By Joe Athialy and Monalisa Barman For Indian corporations, the grass seems to be getting greener the other side. Investments and acquisitions abroad have been the hallmark of Indian corporations the past decade and a half. While acquisitions of Jaguar Cars and Land Rover & Corus in the UK, Kashagan Oilfields in Kazaksthan, Port Terminals in …
Continue reading India’s Investments Abroad: How Accountable Are We!
By Tani Alex For those closely looking at the trajectories of IFIs, especially the current trends of the New Development Bank (NDB) or the BRICS Bank, well, it’s all pancakes and fritters with news of NDB and BRICS Xiamen Summit all around. The Bank, with 11 projects of over $1.5 billion already in their sack …
~ Maju Varghese Every year, India pays an enormous amount of money as commitment charges to the multilateral institutions for not utilising the loans sanctioned by them. Investopedia defines commitment charges as the fee charged by the lender to a borrower for an unused or un-disbursed loan since it has set aside the funds for the …
Continue reading India paid over 600 crores between 2009-2015 to the IFIs for not using their loans
The Asian Development Bank was conceived in the early 1960s as a financial institution that would foster economic growth and cooperation in Asia. India was a founding member of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and is now the fourth-largest shareholder. ADB commenced operations in India in 1986 and has approved 240 loans totalling $36.8 billion. Asian …
Continue reading 50 years of ADB – The Indian story of resistance
After a Judge declared World Bank immunity cases “wrongly decided,” the communities affected by the Tata Mundra project approach US court to review “absolute immunity” doctrine Communities harmed by Tata Mundra coal power plant in India continue to seek justice from World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation July 26, 2017, Washington, D.C., and Mundra: After …
~ Joe Athialy With Subhash Chandra Garg assuming charge as secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) in the Finance Ministry, the position of the Indian Executive Director (ED) at the World Bank has fallen vacant. The 1983-batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre, Garg was the ED at the World Bank from Nov 2014 until June 2017. …
Continue reading Appointment of a new Indian ED at the World Bank raises a few questions
By Joe Athialy Like India once had a Ministry of Disinvestment, it’s time she has a Ministry of Loss Making. How else can one understand government’s eagerness to buy out all loss-making projects, whether in coal, hydro or steel sectors, collectively a few lakhs of crores of rupees worth? Thermal power projects of about 25,000 …
By Maju Varghese The Constitution of India has accorded the Parliament the supremacy among the three organs of the Union government viz legislature, executive, and judiciary. Parliament not only makes the laws but also enables the citizens to participate in controlling the government. The Parliament applies various oversight mechanisms to ensure transparency and accountability in …
By Anuradha Munshi Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) recently concluded its Second Annual Board of Governors’ meeting in Jeju, South Korea. The three-day-long meeting, during June 16-18, 2017, saw the participation of Board of Governors, representatives from the finance ministry of various countries, banking industry, corporates, and civil society organisations. The three days also provided …
Working Group on IFIs 