Seventh Meeting

The Political Economy of Regulation in India – What do we need to do
New Delhi, March 31, 2008

This was the seventh PARFORE meeting with a panel discussion on ‘The Political Economy of Regulation in India – What do we need to do’. It was organised by CUTS Institute for Regulation & Competition (CIRC), a new initiative of CUTS that focuses on economic and infrastructure regulation, and competition policy and law. The objective of the meeting was to evolve a consensus on implementation of an effective regulatory regime in India.

The panel discussion comprised of distinguished Parliamentarians including: Santosh Bagrodia (Cong), Sharad A Joshi (Ind), Suresh Prabhu (Shiv Sena), and Vallabhbhai Kathiriya (BJP).

Pradeep S Mehta welcomed the guests and initiated the discussion. Creon Butler, Deputy High Commissioner of UK, delivered the opening address while Nitin Desai, Chairman, Managing Committee, CIRC, moderated the discussion.

The meeting posed the key question: has India not been able to develop a genuine arm’s length relationship between the political process and the regulator? The issue of independent regulator needs the centre stage in the discussion which includes the appointment, remuneration, budget etc. The meeting took note of the capacity building of MPs, so that they could exercise their powers as informed representatives of the people.