
    • The Centre has also imposed stocking limits on domestic oil/oilseed traders. 

    Way forward:  Reform the grain-management-cum-food-subsidy system

    • Stock limit on wheat and rice with FCI:  As on January 1, it is saddled with stocks that are almost four times the buffer stock norms.
    • By unloading the excess grain in the open market, FCI could help in bringing down food inflation substantially as rice and wheat have a high weightage in CPI.
    •  In the name of the poor, India runs one of the largest but perhaps the most inefficient and corrupt public distribution system (PDS) in the world.
    • Stop competitive populism: Every political party promises freebies before elections.
    •  Unless the Election Commission comes down heavily on such promises or a public interest litigation is filed in the Supreme Court to stop this competitive populism, Indian policymaking cannot be growth-oriented.
    • Reduce the population coverage under PDS:  India’s food subsidy policy covers 67 per cent of the population and distributes rice and wheat at more than 90 per cent subsidy under the National Food Security Act of 2013.
    • Raise productivity: This should be combined with taking giant strides to raise productivity and producing more nutritious food while protecting the environment.
    • Focus on R&D in agriculture: It’s well-known agri-R&D gives a much higher return in terms of promoting growth with competitiveness, and reduces poverty by making food cheaper and controlling food inflation

    Conclusion

    It is important to reform the grain-management-cum-food-subsidy system to release precious resources for growth of agriculture.

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  • Natural farming

    Context

    In her budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reaffirmed the Centre’s commitment to natural, chemical-free, organic and zero-budget farming.

    No specific allocation in Budget

    • No specific allocations have been made to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
    •  In fact, currently-operational schemes such as the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana and the National Project on Organic Farming did not find any mention in the budget.
    • The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, which has received a 4.2-times (year-on-year) larger allocation of Rs 10,433 crore, will earmark some funds for the on-ground implementation of chemical-free farming.

    Suggestions

    • As the ministry plans the fund utilisation under RKVY, here are eight suggestions to scale up chemical-free farming.
    • 1] Focus on rainfed area: focus on promoting natural farming in rainfed areas beyond the Gangetic basin.
    • Home to half of India’s farmers, rainfed regions use only a third of the fertilisers per hectarecompared to the areas where irrigation is prevalent.
    • The shift to chemical-free farming will be easier in these regions. 
    • 2] Crop insurance:  enable automatic enrolment of farmers transitioning to chemical-free farming into the government’s crop insurance scheme, PM Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
    • 3] Promote microenterprise producing inputs:  promote microenterprises that produce inputs for chemical-free agriculture.
    • An often-cited barrier by farmers in transitioning to chemical-free agriculture is the lack of readily available natural inputs.
    • 4] Leverage NGOs:  leverage NGOs and champion farmers who have been promoting and practising sustainable agriculture across the country.
    • CEEW research estimates that at least five million farmers are already practising some form of sustainable agriculture and hundreds of NGOs are involved in promoting them.
    • 5] Upskill workers: Beyond evolving the curriculum in agricultural universities, upskill the agriculture extension workers on sustainable agriculture practices.
    • 6] Leverage community institution: Sixth, leverage community institutions for awareness generation, inspiration, and social support. In other words, the government should facilitate an ecosystem in which farmers learn from and support each other while making the transition.
    • 7] support monitoring and impact studies: Such assessments would ensure an informed approach to scaling up sustainable agriculture.
    • 8] Millet promotion: Dovetail the ambition on millet promotion with the aim to promote sustainable agriculture.
    • Instead of the two remaining in silos, why not promote chemical-free millets and create awareness about both?

    Conclusion

    India’s food system needs a holistic transformation in demand, production, and supply chains. Let’s hope 2022-23 is the inflection point when we convert intent into action in our journey towards achieving a chemical-free food system.

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  • New approach for India’s food systems

    Context

    The country faces the dual challenge of achieving nutrition security, as well as addressing declining land productivity, land degradation and loss of ecological services with change in land use. Not surprisingly, widespread concerns about poverty, malnutrition and the need for a second Green Revolution are being made in tandem.

     

    Challenges for India

    • Macro- and micronutrient malnutrition is widespread in India.
    • 18.7% of women and 16.2% of men are unable to access enough food to meet basic nutritional needs.
    • Over 32% of children below five years are still underweight as per the recently released fifth National Family Health Survey (2019-2021) phase 2 compendium.
    • India is ranked 101 out of 116 countries in the Global Hunger Index, 2021.
    • Although India is now self-sufficient in food grains production in the macro sense, it has about a quarter of the world’s food insecure people, a pointer to the amount of food necessary to allow all income groups to reach the caloric target (2,400 kcal in rural and 2,100 kcal in the urban set-up). 

