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    20112012

    Annual Report

    National Councilof Applied EconomicResearch

    QUALITY.RELEVANCE .IMPACT

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    I Annual Report 201112

    20112012

    Annual Report

    National Councilof Applied EconomicResearch

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    IIAnnual Report 201112

    August 2012

    Published by

    Jatinder S. BediSecretary and Head, Operations

    National Council of Applied Economic ResearchParisila Bhawan, 11 Indraprastha EstateNew Delhi 110 002Tel: (9111) 233798613Fax: (9111) [email protected]

    Compiled by

    Jagbir Singh PuniaCoordinator, Publications Unit

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    NCAER | Quality . Relevance . Impacthe National Council of Applied EconomicResearch (NCAER), is an independent

    policy research institute that supports Indiaseconomic development through appliedeconomic research. It is Indias oldest andlargest economic policy think-tank. NCAER

    was inaugurated by the President of India,Dr Rajendra Prasad, in December 1956.

    NCAERs founding fathers in its first Governing

    Body in 1956 included leading figures fromboth the public and private sectors: JohnMathai (Indias first Finance Minister and thenChairman, SBI), C.D. Deshmukh (Indias firstRBI Governor and second Finance Minister),

    .. Krishnamachari (Minister of Commerce& Industry), V.. Krishnamachari (DeputyChairman, Planning Commission), Asoka Mehta(MP), J.R.D. ata (Chairman, ata Industries),

    John F. Sinclair (Gen. Manager, Burmah-Shell),and N.R. Pillai (Indias first Cabinet Secretaryand Secretary-General, Ministry of External

    Affairs). Te Ford Foundation provided much

    of the initial financial support, including forNCAERs campus, for which Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation stonein October 1959. NCAERs campus in NewDelhi, designed by Indias pioneering modernarchitect, A.P. Kanvinde, is sited in one of themost desirable locations in the nations capital.

    NCAERs work today is divided into fourresearch areas:l Growth, trade, and economic managementl he investment climate , physica l and

    economic infrastructurel Agriculture, rural development, and natural

    resource managementl Poverty, human development, household

    behaviour, and gender

    Te bulk of NCAERs operating revenues comefrom research studies done for the governmentand the private sector. Tis is supplementedby research and institutional grants fromdonors and internal resources from NCAERsendowment. Much of the focus of NCAERs

    work is on generating and analysing empiricalevidence to support and inform policy choices.NCAER is one of a handful of think-tanks in the

    world that combine rigorous policy analysis and

    outreach with strong data collection capabilities,particularly for large-scale, national householdsurveys. NCAER publishesMargin: Te Journal

    of Applied Economic Research.NCAERs ninth Director-General, Dr ShekharShah, joined in May 2011 from the World Bank

    where he was the Banks Regional EconomicAdviser for South Asia. NCAERs GoverningBody is headed by its President, Mr NandanM. Nilekani, Chairman, Unique Identification

    Authority of India.

    NCAER has extensive links in India, and globallinks with major think-tanks and universitiesabroad, including the Brookings Institution,the National Bureau of Economic Research,

    the Pew Research Center, Columbia University,the University of Maryland, and a numberof other US universities; the London Schoolof Economics and Oxford University; theNew Economic School in Moscow; singhuaUniversity in Beijing; Australian NationalUniversity, Monash University, and ACIARin Australia; and the Fung Global Institutein Hong Kong. NCAER has links in South

    Asia with the Ins titute of Policy Studies,Colombo; the Pakistan Institute of DevelopmentEconomics, Islamabad; and the BangladeshInstitute of Development Studies and the Centre

    for Policy Dialogue in Dhaka.

    For further details please visit www.ncaer.org

    Te NCAER campus in New Delhi.

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    V Annual Report 201112

    The Institution 1

    Governing Body 1

    Founding Governing Body Members in 1956 2

    General Body 2

    Director-Generals Report 5

    Activities 15

    NCAERPublicEvents 15

    NCAER Research Programme 21

    NCAER Publications 55

    Activities of Senior Staff 67

    Resources 81

    TheNCAER Team 81

    The NCAERCentre for Macro Consumer Research 86 The NCAER Library 87

    The NCAER Publications Unit 88

    The NCAER IT Centre 89

    NCAER Finances 91

    Abbreviations/Acronyms 115

    Contents

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    Foundation stone of the current NCAER building laid in October 1959.

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    The InstitutionGoverning BodyTe Governing Body of NCAER, headed by its President, includes prominent personsfrom government, industry, and academia, and is elected by the General Body of theCouncil. Te chief executive of NCAER is its Director-General. Te General Bodyincludes representatives of the central and state governments, public sector corporations,corporate houses, and other institutions.

    Te Governing Body met three times during 201112; on 19 April 2011, 15 September

    2011, and 24 February 2012. Te General Body met on 15 September 2011.

    President

    Nandan M. Nilekani Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India,New Delhi

    Vice-President

    M.S. Verma Ex-Chairman, elecom Regulatory Authority of India andState Bank of India

    MembersIsher Judge Ahluwalia Chairperson, Board of Governors, ICRIER, New Delhi

    Mukesh D. Ambani Chairperson, Reliance Industries Ltd, Mumbai

    Surjit S. Bhalla Managing Director, O(x)us Investments Private Ltd, New Delhi

    Yogesh C. Deveshwar Chairperson, IC Ltd, Kolkata

    Ashish Dhawan Senior Managing Director, ChrysCapital Investment AdvisorsIndia, New Delhi

    R. Gopalan Secretary, Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Governmentof India, New Delhi (Until July 31, 2012)

    Naina Lal Kidwai Chief Executive Officer, HSBC India, Mumbai

    Arvind Mayaram Secretary, Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Governmentof India, New Delhi (From August 1, 2012)

    Pratap Bhanu Mehta President and Chief Executive, Centre for Policy Research,New Delhi

    Deepak S. Parekh Chairperson, Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd,Mumbai

    Rajendra S. Pawar Chairperson, Co-founder, NII Group, New Delhi

    Shekhar Shah Director-General, NCAER, New Delhi (ex-officio)

    Secretary

    Jatinder S. Bedi Secretary and Head, Operations, NCAER, New Delhi

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    Founding Governing Body Members in 1956

    John MathaiChairman,State Bank of India

    C.D. DeshmukhUnionMinister of Finance

    .. KrishnamachariUnionMinister of Commerce and Industry

    V.. KrishnamachariDeputy Chairman, Planning Commission

    J.R.D. ataChairman, ata Industries Ltd

    Asoka MehtaMember of Parliament

    J.F. SinclairGeneral Manager,Burmah-Shell Oil Storage and

    Distributing Co. of India LtdN.R. PillaiSecretary-General,Ministry of External Affairs

    General Body

    Life Members

    Subir Gupta

    D.N. Patodia

    S.M. Wahi

    Patron Members

    Bata India Ltd

    DCL Polyesters Ltd

    ICICI Bank Ltd

    State Bank of India

    Special Member

    New Zealand High Commission, New Delhi

    Corporate Members

    1. Ajay Sethi and Associates,Chartered Accountants

    2. Apollo yres Ltd

    3. Associated Chambers of

    Commerce and Industry of India

    4. Bharat Forge Ltd

    5. Central Board of Excise andCustoms

    6. CESC Ltd

    7. Godrej and Boyce ManufacturingCompany Ltd

    8. Hindalco Industries Ltd

    9. HSBC India

    10. Indicus Analytics

    11. ILFS Ltd

    12. Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd

    13. Max India Ltd

    14. NASSCOM15. National Dairy Development Board

    16. National Stock Exchange ofIndia Ltd

    17. NII Ltd

    18. Orient Paper and Industries Ltd

    19. Rai Foundation

    20. Reliance Industries Ltd

    21. Sakthi Sugars Ltd

    22. Seminar Publications

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    Ordinary Members

    1. Agarwal Maheswari & Company

    2. EPW Research Foundation

    3. Martin & Harrish Pvt. Ltd

    4. Sidho Mal Paper ConversionCompany Pvt. Ltd

    23. SRF Ltd

    24. elecom Regulatory Authority ofIndia

    25. riveni Engineering andIndustries Ltd

    26. V. Malik and Associates, CharteredAccountants

    Te first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, laying the foundation stone of NCAERs building in 1959.

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    Mr M S Verma

    Mr Nandan M. NilekaniDr Shekhar Shah addressing the Governing Body.

    Mr Ashish Dhawan and Mr Rajendra S. Pawar

    Te Governing Body listening to the architect, Mr Pankaj Vir Gupta, describing the design for the new NCAER Campus.

    Governing Body meeting February 24, 2012.

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    As I look back on my first year as theDirector-General of NCAER, it ishard to believe that so much has happenedin the months since I joined in May 2011.Certainly, my NCAER colleagues andI have been hard at work with the supportof our Governing Body and NCAERswell-wishers in India and abroad. I welcomethis opportunity to reflect on the year andshare some of our achievements, the visionfor a rejuvenated NCAER that is poweringthese achievements, and the challenges thatlie ahead.

    At the outset, I want to record my deepappreciation for the faculty and staff ofNCAER. I much value the support theyhave extended to me as I have cometo understand better the workings ofNCAER, its enduring national legacy, andits aspirations for the future. NCAER isIndias oldest and largest economic think-tank. It is also one of a handful of think-tanks in the world that combine rigorousanalysis and policy outreach with deep datacollection capabilities, particularly for large-scale household surveys. Tis is a uniquecombination of capacities that has allowedNCAER to live up to the applied economicresearch in its name.

