Tarun Bajaj On Making Economic Reforms Politically Salient | Ep 10

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Growth Is Good

Foundation for Economic Development

20 episodes

2 days ago

At Foundation for Economic Development (FED), we believe the evidence clearly shows that economic, GDP-measured growth is critical to improving everyone's standard of living; that it is the single-biggest determinant of human development outcomes such as improved health, education, and employment. Growth is good! It enables everything we cherish - employment, equity and even gender equality! This podcast features insightful conversations with leaders from industry and academia, who share their different perspectives on India's economic growth trajectory, and what we must do to grow further.

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Tarun Bajaj On Making Economic Reforms Politically Salient | Ep 10 | Growth is Good

Growth Is Good

1 hour 10 minutes 6 seconds

11 months ago

Tarun Bajaj On Making Economic Reforms Politically Salient | Ep 10 | Growth is Good

Our guest for this episode, Tarun Bajaj, first stepped onto the field as an IAS Officer in 1988, just as India was about to shed its socialist baggage. While the country navigated the shift from scarcity to relative abundance, he had a ringside view (and several performing roles) of how the bureaucracy and political executive went from resisting to accepting the idea of the government giving up control of the economy.

By the time he retired in 2022, he had also served in the PMO, and then as Economic Affairs Secretary and later as the Revenue Secretary to the Government of India. He played a key role in shaping the Indian government's economic response to the Covid-19 pandemic and was also instrumental in stabilising the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.

In this conversation with FED Director Rahul Ahluwalia, Bajaj shares several anecdotes and insights, including some from when he worked closely with the current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi.

Do watch the full video and follow to be notified about our upcoming episodes.

Episode Chapters: (02:33) - First brush with economic growth and its importance

(06:20) - India's controlled economy pre-liberalisation (1991)

(11:30) - Will India forget the lessons from the 'license raj'?

(13:38) - India's changing stance on wealth creation

(16:00) - Growth as a nation through the prism of cricket

(17:00) - Market reforms enabling progress

(19:30) - Geopolitics favouring India

(23:20) - Ease of doing business for SMEs

(25:00) - What's hindering reforms?

(29:25) - How can we move the needle on the ground?

(35:00) - How to convince politicians about reforms?

(36:20) - When Govt understood need for public capital expenditure

(38:30) - When the PM endorsed wealth creation

(41:50) - Working in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO)

(47:30) - What has constrained privatisation?

(51:00) - Money is stuck; pending judicial reforms

(54:00) - How lobbies oppose reforms

(56:00) - Secret behind Gurugram

(1:02:00) - India's economic response to Covid-19