    India needs to adopt ‘food systems’ for ‘sustainability’ and ‘better nutrition’

    • The UN Food Systems Summit called for action by governments in five areas: nourish all people; boost nature-based solutions; advance equitable livelihoods, decent work and empowered communities; build resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stresses; and accelerate the means of implementation.
    • Wholistic policy approach: In the context of the intensifying economic, environmental and climate challenges and crisis, the need of the hour is a good theory of transition encompassing the spatial, social and scientific dimensions, supported by policy incentives and mechanisms for achieving a sustainable, resilient and food secure agriculture.
    • Agro-climatic approach: An agro-climatic approach to agricultural development is important for sustainability and better nutrition.
    • Potential for crop diversification: Data compiled in the agro-climatic zones reports of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the erstwhile Planning Commission of India reveal enormous potential for crop diversification and precision for enhanced crop productivity based on soil type, climate (temperature and rainfall), and captive water resources.
    • The focus should be on improving farmers’ competitiveness, supporting business growth in the rural economy, and incentivising farmers to improve the environment.
    • Review of agro-climatic zones: It is assumed that a meticulous review of agro-climatic zones could make smallholders farming a profitable business, enhancing agricultural efficiency and socio-economic development, as well as sustainability.
    • Strengthening and shortening food supply chains, reinforcing regional food systems, food processing, agricultural resilience and sustainability in a climate-changing world will require prioritising research and investments along these lines.
    • A stress status of the natural resource base — soil and water in different agro-climatic zones — will help understand the micro as well as meso-level interventions needed with regard to technologies, extension activities and policies.
    • Infrastructure: Lastly, infrastructure and institutions supporting producers, agri-preneurs and agri micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in their production value chain are central to the transition.
    • Alignment with national and State policies: This should be aligned to the national and State policy priorities such as the National Policy guidelines 2012 of the Ministry of Agriculture for the promotion of farmer producer organisations, and the National Resource Efficiency Policy of 2019 of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

    Conclusion

    Clearly, science, society and policy have a lot to gain from an effective interface encompassing the range of actors and institutions in the food value-chain and a multidisciplinary and holistic approach, along with a greater emphasis on policy design, management and behavioural change.

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  • Budget falls short on green ambitions

    Context

    One can analyse the budget from three standpoints: Direct allocations for the environment sector, allocations for environment in non-environment sectors, and allocations for other sectors with environmental impacts.

    Analysing the Budget from an environmental standpoint

    1] Allocation for MoEFCC

    • There is a slight increase in the budget of the Ministry for Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) from 2021-22’s revised estimate of Rs 2,870 crore to Rs 3,030 crore.
    • This is a meagre 0.08 per cent of the total budgetary outlay.
    • While some sectors like forestry and wildlife have seen a healthy rise in allocation, the outlay for others like the National River Conservation Plan has declined.

    2] Focus on natural and organic farming

    • There is a welcome stated focus on natural and organic farming, and on promoting millets.
    • No details on allocation: There are no details on the allocations, including for linkages necessary to make such farming viable, such as manure and markets.
    • Also, given the major push for food processing in the budget, without making reservations for community-run businesses, there is a danger of big corporations capturing the organic space.
    • Missing focus on rainfed farming: Completely missing is a focus on rainfed farming that involves 60 per cent of the farming population and is ecologically more sustainable than artificially irrigated agriculture.
    • The FM announced the government’s support to “chemical-free farming throughout the country,” but she has also allocated a massive chemical fertiliser subsidy of Rs 1,05,222 crore.
    • A recent announcement that palm plantations are proposed in Northeast India and the Andaman Islands, both ecologically fragile, makes this a worrying prospect.

