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Uttam Gupta

Uttam Gupta

The Financial Express

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RBI dividend aids Government finances

The RBI’s dividend transfer provides a substantial fiscal cushion to the cash-strapped Government, but it must be prudent in fiscal management and...

previous day 9

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Do not withdraw capital support for oil PSUs

The Government slashes equity infusions for three major oil sector CPSUs by 50 per cent, contradicting its 2023–24 budget commitments In the Budget...

22.05.2024 20

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Stopping thieving through DBT

A lot of pilfering from fertiliser subsidies is happening due to policy flaws. This can be curbed if only the subsidy is given under Direct Benefit...

14.05.2024 20

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Rationalise regulations for e-commerce

When the Government expects foreign companies to do almost everything that a retailer does, how can it deny these firms the right to sell? Way back...

08.05.2024 10

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Plug leakages in fertiliser subsidy

The real reason behind the leakage is control of the MRP at an artificially low level. Dubious players have a huge incentive to divert and rake in the...

02.05.2024 30

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

With power freebies, debt comes calling

The core dilemma persists: How to prevent debt while ensuring universal electricity access? This issue entails policy intricacies and power sector...

22.04.2024 40

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Income inequalities hamper sustainable growth

While the nation’s GDP is poised to surge by 7.6 per cent in the current financial year, concerns loom large over the sluggish pace of private...

14.04.2024 9

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

RBI maintains status quo despite inflation optimism

RBI’s commitment to ‘last-mile disinflation’ has prompted a continued tight monetary policy stance, raising questions about its impact on...

11.04.2024 10

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Address the root cause to stabilise food prices

The Bharat brand scheme aims to stabilise prices for consumers and ensure fair compensation to farmers. However, its impact will be limited due to...

07.04.2024 9

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Sustainable agriculture with nano-fertilisers

As India gears up to ramp up production of nano-fertilisers, questions arise regarding the technical feasibility and logistical implications of...

31.03.2024 30

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Debunking claims of fiscal discrimination

Opposition-ruled States, especially southern States, have raised concerns about discriminatory treatment in the current system of fiscal resource...

24.03.2024 10

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Rationalise and simplify GST

The GST Council has to make crucial decisions regarding inclusion of petroleum products and streamlining tax slabs to fortify the robustness of the...

19.03.2024 7

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

The practice of offering freebies must stop

Not too long ago, poll freebies used to be an exception. But now it has become a norm with almost every other party promising it Barely a week before...

10.03.2024 7

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

WTO deadlock over agricultural subsidies

At the WTO Ministerial Conference, India stood firm on its stance on public stock-holding programme, drawing strong opposition from the developed...

05.03.2024 4

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

MSP methodology and farmer demands

Questions arise about the rationale and implications of adopting Dr Swaminathan's proposed methodology for MSP calculation Co-terminus with the legal...

01.03.2024 6

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Farmers' demands are impractical and unrealistic

The farmers want the Govt to withdraw from the WTO and all Free Trade Agreements, which is next to impossible in a globally interdependent world ...

18.02.2024 10

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Balancing welfare and fiscal responsibility

The Centre should go for a complete overhaul of its food subsidy programme. It should exclude from the beneficiaries’ list those who are better off ...

14.02.2024 8

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Delink disinvestment from the Budget

There is a need for a paradigm shift in the approach to disinvestment; the Government must detach it from budgetary constraints and tackle legacy...

12.02.2024 4

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

The conundrum of fertiliser pricing

The fact is that non-urea fertilisers, in practice, have consistently remained under regulatory control In an office memorandum dated January 17,...

06.02.2024 8

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Tread the WTO quagmire with caution

The battle for a permanent solution to Public Stock-Holding programme is a difficult one; India must fight it deftly In a meeting of the Committee on...

31.01.2024 6

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Is the Government’s debt sustainable?

The Government should take recourse to borrowings only for the creation of long-term assets. This will help generate income streams that can help in...

25.01.2024 10

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Differentiating welfare schemes from freebies

As election pledges of freebies escalate, Modi Government issues a warning to States at the third National Conference of Chief Secretaries In the...