    The scope and reach of NCAERs work

    For more than 55 years, NCAER hasdeployed both cutting-edge researchmethodologies and uniquely focusedand timely data in addressing the policydesign and implementation problems thatit tackles. As India undergoes perhapsthe worlds largest economic and socialtransformations in a democracy, there isno part of its society that is left untouched.Understanding this transformation in itsmultiple dimensions, and gathering and

    analysing evidence to evaluate the efficacyof government policies and to examine the

    private sectors role in this transformationare key objectives that NCAER continuesto serve.

    Certainly, both domestic and global develop-ments over the past year have pointed tothe fragility of such transformations. Tesubstantial slowdown in Indias economicgrowth, one of the lowest manufacturing

    growth rates in the last two decades,persistent high inflation, growing fiscalstress and a rising current account deficit,a depreciating rupee, an investmentslowdown, and rising concerns aboutgovernance, all come at a point when just12 to 18 months back the economy seemedwell poised to continue its rapid growth as aleading emerging market economy. OutsideIndia, the doldrums in the Eurozone withgrowth in 2012 projected to be negative,the continuing lack lustre performanceof the US economy, and persistent highunemployment in the OECD countriescontinue to raise concerns about theprospects for the medium-term and theimplications for India.

    Against the backdrop of Indias economictransformation and the continuingchallenges of policy and implementation,the role of an independent economicthink-tank like NCAER becomes all themore important at many levels for both thepublic and private sectors. At the macro andinternational level, this includes assessmentsof Indias macroeconomic management, itsinvestment climate, its trading, financial,and FDI links with the global economy, andits growth prospects, issues that NCAERaddresses through its periodic reviewsand its macro-modelling, trade research,and G20-related work. At the sector level,this includes assisting ministries, industryassociations, and the private sector to get

    a robust, evidence-based assessment ofpolicy and implementation in areas such as

    Director-Generals Report

    For more than55 years, NCAERhas deployed bothcutting-edge researchmethodologies anduniquely focusedand timely datain addressing the

    policy design andimplementationproblems that ittackles.

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    agriculture, finance, infrastructure, urbandevelopment, and skills formation. At amore micro level, an important role thatNCAER plays is in its evaluations of specificschemes such as the Mahatma GandhiNational Rural Employment GuaranteeScheme, the Sarva Sikhsha Abhiyan, theIntegrated Child Development Servicesprogram, and service delivery schemes touniversalise health care.

    NCAERs leading role in public policydiscussions

    Te public give and take over research andpolicy findings and the wider sharing ofits scholarly work is the life and blood ofa policy research institute. It is also oneof the most enjoyable aspects of life in athink-tank. Certainly, the events calendar ofNCAER seminars, lectures, and conferencesremained very full in 201112. Many ofthese discussions centred round work doneby NCAER, but we also continued toprovide a forum for disseminating researchdone by others. I would like to emphasisehow important this outreach function is forNCAER to live up to the goal of ensuringthe quality, relevance, and impact of its work.

    Almost all NCAER events have a keyunderlying commitment to the useof empirical evidence to drive policyrecommendations. his was in ampleevidence in one of NCAERs flagshipconferences, the India Policy Forum (IPF),the annual conference on the Indianeconomy NCAER organises in New Delhiin partnership with the Brookings Institutionin Washington DC. Te IPF explores Indiasrapidly evolving and sometime tumultuouseconomic transition using speciallycommissioned, policy-relevant, empiricalresearch. An International Advisory Panel

    and an International Research Panelsupport the IPF through advice, activeparticipation in the Conference, and the

    search for innovative papers that promisefresh insights.

    IPF 2011, the eighth in the series, washeld on July 1213, 2011 with generoussupport from the Indian corporate sector,particularly our lead partners State Bankof India and HDFC. Five high-qualitypapers on India covered the financial

    sector, food subsidies, health coverage, foodinflation, and capital controls. Te 2011IPF Lecture was delivered by Mr MontekSingh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of thePlanning Commission, on Challenges forIndia in the 12th Five Year Plan, 201217.IPF 2011 concluded with a lively PolicyRoundtable on From Price Distortions toSubsidies that Work for the Poor.

    Te IPF was also the occasion to launchthe India Policy Forum 2010/11 volume

    published by SAGE Publications andcontaining the papers and discussionhighlights of the previous years IPF. It is amatter of great pride that theIPFvolume isconsistently the highest ranked economicsjournal published out of India based oncitation counts by RePEc, ahead of thenext Indian journal by more than some 300global rankings.

    A full programme of seminars, conferences,and training clinics was held in 201112

    as part of the IDRC-supported researchon rural governance and growth in India.Te conference on Te Impact on LocalGovernance and Rural Service Provisionof Political Reservations for Women inPatna on May 10, 2011 was the third inthis series, following similar events inBengaluru and Ahmedabad the previousyear. A workshop on different forms ofrural governance and their outcomes wasorganised on July 14, 2011 and chaired

    by Mani Shankar Aiyar, former UnionMinister for Local Government and RajyaSabha member. A 2012 workshop on

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    Managing Water through Panchayats washeld in March, combining research fromthe rural governance project with anotherresearch project on effective public servicedelivery funded by the Global DevelopmentNetwork. NCAER also organised twoweek-long tra ining clinics in May andDecember 2011 for NCAER and outsidefaculty on tools for empirical analysis ofhousehold surveys.

    Arvind Panagariya kicked off NCAERsDistinguished Lecture Series with his timelytalk on India in the Global Economy: TeNext 15 Years on May 25, 2011. Mr .N.Ninan, Chairman of the Business Standard,provided expert comments.

    NCAER, in collaboration with RandomHouse India, sponsored a panel discussionand book launch on July 20, 2011 of Poor

    Economics: rethinking poverty and the ways toend itby Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo.NCAERs President, Nandan Nilekani, wasthe featured panelist. Later that same month,on July 28, Abhijit Banerjee delivered a talkin NCAERs Distinguished Lecture serieson Te Challenge of Improving Healthin India. He argued that the large body ofknowledge about the supply and demandfor healthcare in India made it very clearthat offering comprehensive coveragewill be an extraordinar ily chal lengingproposition without major changes indemand and supply.

    In 2011, the India International Centre(IIC) requested NCAER to prepareand present the prestigious Malcolm S.Adisheshiah Mid-term Review of theIndian Economy. Dr Bimal Jalan, pastPresident of NCAER and former RBIGovernor, chaired the Review on November4, 2011. Besides recent macroeconomicdevelopments, the Review focused onthree thematic areas: inflation, the role ofservices in sustaining economic growth, and

    Panchayat-led rural decentralisation. Ourlong-standing work in infrastructure washighlighted by a December 2011 workshopthat launched a sponsored study on factorsresponsible for successful implementationof infrastructure projects in airports, ports,roads and power.

    Al on g with the Na tion al Bu re au of

    Economic Research (NBER) in the USand ICRIER, NCAER co-sponsoredthe 13th Annual Neemrana Conferencefrom December 16 to 18, 2011. Startedby NCAER in 1999 as a partnership withNBER, it has evolved in recent years intoan alternate-year partnership also withICRIER, which took the lead on the2011 Conference. I chaired an interestingsession on telecommunications, includingdiscussions on spectrum auctions andvaluation, issues on everyones mind withthe controversy about 2G spectrum salesearlier in the year.

    NCAER joined Columbia Universityon January 5, 2012 for a pre-publicationdiscussion of a book by Columbia facultyand NCAER Non-resident Senior Fellows,Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya.entatively titledIndias ryst with Destiny:Debunking Myths that Undermine Progressand Addressing New Challenges, the book

    notes that Nehrus famous phrase reflectedtwo aspirations: the politics of democracyand the economics of poverty removal.Te trajectories of Indias achievements inpolitics and economics seem opposed: atthe outset the politics was a great successwith a robust and li be ra l democracy,yielding later to the problems of governance.By contrast, the economics was a failure inthe beginning until the post-1991 reformsled to accelerated growth and then to aneffective assault on poverty. It is with someanticipation that we now await the release ofthe book, which NCAER will help launch.

    Presidentsof the NCAER

    Governing Body

    John Mathai19561959

    V.. Krishnamachari19591964

    Asoka Mehta19641981

    Prakash L. andon19811992

    Bimal Jalan19921993

    Lovraj Kumar19931994

    Ratan ata19941998

    Bimal Jalan19982008

    Nandan M. Nilekani2008present

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    he importance for India to monitoragricultural performance on a continuousbasis cannot be over-emphasised, highli-ghted by the periodic prospects of aninadequate monsoon and drought.Recognising this need, the Ministry ofAgriculture has commissioned NCAER toprepare quarterly and semi-annual reportsover the next several years on the prospectsfor food crops. NCAER organised a day-long agenda-setting workshop on January12, 2012 to understand Indian informationsystems on agricultural markets and tocompare them with the systems used by theUS Department of Agriculture as describedby the USDA officials who joined theworkshop. P.K. Basu, Secretary, Ministry ofAgriculture; Abhijit Sen, Member, PlanningCommission; and Ashok Gulati, Chairman,Commission on Agricultural Costs and

    Prices led the discussions on the Indian side.

