Govt must be pro-competition rather than pro-business

At the annual business summit of the Confederation of Indian industry (CII) earlier this month, BVR Subrahmanyam, chief executive officer (CEO), Niti Aayog, called for lower tariffs on imported goods and meeting global labour, environmental and technical standards besides making some more telling points.

Subrahmanyam’s call for lower import duties is significant because it is contrary to the present government’s policy of giving more and more protection to domestic producers. Arvind Panagariya, former chief, Niti Aayog has also been advocating lower tariffs because the protectionist policies lead to inefficiencies, which make us globally uncompetitive. Subrahmanyam emphasised that to be a part