21.01.2024 5

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Establishing a robust and resilient tax system

The Modi Government has successfully addressed all key aspects to ensure the strength and resilience of the tax system The robustness of the tax...

17.01.2024 6

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

The Centre has no control over subsidies

The biggest drawback with the current system of food subsidy is making it available at throwaway prices. It allures dubious players who buy it cheap...

10.01.2024 6

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

New mechanism to ensure utilisation of funds

The new mechanism would regulate the release of funds to the states and track their use, thereby preventing idling The Union government executes a...

02.01.2024 10

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

AAP pushing discoms into crisis

The AAP government’s decision to supply subsidised power in Delhi is adversely affecting the financial health of discoms Since the financial year...

29.12.2023 10

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

COP28: High on rhetoric, less on action

The COP 28 offers no credible action. On meeting the ‘funding gap’, save a token amount for Loss and Damage Fund (LaDF), there was nothing to show...

22.12.2023 7

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

FDI in export–linked e-tailing is a bad idea

When the government expects the foreign companies to do almost everything that a retailer do, how can the former deny the latter the right to sell ...

19.12.2023 10

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

RBI should loosen the monetary lever

RBI’s decision to keep the policy rate unchanged could pose a serious risk to growth due to a rise in lending rates and higher-cost of loans to...

13.12.2023 6

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

SC should declare poll freebies a corrupt practice

When a candidate uses his money to bribe the voter, it is treated as corrupt practice, but when his party bribes voters using ‘public money’ it is...

09.12.2023 30

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Cut out red tapism in public sector share sale

The lengthy and cumbersome process of approval and bureaucratic red tape undermines the chances of the Government selling CPSU shares to willing...

05.12.2023 10

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Giving a safe passage to delinquent SEZs

Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs (DESH) bill, gives a ‘safe passage’ to all those SEZ units that haven’t been able to fulfil their...

23.11.2023 9

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

NPAs: Setting the record straight

The Modi Government has made unstinted efforts to make the defaulters pay up and also ensured that no new NPAs are created As per the information...

17.11.2023 10

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Has free ration become a political compulsion?

Under ‘open-ended’ procurement, Govt buys from farmers unlimited quantities at MSP. Apart from high stocks, this adds to the food subsidy bill...

14.11.2023 10

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Sanctions on Russia are counterproductive

In a globally interdependent world, actions that severely restrict the flow of goods and services across national boundaries are bound to be...

07.11.2023 7

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Aim at a tax-to-GDP ratio of 20 per cent

Buoyant tax collections hold the key to keeping up the tempo of investment in building infrastructure and funding welfare schemes   In the past,...

30.10.2023 6

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Do not tinker with national pension scheme

The increase in life expectancy and rise in the cost of living further reinforces the need for assured monthly income for a decent life in old age ...

25.10.2023 7

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Rethink rationale for food subsidy

Most of its actions in implementing the food subsidy scheme are out of sync with the changing times and lead to leakages and corruption The NITI...

20.10.2023 7

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

State doles can put discoms at risk

Discoms will be profitable only when they are unshackled from state controls  and electricity distribution is deregulated Even as the Central...

17.10.2023 7

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Solving the public stockholding riddle

The EU countries want India to be more transparent about its public stockholding (PSH) program and put in place safeguards to prevent illegitimate...

10.10.2023 50

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Rationalise taxes on fertilisers

The cost of making fertilisers available to farmers by itself is substantially higher than the price the Govt wants them to pay, ideally, it should...

05.10.2023 7

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Regulatory boost to self-sufficiency in energy

Modi Government is giving considerable policy support for the exploration of hydrocarbons so that investors can earn assured return on their...

28.09.2023 10

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Simultaneous polls are the way forward

Frequent elections impose enormous social and economic costs on the nation, which leads to corruption and disruption The Union Government has set up...

24.09.2023 10

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

Time for 100 per cent FDI in retail sector

One hundred per cent Foreign Direct Investment should be permitted to all retailers, online or offline, big or small, for the growth of this sector ...

17.09.2023 8

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

LPG subsidy will hurt the exchequer

The price cut especially for non-ujjwala beneficiaries was avoidable. It will serve no purpose and will be a drain on already strained oil companies ...

12.09.2023 7

The Pioneer

Uttam Gupta

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