    As part of NCAERs outreach to the privatesector in India and abroad, NCAER facultyand I made a number of presentations duringthe year. A particularly useful presentationwas the one I made to the annual IMAIndia CFO Forum in Jodhpur on March 3,2012 on the topic, Can India End Povertyin a Generation? building on the interest inIndias demographic transition and what itwould take to make it a dividend rather than

    a disaster. It is heartening to note that thedemand for NCAER faculty to undertakesuch speaking engagements is rising.

    In association with Penguin India, NCAERorganised a discussion on March 13,2012 with Bimal Jalan on his latest book,

    Emerging India: Economics , Politic s andReforms. Marking the twenty-year milestoneof economic liberalization in India, the booknotes the concerns about the countrysfuture prospects as an emerging power and

    how these stem from a history of sharpswings in Indias fortunes. I would alsolike to express my gratitude to Dr Jalan for

    gifting his archives to the NCAER Library,further enhancing its reputation as one ofIndias finest economics libraries.

    On March 20, 2012, NCAER hostedthe seventh in the series of the Sir JohnCrawford Lectures by Gordon de Brouwer,Associate Secretary for Domestic Policyin the Office of the Australian Prime

    Minister and the Australian Sherpa forthe G20. His talk onTe Asian Centuryand the G20: An Australian Perspectiveon a Changing World was presided byKaushik Basu, Chief Economic Adviser tothe Government of India. Te lecture wassponsored by the Australia-India Councilas part of celebrating its 20th Anniversary.

    he annual Union Budget remains thelitmus test for assessing the direction and thedetail of the governments policy thinking.

    In 2007 I started the practice of bringingfive prominent think-tanks together to takea long-term view of the Union Budget.NCAER organised the sixth in the seriesof these Budget Seminars on March 21,2012, with its partners, CPR, ICRIER, IDF,and NIPFP. Te seminar addressed the keyquestions of how India could return to highgrowth in a non-inflationary way, increasethe effectiveness of public expenditures, andaddress issues of governance. As in the past,the Seminar was expertly moderated by .N.Ninan, Chairman and Editorial Director ofthe Business Standard.

    NCAERs data and research activities

    As in years past, NCAER managed a largeportfolio of sponsored research projectsspread over topics and public and privatesponsors. In addition, from time to time,NCAER mounts large household surveyefforts designed to renew its unique datasets. Tese data sets, besides being made

    available to outside users in several forms,are also often deployed by NCAER facultyin their research and policy-oriented

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    writing, funded either through donor grantsor endowment income.

    Te work programme at NCAER falls intofour areas: growth, trade, and economicmanagement; the investment climate,physical and economic infrastructure;agriculture, rural development, and naturalresource management; and poverty, human

    development, household behaviour, andgender. NCAER research in these areas isdescribed in the relevant sections of thisAnnual Report. I note three highlights ofour work during 201112 to illustrate itsdepth and breadth.

    1. Data collection. Building on its more than55-year legacy of primary data collection,NCAER continues to fill a unique nichein India of collecting, assembling, andanalysing wide-ranging sample survey data

    on the Indian economy and society. 201112saw two such major efforts in full swing, the2nd India Human Development Survey andthe National Survey of Household Incomeand Expenditure 201112.

    he 2nd India Human DevelopmentSurvey (IHDSII), which is building anIndian national panel data set on the basisof the IHDSI carried out in 20042005,is a nationally representative, multi-topicsurvey of some 41,500 households spread

    across 33 Indian states and union territories.he IHDS initiative is a long-standingpartnership between NCAER and theUniversity of Maryland funded by the USNational Institutes of Health. Te goal ofIHDS is to document changes in the lives ofIndian households in a society undergoingrapid transition. In documenting the wayordinary people live, work, educate theirchildren, care for their aged parents, plantheir careers, and deal with ill health, itseeks to infuse policy making with theirlived experience based on the analysis ofhigh-quality survey data.

    A major innovation of IHDSII is theaddition of a youth module administeredto some 17,700 youth aged 1518, amajority of whom were also interviewedas 811 year olds in IHDSI. Part of thesample for IHDSI and IHDSII is drawnfrom an early NCAER study, the HumanDevelopment Profile of India (HDPI),conducted in 199394. All IHDS andHDPI data are freely downloadable from thewebsite of the Interuniversity Consortiumfor Political and Social Research located atthe University of Michigan.

    NCAER pioneered the systematic collectionof consumer behaviour information inIndia, with its largest effort the nationwideMISH or Market Information Survey ofHouseholds conducted almost continuouslysince 1985. Te last round, renamed theNational Survey of Household Incomeand Expenditure (NSHIE), was conductedin 200405. NSHIE is designed to meetthe information and analytical needs ofdecision-makers in business and policymaking and to provide a vital source of newIndian data on consumer behaviour.

    NCAERs CMCR group launched a newround of NSHIE in March 2011 with aListing Survey covering over half a millionhouseholds as the basis for the samplingframe. Te NSHIE sample is nationallyrepresentative by rural and urban sectors,covers 75 NSSO zones, and will also beused in the study of markets based onthe industry standard SocioeconomicClassification. he second-stage, MainSurvey, from which income and otherestimates will be generated, covers a sampleof around one lakh households.

    2.Agriculture and infrastructure. Agricultureand infrastructure have always been keyareas of work at NCAER, and in 201112 both involved a range of complexand challenging assignments. As already

    Districts covered by IHDSII in 2011-12.

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    noted, NCAER is helping the Ministry ofAgriculture set up a process for integratinginput and output information to assessthe short- and medium-term outlookfor agriculture. NCAER will prepare theinitial short-term assessments every quarterand medium-term reports semi-annually.A complementary project at NCAER isworking on recommendations for improvingthe functioning and transparency of foodand agricultural markets in line with G20commitments.

    In other related work, NCAER wassupported by a grant from the AustralianCentre for International AgriculturalResearch to do a two-part study onfacilitating efficient agricultural markets inIndia and on price, competition, and supplychain issues in the market for onions, oftenviewed as an early political barometer ofinflation. In another study, NCAER islooking at optimal food-grain stockingpolicies for India.

    I am very pleased to note that NCAERwas awarded a NABARD Chair by theNational Bank for Agricultural and RuralDevelopment, which has selected Dr AnilK. Sharma for the Chair. Tis will allowgreater flexibility for independent researchin agriculture, microfinance and ruraldevelopment.

    NCAERs work on infrastructure deve-lopment has always been front and centre.Te Railway Ministry asked NCAER to doa demand study for passenger train travel,including issues of willingness to pay, basedon passenger and household surveys thatare now being analysed. Also in transport,NCAER has been supporting the Nationalransport Development Policy Committeethrough a study examining Indias transporttaxes and their impact on the economy andrelated fiscal and allocative efficiency issuesin transport. NCAER has also completed

    studies assessing the economic impacton the economy of airline operations forEmirates Airlines and of Delhi Airportsconstruction and operation for GMR Ltd.

    Te Delhi airport study, the first in India,uses an input-output approach to calculatethe multiplier effects of both capital andoperational expenditures. NCAER has

    completed a draft study at the requestof the Delhi Development Authorityevaluating alternative models of landpooling and public-private partnerships inland development in Delhi.

    Given the huge infrastructure agenda in thenext five years, understanding what leads togood project implementation in time, cost,and quality is important. o explore this,NCAER did a sponsored report based ona set of 16 case studies across sectors and

    different public-private implementationarrangements. NCAER also did a pro-ject for the Planning Commission torecommend model contracts for PPPs innational highways. NCAERs work on thee-readiness assessment of states and on ane-development index for states has beenseminal in benchmarking readiness for Ienabling government.

    3. Evaluation and special purpose studies.Using a range of survey and analytical tools,

    NCAER typically has a number of researchstudies underway dealing with specificpolicy or programme evaluation questionsof interest to governments and the privatesector. NCAER is conducting a study on theimpact of parallel book and media importson students for the Ministry of HumanResource Development. NCAER has beencommissioned along with two other researchinstitutions by the Ministry of Financeto do a study of unaccounted income andwealth inside and outside India. NCAERcompleted a study assessing the impactof the governments insurance awareness

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    campaign for the Insurance Regulatory andDevelopment Authority. We are helpingdevelop Indias second satellite tourismaccounts for 200910 for the Ministry ofourism in accordance with the UNs latestrecommended methodology. NCAERcompleted an impact study of the economicbenefits of services such as meteorologyoffered by the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

    Change at NCAER

    As this resume of our work over the pastyear shows, NCAER has a long legacyand a large mandate that its foundingfathers in the public and private sectorsgave it. NCAER over the years has enjoyedincreasing demand for its work as it hasadapted to changing conditions. Choosinghigh-quality research projects dealingwith highly relevant problems of policy,

    programme design, or implementation,and then ensuring that it delivers theprojects on time, budget and quality to thesponsors satisfaction is part of NCAERsDNA. NCAER also enjoys considerableconvening power with the government andthe private sector, as exemplified by its manypartnerships within and outside India.

    But it is also the case that the competitionfor public and private research projects,for high-quality talent, and for resources

    is increasing as the ground shifts with theentry of newer players. Tis competitioncomes from the domestic non-profit sector,including new private universities; fromthe for-profit sectors, including consultingfirms, rating agencies, and data firms; andfrom international think-tanks interestedin India. Te 24x7 media is also demandingrapid research and analysis from think-tanks as it seeks to shorten the time to bringbreaking news to the citizen and politician

    in an informed way.o adapt to this changing environment,NCAER has begun making investments in

    its human, social, and physical capital, andin strengthening its financial foundations.

