Against the backdrop of the recent Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Amendment... more Against the backdrop of the recent Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Amendment Bill 2015, this paper examines the political economy of State-business relations in mining sector, in the two newly-formed States in India, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. It is important to note that the two States have low income despite being resource-rich.. Analyzing the legal fiats (State Reorganisation Acts and Fiscal Responsibility Acts), it was revealed that the formation of new States has not created any distinct fiscal agency in the extractive sector. The Statesboth parent and the new Stateshave adjusted their deficits to conform to the fiscal rules (FRBM Act) stipulated by the Centre; and these States have revenue surplusnot deficitsex-post to the enactment of fiscal rules. The new States have insignificant share of mining proceeds in their State exchequer, around 10 per cent of the revenue receipts. Though nebulous estimates from fresh mining e-auction proceeds are on board, ambiguity remains how the newlygenerated fiscal space would resolve resource curse. The use of fiscal proceeds from mining is difficult to map as it is not yet earmarked for redressing socio-economic inequalities of mining districts. However, the new MMDR Bill 2015 stipulates that District Mineral Fund (DMF) would be created in mining districts to link the proceeds to human development. Despite the data paucity, based on our analysis we caution that the road map of forthcoming DMF to plough back a portion of royalty and fresh e-auction mining proceeds exclusively to the mining districts may exacerbate spatial inequalities.
This article attempts to take up the issue of access to modern technologies and their impact on t... more This article attempts to take up the issue of access to modern technologies and their impact on the welfare of farmer households in the context of India. An attempt has also been made to analyze this issue for different regions of India to provide a comparative picture, which assumes its relevance for holistic policy formulation. The impact of the access of modern agricultural technologies on farmer household welfare is measured by per capita consumption expenditure in rural India. To realize this objective, we utilize farm household unit-level data collected in 2003 (59th Round) by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO). Descriptive analysis suggests that nearly 59 per cent of the farmer households had not accessed any source of information on modern technology. The outcome variables in terms of per capita consumption (income) expenditure show better performance for those who adopt modern agricultural technology. The logistic regression analysis reveals that controlling for other household characteristics, the access to modern technology has a significant positive impact on consumption expenditure in rural India. From a policy point of view, there is a need to take institutional measures that help small and marginal farmers to increase their earnings through better access to modern farm technology.
Against the backdrop of the recent Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Amendment... more Against the backdrop of the recent Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Amendment Bill 2015, this paper examines the political economy of State-business relations in mining sector, in the two newly-formed States in India, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. It is important to note that the two States have low income despite being resource-rich.. Analyzing the legal fiats (State Reorganisation Acts and Fiscal Responsibility Acts), it was revealed that the formation of new States has not created any distinct fiscal agency in the extractive sector. The Statesboth parent and the new Stateshave adjusted their deficits to conform to the fiscal rules (FRBM Act) stipulated by the Centre; and these States have revenue surplusnot deficitsex-post to the enactment of fiscal rules. The new States have insignificant share of mining proceeds in their State exchequer, around 10 per cent of the revenue receipts. Though nebulous estimates from fresh mining e-auction proceeds are on board, ambiguity remains how the newlygenerated fiscal space would resolve resource curse. The use of fiscal proceeds from mining is difficult to map as it is not yet earmarked for redressing socio-economic inequalities of mining districts. However, the new MMDR Bill 2015 stipulates that District Mineral Fund (DMF) would be created in mining districts to link the proceeds to human development. Despite the data paucity, based on our analysis we caution that the road map of forthcoming DMF to plough back a portion of royalty and fresh e-auction mining proceeds exclusively to the mining districts may exacerbate spatial inequalities.
This article attempts to take up the issue of access to modern technologies and their impact on t... more This article attempts to take up the issue of access to modern technologies and their impact on the welfare of farmer households in the context of India. An attempt has also been made to analyze this issue for different regions of India to provide a comparative picture, which assumes its relevance for holistic policy formulation. The impact of the access of modern agricultural technologies on farmer household welfare is measured by per capita consumption expenditure in rural India. To realize this objective, we utilize farm household unit-level data collected in 2003 (59th Round) by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO). Descriptive analysis suggests that nearly 59 per cent of the farmer households had not accessed any source of information on modern technology. The outcome variables in terms of per capita consumption (income) expenditure show better performance for those who adopt modern agricultural technology. The logistic regression analysis reveals that controlling for other household characteristics, the access to modern technology has a significant positive impact on consumption expenditure in rural India. From a policy point of view, there is a need to take institutional measures that help small and marginal farmers to increase their earnings through better access to modern farm technology.
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Papers by Gurpreet Singh