    3] Positive provisions on the climate front

    • On the climate front, there are several positive provisions — use of biomass for power stations, boost to batteries, energy-efficiency measures in large commercial buildings, and sovereign green bonds.
    • Renewable and “clean” energy has received substantially higher allocations.
    • But the focus remains on mega-parks in solar/wind energy, nuclear power, and large hydro that have serious ecological impacts. 
    • The additional budget for farm-level solar pumps and rooftop solar generation is welcome, but it’s minuscule compared to mega-projects.
    • Missed opportunity for decentralised renewable energy: Another chance to shift towards decentralised renewable energy with less ecological impacts and greater community access has been missed.
    • The budget does promise greater support for public transport, something demanded by citizens’ groups for decades.
    • Unfortunately, most of the allocation in this will go to metros that are extremely carbon-intensive in terms of construction.
    • The National Climate Action Plan gets an abysmally inadequate Rs 30 crore — the same as in 2021-22.
    • And there is no focus on a “just transition” that could help workers in fossil fuel sectors, like coal, to transition to jobs in cleaner, greener sectors.

    4] Concerns with focus on infrastructure in Budget

    • As highlighted by the FM, this is predominantly an “infrastructure budget”.
    • While investments in infrastructure for small towns and villages are urgently needed, much of what is proposed are mega-projects.
    • The proposed 25,000 km increase in highways will further fragment forests, wetlands, mountains, grasslands, agricultural lands and bypass most villages.
    • A shift in paradigm to decentralised, sustainable, and community-oriented infrastructure is missing.
    • Several specific allocations are of further concern. For instance, the Ken-Betwa river-linking project, given over Rs 40,000 crore, will submerge valuable tiger habitat.
    • The Deep Ocean Mission and the Blue Revolution allocations are oriented towards commercial exploitation rather than conservation and sustainable use. 

    5] Missed opportunity on green jobs

    •  The budget misses out on a major shift to “green jobs”.
    • This includes support to decentralised (including handmade) production of textiles, footwear, and other products.
    • Even the MGNREGS, which could have been used for regenerating two-thirds of India’s landmass that is ecologically degraded, has got reduced allocation.

    Conclusion

    Another chance to turn the economy towards real sustainability and equity — a real “Amrit Kaal” as India heads to a centenary of Independence — has been missed.

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  • India risks being left out of TRIPS waiver

    Context

    When the Covid-19 pandemic pounded the globe, India, with South Africa, piloted a proposal to waive key provisions of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement on Covid-19 vaccines.

    Significance of TRIPS waiver for Covid-19 related  medical products

    • The TRIPS agreement is part of the international legal order on trade enshrined in the World Trade Organization (WTO).
    •  The core idea behind the proposal is that intellectual property (IP) rights such as patents should not become a barrier in scaling up the production of medical products like vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics essential to combat Covid-19.
    •  However, the WTO has failed to adopt a TRIPS waiver to date.
    • Geographically limited waiver: The developed world is talking of a TRIPS waiver that would be geographically limited and exclude India.
    • This is a failure of India’s economic diplomacy.
    • There are also attempts at limiting the waiver to vaccines alone, leaving out diagnostics and therapeutics.

    Domestic factors that affected India’s global campaign for TRIPS waiver

    1] India failed to use provisions under Indian Patent Act

    • During the entire pandemic, India rarely made use of the existing flexibilities under the Indian Patent Act, such as compulsory licences (CL), which are consistent with the TRIPS agreement, to increase the supply of Covid-19 medical products despite being nudged by the judiciary to do so.
    • On the contrary, during the peak of the second Covid wave, the central government filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court stating that the main constraint in boosting the production of key drugs is the unavailability of raw materials, not IP-related legal hurdles.
    • .This stand completely contradicted India’s argument internationally that views IP as an obstacle to augmenting the supply of Covid-19 medical products.

    2] Lack of national strategy

    • India did not proactively develop a national strategy to implement the TRIPS waiver as and when it is adopted.
    • In other words, a TRIPS waiver at the WTO would only be an enabling framework.
    • It would then require member countries to amend their domestic IP laws to implement the waiver.

    3] Failure to involve Indian pharma industry

    • The government failed to get the Indian pharmaceutical industry on board.
    • Pharmaceutical bodies are a divided lot with many Indian companies speaking against the waiver, thus denting India’s global campaign.

    4] Failure to walk the talk on indigenously developed Covaxin

    • India should have unlocked the technical know-how of Covaxin to the world.
    • While technology transfer agreements for Covaxin have been inked with domestic companies, making the vaccine technology available to anyone interested globally, at a minimal price.
    • This would have exhibited India’s resolve to walk the talk on the TRIPS waiver.

    Conclusion

    While India would oppose the attempted exclusion, the lesson is that for economic diplomacy to flourish, it should be backed by concrete actions on the domestic front.

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