    We are deeply grateful to the Ministry ofFinance and the Government of India forannouncing a corpus grant of Rs 15 crore toNCAER in the 201213 Union Budget. Tisgrant and other contributions to the corpusfund that are being raised demonstrate the

    commitment of government and privatesupporters to the future of NCAER.

    Starting in 201112, we have been privilegedto have a number of prominent economistsas NCAER Nonresident Senior Fellows,including Kaushik Basu (Cornell), JagdishBhagwati (Columbia), Anil Deolalikar(University of California, Riverside),Stefan Dercon (Oxford), ShantayananDevarajan (World Bank), Jeffrey Hammer(Princeton), Ravi Kanbur (Cornell), Arvind

    Panagariya (Columbia), and RaghuramRajan (Chicago).We are also pleased tohave Karthik Muralidharan (Universityof California, San Diego), and DeanSpears and Diane Coffey (Princeton) asNonresident Fellows.

    NCAER is progressing on several majorinitiatives to improve its internal performanceand outreach, funded in part by the Tink-ank Initiative Grant that NCAER wonin 2010. NCAER is implementing a SAP-

    based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)system for enhancing financial controls, forintegrating financial and HR transactions,and for improving management reportingsystems. NCAER is possibly the first non-profit, independent think-tank in Indiaimplementing such a system.

    We are grateful to the global technologyleader Infosys Ltd for agreeing to helpNCAER develop a multi-year I strategyaligned with its renewal strategy that will

    strongly leverage NCAERs research andcommunication efforts. A dedicated teamof Infosys staff have worked closely with

    Te proposed new NCAER campus.

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    NCAER I and research staff to preparea comprehensive strategy and a road map.Initial implementation has started, anddiscussion is underway with Infosys toform a long-term technology partnershipto implement the strategy in three phases.

    NCAER has begun work on a new HRstrategy to ensure that its HR policies

    and operations are closely aligned with itsrenewal strategy. We are grateful to thesenior HR experts helping NCAER developan approach and recommendations for newcompensation, benefits, and performanceevaluation systems. o dovetail with theimplementation of NCAERs ERP, weare strengthening NCAERs FinanceGroup and its financial controls by hiringa world-class internal auditor. Te auditorwill assist in capacity building on two orthree functional areas every year for thenext three years.

    o improve our policy outreach and toenhance presentation and media skills,NCAER initiated a first round of experttraining for NCAER research staff coveringa range of topics, including media and publiccommunications, effective presentations,electronic and print media interviews, andleadership communication. Te trainingwas conducted by a team of internationalconsultants providing similar training to anumber of other policy research institutionsglobally. Te training was extremely wellreceived and will continue this year.

    NCAERs campus built in the late 1950sin Central New Delhi is positioned inone of the most desirable locations in thenations capital. Te seat of Indias highestexecutive and legislative authority, itssupreme judiciary, its largest national dailynewspapers, the India Gate complex, andNew Delhis prime cultural centre andthe commercial heart are all within a fourkilometre radius of NCAER. Te NCAER

    campus also sits in plain view of one ofthe major gateways into New Delhi fromacross the Yamuna River. Te IndraprasthaMetro Station is within walking distance,connecting NCAER to the rest of theNational Capital Region by rapid transit.

    NCAER has had plans underway for anumber of years to reconstruct its campus.

    A design competition was run in 2009 anda winning entry chosen. Unfortunately,difficulties with receiving the necessaryfloor-area-ratio approvals stalled the workthereafter. We were fortunate in being ableto resolve this problem in the months after Iarrived and architectural work has proceededapace since then to take the project throughits design and municipal approval stages. Inearly 2012 the Governing Body also decidedto enhance the original design to make thenew NCAER Centre an environmentallysustainable, green-rated complex underIndias GRIHA national rating system.

    Over fifty years ago, the founders of NCAERestablished a premier research institutioncommitted to the cause of nationaldevelopment. Te architecture of the newNCAER campus proposes to mirror thisrolein terms of functionality, technology,and aesthetic clarity. A new, state-of-the-art office tower will flank a central plaza,establishing a civic presence on the New

    Delhi skyline. An independent conferencecentre will connect to the main entry,enabling multiple uses as a venue for hostingNCAER and other public events. Te legacyof the existing NCAER building will bepreserved even as its faade and interiors arereinvented. It will serve as NCAERs anchorfor outreach activities, accommodating a newlibrary, a media centre, conference spaces, asurvey centre, a publications unit, a cafeteria,and easily reconfigured open-space offices.Emblematic red sandstone cladding on thebuildings will pay tribute to Delhis heritageas seen in the nearby Red Fort.

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    Concluding reflections

    On October 31, 1959 Pandit JawaharlalNehru laid the foundation stone forNCAERs current building in IndraprasthaEstate, a name that itself harks back tothe legendary capital on the banks of theYamuna River. Prime Minister Nehrulaunched not only an iconic building

    designed by one of Indias pioneeringmodern architects, the Harvard-trainedA.P. Kanvinde, but also a unique researchinstitution with public and private support,backed by giants like C.D. Deshmukh andJ.R.D. ata, that has stood the test of timein its service to the nation.

    I feel immensely privileged to be headingNCAER at a time when rejuvenatingNCAER has both a potential and aneed that has never been greater. On thejourney to rejuvenate NCAER that wehave embarked on, I also feel immenselyprivileged to have NCAERs staff, researchpartners, well-wishers, and the Governing

    Body and its President and Vice-President,Nandan Nilekani and M.S. Verma, asfellow travellers. Tere is much excitementahead and many changes that we envisagefor a new NCAER, and it is with greatanticipation that we dedicate ourselves tothis journey.

    Shekhar Shah

    Director-GeneralAugust 2012

    Te proposed renovation of the

    current NCAER building.

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    Renditions of the proposed new NCAER campus.

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    June 15, 2011: Seminar on ServicesGrowth and Convergence: Getting IndiasStates ogether.Speaker: Mr Anirudh Shingal, SeniorResearch Fellow, World rade Institute,University of Bern

    July 8, 2011:NCAERHolcim workshopon Seeking Efficiency and Excellence

    in the Implementation of InfrastructureProjects in India, at India InternationalCentre.Partner: Holcim Group Support Ltd,Zurich

    July 1213, 2011:Eighth Annual India PolicyForum Conference and the 2011 IPF Lecture.Partners: State Bank of India, HDFC Ltd,

    NCAER Public Events

    Lectures, Workshops, and Conferences*

    April 13, 2011: NCAER Seminar on TeReserve Bank of Indias Financial StabilityReport, March and December 2010:A Critical Review with a Long ermPerspective

    Speaker: Dr Gurbachan Singh, VisitingFaculty, Indian Statistical Institute,New Delhi.

    May 10, 2011:Round able Conference onImpact of Political Reservations for Womenon Local Governance and Rural ServiceProvision, Patna.Partner:Jamia Hamdard University,New Delhi

    May 18, 2011:alk on Gender Bias inChild Mortality in Asia: rends, Underlying

    Causes and Some ConsequencesSpeaker: Dr Monica Dasgupta, Develop-ment Research Group, Te World Bank,Washington, DC.

    May 19, 2011:Seminar on Who Speaksfor the Poor in Karnataka?Speakers:Dr Jeffrey Hammer, PrincetonUniversity and Dr Megha Patnaik, LondonSchool of Economics

    May 25, 2011: Distinguished LectureSeries: Lecture on India in the GlobalEconomy: Te Next 15 Years.Speaker:Prof. Arvind Panagariya, ColumbiaUniversity, with expert comments by Mr.N. Ninan, Chairman, Business Standard

    Activities

    *During April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012.

    Reliance Industries Ltd, Citigroup, IDFCLtd, and SAGE Publications.

    Te India Policy Forum (IPF) is a jointventure between NCAER and the BrookingsInstitution, Washington D.C. that started in2004. Te objective of IPF is to commission

    and discuss papers dealing with variousaspects of Indian economic policy, leadingto an annual publication.

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    Speaker: Mr Montek S. Ahluwalia,Deputy Chairman, Indian PlanningCommission on Te Challenges for Indiain the 12th Five Year Plan 201217.

    July 14, 2011:NCAERIDRC Workshopon Varieties of Rural Governance andVarieties of Outcomes Dissemination.Te workshop was chaired by Mr Mani

    Shankar Aiyar, former Union Minister forLocal Government and Member of theRajya Sabha, and brought together both thegovernment officials and local panchayatofficials, New Delhi.

    July 20, 2011:Panel Discussion on PoorEconomics: A radical rethinking of the way tofight global poverty.

    Te panel was moderated by Prof. PratapBhanu Mehta in conversation with MrNandan Nilekani, President, NCAER and

    Chairman, UIADI and the authors, Prof.Abhijit Banerjee and Prof. Esther Duflo.Partner: Random House India

    July 27 and November 9, 2011, and January31, 2012: Seminars on Mid-Year Review ofthe Indian Economy (Quarterly Seminars).

    July 28, 2011:Distinguished Lecture Series alk on Te Challenge of ImprovingHealth in India.Speaker: Prof. Abhijit Banerjee. Mr

    Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar, ConsultingEditor, he Economics imes, providedcomments after the lecture.

