CONTENTS Acknowledgements 11 Introduction and Overview 13 A. ECONOMIC GROWTH 1. Growth has Slowed 29 2. Growth Prospects Dim 34 3. Services Not the Real Saviour ? 38 4. Few Take-offs on this Jet Plan 42 5. How Feasible is Services-led Growth ? 45 B. SECTORAL PERSPECTIVES 6. Can Industry Recover ? 51 7. What Ails Agriculture ? 56 8. How Sick Are We ? 61 C. BUDGETS AND TAX POLICIES 9. Budget in Retrospect. 69 10. Milestones in Tax Policy 74 11. Straight Talk on Indirect Taxes 79 12. Straight Talk on Direct Taxes84 13. Better for Polls than the Economy ? 89 14. Budget: Back to the Past ? 94 D. FISCAL MANAGEMENT 15. Paying for Pay Commission 109 16. High Fiscal Deficits Hurt Growth 114 17. Why Large Fiscal Deficits are Bad for Us 119 18. How to Avert Impending Fiscal Crisis 125 E. BANKING AND FINANCE 19. A Vision for Banking133 20. Quiet Distress in Banking 138 F. EXTERNAL SECTOR 21. Bust to Boom in External Sector 145 22. Why FDI Bypasses India 150 23. Half-hearted Globalization. 155 G. GENERAL 24. All the FM's Men 163 25. Dr. Reddy's Farewell Report 168 26. Heroes or Villains ? 173 27. The Economic Decline of Kolkata 177