    August 12, 2011:NCAERDI NationalWorkshop on e-Readiness Assessment ofIndia.

    August 29, 2011:Seminar on Middle ClassDreams: Indias One-Child Families.Speaker:Prof. Alaka Basu, JNU and Cornelland Dr Sonalde Desai, NCAER

    September 23, 2011: Seminar on DualEconomies or Dual Livelihoods? Short-term Migration from Rural India and Non-agricultural Employment.

    Speaker: Ms Diane Coffey, PrincetonUniversity

    September 28, 2011:NCAER Seminar onHeight and Cognitive Achievement amongIndian Children.Speaker:Mr Dean Spears, PrincetonUniversity

    October 4, 2011: Seminar on FinancialInnovation, Regulation and Systemic Risk.Speaker:Dr arun Ramadorai, Universityof Oxford and CEPR

    October 10, 2011:Launch of the NCAERreport on Assessing the Effectiveness ofSmall Borrowings in India.Speaker: Mr Jairam Ramesh, RuralDevelopment MinisterPartner:Microfinance Institutions Network

    October 12, 2011: Seminar on Role ofInformation echnology Sector in ExplainingAcceleration of Indias Economic Growth.Speaker:Dr Jyoti Vig, University ofMinnesota

    October 14, 2011:Seminar on SteppingUp Skills for More Jobs and Productivity:A Framework for Analysis.

    Speaker: Dr Ariel Fiszbein, ChiefEconomist, Human Development Network,Te World Bank

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    November 30, 2011:Seminar on Learningby Doing: Skills and Jobs in Urban Ghana.Speaker: Dr Kim Lehrer, University ofOxford

    December 7, 2011:NCAER Seminar onDevelopment Strategy in the 21st Century:Lessons from Korea and East Asia.Speaker:Prof. Haider A. Khan, Professor

    of Economics, Joseph Korbel School ofInternational Studies, University of Denver

    December 12, 2011:Launch of the NCAERstudy Seeking Efficiency and Excellencein the Implementation of InfrastructureProjects in India.Partner: Holcim Group Support Ltd,Zurich

    December 1618, 2011:NBERNCAERICRIER Annual Neemrana Conference.

    Neemrana brings together Indian policymakers, researchers, regulators and other

    professionals to interact with leadingAmerican researchers and policy makersassociated with NBER. he conferenceencourages open discussion on currentissues related to economic policy andresearch covering a range of topics such asthe macro economy and monetary and fiscalpolicy, international trade, banking andfinance, privatisation, regulation, economicreforms, employment, poverty, social sector,and delivery of services. Current and

    on-going problems facing policy makersare selected for discussions. he 2011conference put together by ICRIER, was

    the thirteenth in the series and is organisedin alternate years by NCAER and ICRIER.

    December 23, 2011: NCAERASERSeminar on Achieving Universal QualityPrimary Education in India: Challengesand Opportunities.Speaker: Prof. Karthik Muralidharan,University of California, San Diego

    Partner:PRAHAMJanuary 5, 2012:NCAERColumbia pre-publication discussion on the book by Prof.Jagdish Bhagwati, Columbia Universityand Prof. Arvind Panagariya, Indias rystwith Destiny: Debunking Myths thatUndermine Progress and Addressing NewChallenges.Partners:ColumbiaSchool of Internationaland Public Affairs and ISERP

    Januar y 12, 2012: Workshop on heInternational Practices and Products forAssessing Agricultural Outlook.

    Partner: Ministry of Agriculture

    March 13, 2012: Book discussion with

    Dr Bimal Jalan at the launch of his book,Emerging India: Economics, Politics andReforms.

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    Partner: Penguin Books India

    his book brings together a definitivecollection of Jalans writings on the changingface of economics, politics and reforms inIndia. Te principal thought behind theseessays is that in the past twenty years, Indiascapacity to grow faster than ever beforehas increased substantially because of its

    comparative advantage in relation to othercountries. However, Jalan points out thatfor India to seize the opportunities that lieahead, it is essential to bring about furtherreforms in the running of Indias politics andadministration in order to ensure inclusiveand incremental economic growth.

    March 14, 2012: NCAER Seminaron Integrating (Social) Networks andWeb Data into Economic Analysis: woExamples.

    Speaker:Dr Arun Sundararajan, LeonardN. Stern School of Business, New YorkUniversity

    March 19, 2012: NCAER discussionon Gender Issues to mark Internati-onal Womens Day. NCAER facultyDr Anushree Sinha, Dr Sonalde Desai,Dr Sohini Paul, Dr Rupinder Kaur, andDr Sourabh Paul made presentations on thefollowing themes:

    Gender-Responsive Policy Analysis:Why it Matters;

    A Gender Perspective in Social ScienceResearch: A Field Experience;

    Review of Gender Differences inEconomic Experiments;

    Conceptualising and MeasuringWomen Empowerment: Evidence fromEmpirical Studies; and

    What Do We Mean by Gender Any

    Way? Focus on Multidimensionality ofGender.

    March 20, 2012: Seventh Sir JohnCrawford Lecture by Dr Gordon deBrouwer, Associate Secretary (DomesticPolicy), Department of the Prime Ministerand Cabinet, Australia and AustralianG20 Sherpa, at ASSOCHAM House,New Delhi.

    Chief Guest: Dr Kaushik Basu, ChiefEconomic Adviser, Ministry of Finance,

    Government of IndiaPartner:AustraliaIndia Council

    March 21, 2012: Five-Institute BudgetSeminar, he Union Budget 201213:Reform and Development Prospectives atIndia International Centre.Speakers:Dr Shekhar Shah (NCAER), DrM. Govinda Rao (NIPFP), Dr ShubhashisGangopadhyay, (IDF), Dr Bibek Debroy(CPR), and Dr Rajat Kathuria (ICRIER)Partner:Te World Bank, New Delhi

    Te Union Budget provides an annual andunique opportunity to focus attention onthe Indian economy and how governmentpolicy affects the lives of Indias billionplus people. Since the last five years, fiveof Indias leading economic policy researchinstitutions have been coming togetherto present their assessment of the UnionBudget. Te five institutes CPR, ICRIER,IDF, NCAER, and NIPFP joined in apanel discussion to provide a more reflective

    review of the Budget and its implicationsfor the Indian economy. Mr .N. Ninan,

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    Chairman of Business Standard, moderatedthe discussion.

    March 22, 2012:Seminar on SustainingGlobal Growth.Speaker: Prof. Wendy Dobson, Joseph L.Rotman School of Management, Universityof oronto

    March 27, 2012:Felicitating Dr Arvind

    Panagariya, Padma Bhushan, 2012.

    NCAER staff and invited guests felicitatedDr Arvind Panagariya, Professor, ColumbiaUniversity and Non-resident SeniorFellow, NCAER on being conferred thePadma Bhushan by the President of India,

    Smt. Pratibha Patil. Te Padma Bhushanis Indias third highest civilian award.Dr Rajesh Chadha (NCAER) had earlieraccompanied Dr Panagariya to the awardceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

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    S.No.

    Programme/Project* Sponsor (s)

    1. India Policy Forum 201112*(Organised jointly with the BrookingsInstitution, Washington, D.C.)Editors: Shekhar Shah, Barry Bosworth, and

    Arvind Panagariya

    SBI, HDFC Ltd, RelianceIndustries Ltd, Citigroup, IDFCLtd, and SAGE Publications

    2. Macrotrack Newsletter*Project Leader: Bornali Bhandari

    NCAER and annual subscribers

    3. Quarterly Business Expectations Survey*Project Leader: Purna Chandra Parida

    NCAER and MasterCardWorldWide

    4. Quarterly Review of the Economy*Project Leader: Geethanjali Nataraj

    NCAER and annual subscribers

    5. Mid-Year Review of the Economy 201112*Project Leader: Shashanka Bhide

    NCAER and Tink-ankInitiative

    6. Macroeconomic Modelling for the EleventhFive Year Plan and BeyondProject Leader: Purna Chandra Parida

    Indian Planning Commission

    7. Five-Institute Budget Seminar on UnionBudget 201213*Project Leader: Shekhar Shah

    Te World Bank, New Delhi

    8. Evaluation of Alternative Models of LandPooling and Development in NC of DelhiProject Leader: Shashanka Bhide

    Delhi Development Authority,NC of Delhi

    9. Emerging Market Economies and G20*

    Project Leaders: Shekhar Shah andRajesh Chadha

    BP India Ltd

    Activities

    NCAER ResearchProgramme

    NCAERs research programme is structuredaround four broad areas. hese areascover NCAERs own research as well asresearch projects sponsored by others.NCAER research projects sponsored bythe government and the private sector arebuilt around issues of interest to the sponsorand must be line with NCAERs researchpriorities in these areas. In many cases, such

    projects also involve other collaborators.Final research reports made available tosponsors are usually published by NCAERor the sponsor.

    Given below is the list of research projects*

    as of March 31, 2012 undertaken byNCAER in the year 201112. For detaileddescriptions, please refer to the correspondingserial number in the sections that follows.

    *Programmes/projects completed during financial year 201112 are marked with an asterisk. Te rest are ongoing.

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    10. ColumbiaNCAER Conference on rade,Poverty, Inequality and Democracy*Project Leader: Rajesh Chadha

    Columbia University, New York

    11. Indias ryst with Destiny: Debunking Mythsthat Undermine Progress and Addressing

    New Challenges*Project Leader: Rajesh Chadha

    School of International andPublic Affairs, Columbia

    University

    12. Te Impact of Parallel Imports of Books,Films, Music, and Software on the IndianEconomy with Special Reference to StudentsProject Leader: Rajesh Chadha

    Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment, New Delhi

    13. Impact Study of Indias Insurance AwarenessCampaign*Project Leader: Anushree Sinha

    Insurance Regulatory andDevelopment Authority,Hyderabad

    14. An InputOutput able for Gujarat with

    New Green Industries*Project Leader: Anushree Sinha

    International Labour

    Organisation, Bangkok

    15. Initiative on GenderInclusiveMacroeconomic Policy ManagementProject Leader: Anushree Sinha

    United Nations DevelopmentProgramme, New Delhi

    16. Evaluation of Functioning of the ribalResearch Institute in Assam*Project Leader: Shashanka Bhide

    Ministry of ribal Affairs,New Delhi

    17. Study on Unaccounted Income and WealthInside and Outside India

    Project Leader: Kanhaiya Singh

    Central Board of Direct axes,New Delhi

    18. Tink-ank InitiativeProject Leader: Anil Sharma

    hink-ank Init iative fundedby William and Flora HewlettFoundation, Bill & Melinda GatesFoundation, DFID UK, DGISNetherlands, and IDRC Canada

    19. Second ourism Satellite Accounts for IndiaProject Leader: Ramesh Kolli

    Ministry of ourism, New Delhi

    20. Seeking Efficiency and Excellence in theImplementation of Infrastructure Projects

    in India*Project Leader: Geethanjali Nataraj

    Holcim Group Support Ltd,Zurich

    S.No.

    Programme/Project* Sponsor (s)

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    21. Assessing the Impact of Airlines Operationson the Economy: Emirates in India*Project Leader: ushar Nandi

    Emirates Airlines, Dubai

    22. An Assessment of the Economic Impact ofAirports: Te Case of Delhi and Hyderabad

    International AirportsProject Leader: Purna Chandra Parida

    Delhi International AirportLimited and GMR Hyderabad

    International Airport Limited

    23. Understanding the Demand for RailwayPassenger Services, Willingness to Pay, andQuality of ServicesProject Leader: Shashanka Bhide (PrincipalInvestigator: Saurabh Bandyopadhyay)

    Ministry of Railways, New Delhi

    24. Monitoring and Evaluation of Off-GridSolar Photovoltaic Systems Installed during200708, 200809, and 200910: Experienceof Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh,Assam, amil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, andMeghalaya*Project Leader: Shashanka Bhide (PrincipalInvestigator: arujyoti Buragohain)

    Ministry of New and RenewableEnergy, New Delhi

    25. Data Support through Half-yearly Surveysfor Residex: An Index of Residential PropertyPrices*Project Leader: Shashanka Bhide

    National Housing Bank,New Delhi

    26. Collection of Data on Housing PropertyPrices in Selected Cities 201112

    Project Leader: Shashanka Bhide

    National Housing Bank,New Delhi

    27. NDPC Study on Fiscal Issues and AllocativeEfficiencyProject Leader: Rajesh Chadha

    National ransport DevelopmentPolicy Committee, New Delhi

    28. Economic Impact of Ratnagiri RefineryProject Leader: Aradhna Aggarwal

    Hindustan PetroleumCorporation Ltd, Mumbai

    29. Study of Kerosene Dealers Commission*Project Leader: Anushree Sinha

    Hindustan PetroleumCorporation Ltd, Mumbai

    30. E-Readiness Assessment of States/Us forthe Year 201112Project Leader: R. Venkatesan

    Department of Informationechnology, Ministry ofCommunications and Informationechnology, New Delhi

    S.No.

    Programme/Project* Sponsor (s)

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    31. e-Development Index*Project Leader: R. Venkatesan

    Department of Informationechnology, Ministry ofCommunications andInformation echnology,New Delhi

    32. Measure the Impact and Economic Benefitsof Ministry of Earth Science ServicesProject Leader: R. Venkatesan

    Ministry of Earth Science,New Delhi

    33. Comprehensive Study of Cement SectorProject Leader: Kanhaiya Singh

    Cement ManufacturersAssociation, Noida

    34. Cable Distribution Network in Smallowns of Madhya Pradesh*Project Leader: Saurabh Bandyopadhyay

    Star India Pvt. Ltd and StarDen Media Services Pvt. Ltd,Mumbai

    35. Preparing a Comprehensive Publication onelecom Sector in India

    Project Leader: Bornali Bhandari

    elecom Regulatory Authority ofIndia, New Delhi

    36. NSDI Data Dissemination ProjectProject Leader: J.M. Chawla

    National Spatial DataInfrastructure, Department ofScience and echnology,New Delhi

    37. Agricultural Outlook and SituationAnalysis for Food SecurityProject Leader: Shashanka Bhide

    National Food Security MissionCell, Department of Agricultureand Cooperation, New Delhi

    38. Incorporating International Best Practicesin the Preparation of Agricultural Outlook

    and Situation Analysis Reports for India(PhaseI)Project Leader: Shashanka Bhide

    FAO, New Delhi

    39. National Bank for Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (NABARD) ChairProject Leader: Anil Sharma

    National Bank for Agricultureand Rural Development

    40. Indias Cotton Revolution: Outcomes andInsightsProject Leader: Anil Sharma

    Association of Biotech LedEnterprises, Bengaluru

    41. Food Grain Stocking Policy for India

    Project Leader: Shashanka Bhide andRajesh Chadha

    FAO, New Delhi

    S.No.

    Programme/Project* Sponsor (s)

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    42. Facilitating Efficient Agricultural Markets inIndia: An Assessment of Competition andRegulatory Reform Requirement IndianMarket for Onions*Project Leaders: Rajesh Chadha and ScottDavenport

    Australian Centre forInternational AgriculturalResearch, Canberra

    43. Estimation of Status of Degraded Forests inthe Impact Area of Indira Sagar Project andCost of Afforestation of Degraded Forests inMadhya Pradesh*Project Leader: Kanhaiya Singh

    Narmada Valley DevelopmentAuthority, Bhopal

    44. Structural ransformation of IndianAgriculture*Project Leaders: Hari K. Nagarajan andHans P. Binswanger

    Centennial Group International,USA

    45. Policy Instruments to Address Air PollutionIssues in Agriculture: Implications forHappy Seeder echnology Adoption inIndiaProject Leader: Pramod Kumar

    Australian Centre forInternational AgriculturalResearch, Australian HighCommission in India,New Delhi

    46. Prospects for Poverty Reduction in India*Project Leader: Shashanka Bhide

    Indian Institute of PublicAdministration, New Delhi

    47. Gender Dimensions of Social Cohesion inIndiaProject Leader: Anushree Sinha

    OECD, Paris

    48. Regional Knowledge and PartnershipNetworks for Poverty Reduction and InclusiveGrowth*Project Leader: Anushree Sinha

    Asian Development Bank,Manila

    49. India Human Development SurveyIIProject Leader: Sonalde Desai

    U.S. National Institutes ofHealth and Te Ford Foundation

    50. ransition to Adulthood in India IHDSIIProject Leader: Sonalde Desai

    U.S. National Institutes ofHealth

    51. Tird Census of Handloom Weavers andIssue of Photo Identity Cards to Weavers andAllied Workers 2010*Project Leader: Rajesh Shukla

    Development Commissioner(Handloom), Ministry ofextiles, New Delhi

    S.No.

    Programme/Project* Sponsor (s)

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    52. Building Policy Research Capacity forRural Governance and Growth in IndiaProject Leader: Hari K. Nagarajan

    IDRC, Ottawa

    53. Income, Expenditure, Saving, and InvestmentSurvey*

    Project Leader: Hari K. Nagarajan

    Securities and Exchange Boardof India, Mumbai

    54. Varieties of Governance: Effective PublicService DeliveryProject Leader: Hari K. Nagarajan

    Global Development Network,New Delhi

    55. Demographics and Readership of LiterateYouth in the North-Eastern States*Project Leader: Rajesh Shukla and PalashBaruah

    National Book rust, India,New Delhi

    56. Te National Survey of Household Incomeand Expenditure

    Project Leader: Amit Mookerjee

    NCAER

    S.No.

    Programme/Project* Sponsor(s)

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    By monitoring the economy during thecourse of the year, assessing prospectsfor growth over the medium term future,

    and analysing the specific policies andissues, these policies seek to address areas

    that may be broadly described as growth,trade, and economic management. Tese

    studies have been organised under this

    programme area. Undoubtedly, the issuesfaced by the economy in the past year, suchas slowdown of economic growth and high

    inflation, have been at the centre of policyconcern. Te external shocks have continued

    to influence the course of the economy ashas been the case with the Eurozone crisis

    that unfolded in 2011, which has continued

    in 2012.

    A number of studies during 201112have attempted to examine the issues

    affecting macroeconomic conditions.Quarterly Reports, such as the Quarterly

    Economic Reviewand the Quarterly Business

    Expectations Survey, and the monthly

    journal, Macrot rack have attempted toprovide analyses and information on

    the unfolding economic trends. In thecurrent year, NCAER has also taken up

    monitoring and assessment of prospects offood commodity outlook at the request of

    the Ministry of Agriculture. Quarterly and

    Semi-annual Agricultural Outlook Reportson the food sector will be brought out under

    the study.

    NCAER continued to provide forums forpublic discussion and interaction on the

    broad themes of macroeconomy, includingthe annual conferences of India Policy

    Forum and the NCAERNBERICRIERconference on the Indian economy.

    As in the previous five years, NCAER

    organised a panel discussion on the

    Union Budget in March 2012. Te headsand senior researchers of the Centre for

    Policy Research, India DevelopmentFoundation, Indian Council for Research

    on International Economic Relations,National Institute of Public Finance and

    Policy, and NCAER participated in the

    panel discussion.

    Te need to address issues of climate changeand environment, gender inclusive policies

    and state economies in a broad economy-wide framework are recognised in many of

    the studies undertaken by the Council.

    In addition, NCAER has also undertaken

    a study of alternative approaches to poolingland for urban development at the request

    of the Delhi Development Authority.

    Details of individual projects are givenbelow.

    1. India Policy Forum 201112*

    Sponsors: SBI, HDFC Ltd, RelianceIndustries Ltd, Citigroup, IDFC Ltd, andSAGE PublicationsEditors: Shekhar Shah, Barry Bosworth,and Arvind Panagariya

    he Eighth India Policy Forum (IPF)conference (organised jointly with theBrookings Institution, Washington, D.C.)

    was held in New Delhi during July 1213,

    Growth, Trade, and EconomicManagement

    * Programmes/projects completed during financial year 201112.

    RayWitlin/WorldBank

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    2011. Mr Montek S. Ahluwalia, DeputyChairman, Indian Planning Commission,delivered the eighth annual IPF lecture onTe Challenges for India in the 12th FiveYear Plan 201217. Te inaugural issue ofthe India Policy Forum annual publication(India Policy Forum 2004, Volume 1) waspublished in July 2005.

    Outcome:Te annual publication titled,India Policy Forum 2011/12, Volume 8,published in July 2012.

    2. Macrotrack Newsletter*

    Sponsors:NCAER and annual subscribersProject eam:Bornali Bhandari, ShashankaBhide, Devender Pratap, Sudesh Bala, andPraveen Sachdeva

    Contributors: Ishan Bakshi, BornaliBhandari, Shashanka Bhide, arujyotiBuragohain, Rajesh Chadha, SonaldeDesai, Charu Jain, Rupinder Kaur, RajeshJaiswal, Sharmistha Nag, ushar K. Nandi,Geethanjali Nataraj, Purna Chandra Parida,Sohini Paul, Jayanthi Raman, RachnaSharma, Anushree Sinha, Anjali andon,and R. Venkatesan

    NCAER publishes this newsletter everymonth. It provides commentaries on issuesfacing the economy based on analyses by

    NCAER researchers. It also includes thelatest statistical indicators of the Indianeconomy.

    Outcome:Te journal,Macrotrackpublishedevery month.

    3. Quarterly Business Expectations

    Survey*

    Sponsors: NCAER and MasterCardWorldwideProject eam: Purna Chandra Parida,

    Shashanka Bhide, and Charu Jain

    Te objective of this survey is to delivera quantitative quarterly assessment ofthe business sentiments of the economy.Te business sentiments of the economyhave been explained through compilingtwo important macro indicators: BusinessConfidence Index and Political ConfidenceIndex. hese two indices are calculatedusing a number of component indicatorson which data are collected through survey

    in the business sector. Our sample sizecovers more than 500 firms across six cities Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune,and Mumbai. Te year 201112 showedcontinuous decline in business confidenceindex due to slowing down of economicgrowth. Political confidence index also fellsignificantly especially in the second halfof 201112.

    Outcome: Dissemination of quarterlyreports to the public as well as subscribers of

    Quarterly Review of the Economy. NCAERMasterCard Worldwide Index of BusinessConfidence is also cited in the quarterlyMacroeconomic Reviews of the ReserveBank of India.

    4. Quarterly Review of the Economy*

    Sponsors:NCAER and annual subscribersProject eam: Geethanjali Nataraj,Shashanka Bhide, Sudesh Bala, and PraveenSachdeva

    he QRE prov id es a comprehens ivereview of developments in the economy in

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    agriculture, industry, services, trade, finance,prices, public finance, and macroeconomicsectors. Te reports also provide annualmacroeconomic forecasts.

    A review of the economy is prepared eachquarter and provided to the subscribers ofthe Review and to the media. Te subscribersare also invited to a quarterly presentation

    on the state of the economy at NCAER.Contributors: Anil Sharma, RajeshChadha, Shashanka Bhide, Purna ChandraParida, Bornali Bhandari, GeethanjaliNataraj, Devender Pratap, Anjali andon,Sourabh Bikas Paul, and Monisha Grover

    Expert Commentators at QuarterlyReview Seminars

    Anil Bisen, Advisor, Ministry of FinanceUlrich Bartsch, Te World Bank

    Rajiv Kumar, Secretary General, FICCIRamesh Chand, Director, NCAPSunil Jain, Financial ExpressMythili Bhusnurmath, Institute of SocialStudies rust and Columnist, Te EconomicimesAbhijit Sengupta, Asian Development Bank

    Special Presentations

    Sanjaya Panth, International Monetary FundAbhijit Sengupta, Asian Development BankN.R. Bhanumurthy, NIPFP

    Outcome: Quarterly discussions on theeconomy provide a forum for interactionamong the readers of Quarterly Review ofthe Economy, invited experts, and NCAERresearchers. he Review is also madeavailable to the public through press andthe articles are often cited by media.

    5. Mid-Year Review of the Economy

    201112*

    Sponsors: NCAER and hink-ankInitiativeProject eam: Shashanka Bhide, Anil

    Sharma, Rajesh Chadha, Hari K. Nagarajan,Geethanjali Nataraj, Bornali Bhandari,Anjali andon, Devender Pratap, PurnaChandra Parida, and Charu Jain

    Objectives: o provide a comprehensivereview of the economy for 201112.

    Status: he review was presented onNovember 5, 2011 at the India International

    Centre. Te report will be published in 2012.

    6. Macroeconomic Modelling for theEleventh Five Year Plan and Beyond

    Sponsor: IndianPlanning CommissionProject eam:Purna Chandra Parida andShashanka Bhide

    Te objective of this project is to developcapacity for analysing issues on economicgrowth and welfare under a variety of

    policy choices in government spending inthe provision of public goods and othermeasures that influence the course of themacro-economy. In order to examine theabove issues, we use a comprehensive annualeconometric model. Under this project, asmall structural quarterly econometric modelhas also been developed for forecastingaggregate sectoral level GDP growth.

    Outcome:Te macro-econometric modeldeveloped under the project has been used

    to provide simulation scenarios relating toimpact of international oil prices, worseningglobal economic growth, managed currentaccount and fiscal balance and the impactof Middle East crisis on economic growthprospects of the Indian economy.

    7. Five-Institute Budget Seminar onUnion Budget 201213*

    Sponsor:Te World Bank, New DelhiProject eam:Shekhar Shah and ShashankaBhide

    Te Union Budget provides an annual andunique opportunity to focus attention on the

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    Indian economy and how government policyaffects the lives of Indias billion plus people.

    NCAER organised the seventh annualpanel discussion to analyse the Budgetproposals for 201213. Te panel includedspeakers from Centre for Policy Research,India Development Fund, Indian Councilfor Research on International EconomicRelations, National Institute of Public

    Finance and Policy, and NCAER. hediscussion was moderated by .N. Ninan,Business Standard.

    Outcome:Panel Discussion completed.

    8. Evaluation of Alternative Models ofLand Pooling and Development in NCTof Delhi

    Sponsor: Delhi Development Authority,NC of Delhi

    Project eam: Shashanka Bhide, D.B.Gupta, ushar Nandi, A.K. Jain, D.V. Sethi,Nikita Jain, and Rajinder SinghObjectives:Te study will examine financialviability of alternative models of landpooling for development of urban extensionsin Delhi with a view to encourage privateparticipation in provision of land andaffordable housing. Te study will attemptto evaluate three alternative models of landpooling and development on the basis ofrealistic land values, market trends, landholding costs during the project period,admin charges, promotional charges, taxes,

    approval expenses, and realistic sale priceof built up area. Te alternative modelswi ll al so include parameters that thegovernment may consider necessary toachieve land development.

    Status: Te study is based on review ofvarious other experiences of land pooling inother states and regions, analysis of the three

    proposed models for Delhi, and collection ofdata on various parameters that determineeconomic viability of the models. Te studyhas completed review of other experiences,set up the basis analytical framework foranalysing economic viability, and compileddata on the various parameters of the model.Different scenarios are being analysedbased on the criterion of internal rate ofreturn. Te preliminary findings have beenpresented to the sponsor at different stages.

    9. Emerging Market Economies andG20*

    Sponsor:BP India LtdProject eam:Shekhar Shah, Rajesh Chadha,Bornali Bhandari, Geethanjali Nataraj,Anjali andon, and Sourabh Bikas Paul

    On October 19, 2011, singhua UniversityCenter for China in the World Economy(CCWE) and Reinventing Bretton WoodsCommittee, with the support of China

    ExportImport Bank; the Centre forEconomic and Financial Research, Russia;the National Council of Applied EconomicResearch, India; and British Petroleumco-hosted a senior-level internal forumon emerging economies, the G20 andglobal financial architecture. he forumfeatured more than 50 invited participantsrepresenting academic, industry andgovernment communities, mainly fromBRIC countries and Europe. Te chairmanand president of China ExportImportBank delivered a keynote speech at theopening session.

    CurtC

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    10. ColumbiaNCAER Conferenceon Trade, Poverty, Inequality andDemocracy*

    Sponsor:Columbia University, New YorkProject eam:Rajesh Chadha and Anjaliandon

    Te ColumbiaNCAER Conference washeld during March 31April 1, 2011 in

    New Delhi. It was highly applauded forthe academic quality and richness of thepapers. About 100 people participated inthe conference.

    A special lecture on Aadhaar and itsRole in Inclusive Growth by Mr NandanNilekani, Chairman, UIDAI, India andPresident, NCAER, was organised onApril 1, 2011. About 175 people, includingeminent personalities from the academia,government, politics, NGOs, private sector,

    and media attended the talk.

    11. Indias Tryst with Destiny: DebunkingMyths that Undermine Progress andAddressing New Challenges*

    Sponsor: School of International andPublic Affairs, Columbia UniversityProject eam: Rajesh Chadha, Anjaliandon, and Sourabh Bikas Paul

    On January 5, 2012, NCAER and

    the Institute for Social and EconomicResearch and Policy (ISERP), ColumbiaUniversity organised pre-publicationdiscussion on Indias ryst with Destiny:Debunking Myths and Addressing NewChallenges, forthcoming book by ProfessorsJagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariyaof Columbia University at the IndiaInternational Centre, New Delhi. Te eventwas attended by more than 50 distinguishedinvited participants. Arvind Panagariyamade a presentation on the book. Panelistsfor discussion included Shekhar Shah, .N.Ninan, B.J. Panda, Bibek Debroy, Manish

    Sabharwal, James Lamont, Vikas Bajaj, andRajesh Chadha.

    12. The Impact of Parallel Imports ofBooks, Films, Music, and Softwareon the Indian Economy with SpecialReference to Students

    Sponsor: Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment, New Delhi

    Project eam: Rajesh Chadha, Anjaliandon, and Sourabh Bikas Paul

    Objectives:he Indian Copyright Act(1957) prohibits parallel imports of books,films/music and software. Te Copyright(Amendment) Bill 2010 seeks to insert thefollowing proviso to Section 2 of the Act:Provided that a copy of a work publishedin any country outside India with thepermission of the author of the work andimported from that country into Indiashall not be deemed to be an infringingcopy. Te proposed study would undertakecost-benefit analysis for the producers andconsumers if parallel imports are allowedin India.

    Status:Literature survey completed.

    13. Impact Study of Indias InsuranceAwareness Campaign*

    Sponsor: Insurance Regulatory andDevelopment Authority, HyderabadProject eam: Anushree Sinha, Rajesh

    RayWitlin/WorldBank

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    Jaiswal, Rakesh Srivastava, Barun Deb Pal,and Kalicharan Shukla

    Te objectives of the proposed survey wereto: (a) study and analyse the awareness levelsof the insured population regarding theirrights as per the Act, policyholder protectionregulations, different types of insurancesuch as life insurance including the term,premium, endowment, ULIPs, health

    insurance, general insurance includinghousehold items, and levels of protectionavailable for various types of insurance; (b)study and analyse the awareness levels ofthe uninsured on the need for insurance,types of insurance available, insuranceinterest, benefits of insurance, benefitsof ULIP investment; and (c) generate asocioeconomic profile of the insured anduninsured population by various socio-economic parameters like religion, caste,

    income, occupation, age, literacy levels,family size, etc.

    14. An InputOutput Table for Gujaratwith New Green Industries*

    Sponsor: International Labour Organi-sation, BangkokProject eam: Anushree Sinha, RajeshJa iswa l, Ka li charan Shukla, AvantikaPrabhakar, and Sadhana Singh

    Te objective of this project is to analyse

    job creation and growth potential of thestate of Gujarat using both secondaryand primary data sources. Te effort is to

    analyse such data for two purposes. Firstis to prepare an InputOutput (IO) tablefor the state for the year 200910. Secondis to use the IO table for policy analysislike projection of output and employmentgrowth. Further this analysis examinesthe degree of impact of exogenous factorson output of a particular sector or allsectors through different multiplier effects.Tree of the most frequently used typesof multiplier estimate the impacts of theexogenous changes on (a) outputs of thesectors in the economy (output multiplier),(b) income earned by households becauseof the new outputs (income multiplier),and (c) employment that is expected tobe generated because of the new output(employment multiplier).

    15. Initiative on Gender-Inclusive Macro-

    economic Policy Management

    Sponsor:United Nations DevelopmentProgramme, New DelhiProject eam: Anushree Sinha, RajeshJaiswal, Kalicharan Shukla, and SadhanaSingh

    Te major objective of this programme isto initiate inclusive gender macroeconomicpolicy makings. In reality, very few policiesare gender-neutral. When policy makersclaim a policy is gender-neutral, theyare usually being gender-blind. Genderinequality can constrain outcomes ofmacroeconomic policy. Gender policies canhinder womens ability to develop humanresources. Economic policy analysis requiresdefining the instruments of policy. Economicpolicy analysis examines the effects of policychanges on prices, taxes and subsidies, directinterventions, trade policy, and exchangerate policy. Gender mainstreaming shouldbe applied to economic policy analysis, in

    which the ultimate goal is to achieve genderequality. Policy makers want policy briefsthat justify what they are doing.

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    16. Evaluation of Functioning of theTribal Research Institute in Assam*

    Sponsor:Ministry of ribal Affairs, NewDelhiProject eam:Shashanka Bhide, arujyotiBuragohain, and D.B. Gupta

    Te objectives of the study were: (a) tounderstand the institutional capacity;(b) profile of manpower; (c) profile ofinfrastructure including building andstatus of the library; (d) to study the type ofresearch undertaken over the years, and toassess whether these studies have practicalbearing on improving the socioeconomicconditions of Ss in the last three years;(e) to assess the capacity of the institute topromote and preserve tribal heritage/culturefor North-eastern Region as a whole; and(f) to review capacity building for upkeep

    of museums in Assam.

    Te study finds that, the Assam Institute ofResearch for ribal and Scheduled Castes(AIRSC) with an area of about 43,200sq. ft has its own campus in Jawaharnagar,Guwahati and it is located on the outskirtsof the main city. Te Institute with a carpetarea of 24,000 sq. ft is a three-storiedbuilding comprising two wings.

    Te library with nearly 9000 books and

    documents, mainly on Schedule ribesand Schedule Castes, has a separate areafor stacking books as well as a fairly decentsized reading room. Te library has beensubscribing four Journals and 200250books every year.

    he museum has preserved a variety ofartifacts reflecting the socioreligious andsocioeconomic aspects of the multi-ethnicgroups in Assam.

    he staff members are not sufficiently

    motivated due to lack of incentives especiallyon promotion. Te research staff lackedadequate opportunities for training abroad

    with a view to improve and upgrade theirskills.

    Status: Final report submitted to theMinistry of ribal Affairs in November 2011.

    17. Study on Unaccounted Income andWealth Inside and Outside India

    Sponsor:Central Board of Direct axes,

    New DelhiProject eam:Kanhaiya Singh

    Objectives of the Study are: (a) to assess/survey unaccounted income and wealthboth inside and outside the country, (b) toprofile the nature of activities engenderingmoney laundering both inside and outsidethe country with its ramifications onnational security, (c) to identify importantsectors of economy in which unaccounted

    money is generated and examine the causesand conditions that result in generationof unaccounted money, (d) to examinethe methods employed in generation ofunaccounted money and conversion ofthe same into accounted money, (e) tosuggest ways and means for detection andprevention of unaccounted money andbringing the same into the mainstream ofeconomy, and (f) to estimate the quantumof non-payment of tax due to evasion byregistered corporate bodies.

    18. Think-Tank Initiative

    Sponsor:Tink-ank Initiative funded byWilliam and Flora Hewlett Foundation,Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, DFIDUK, DGIS Netherlands, and IDRC CanadaProject eam:Anil Sharma and ShekharShah

    he hink-ank Ini tiative is a multi-donor programme designed to strengthen

    independent policy research institutionsto enable these institutions to provideobjective, high-quality research that both

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    informs and influences policies. Te lowlevel of assured core support constrains theCouncil to generate resources needed forinvestment either in staff or infrastructure,and does not allow the institution tomake the desired impact on shapingpolicy. o achieve this objective the grantfrom the hink-ank Initiative will be

    used for laying the foundation for muchneeded improvements in strengtheningindependent in-house research, improvingorganisational performance, and creatingstructures and an environment for policylinkages, communication and outreach.

    19. Second Tourism Satellite Accountsfor India

    Sponsor:Ministry of ourism, New DelhiProject eam:Ramesh Kolli, Poonam

    Munjal, Amit Sharma, Kiran Sheokand,and Pravin Kumar

    Objectives:(1) o prepare second ourismSatellite Accounts (SA) for India for200910 in compliance with the UNWOs latest recommended methodologyframework (RMF 2008). Te second SAwill comprise of all the 10 recommendedtables, only seven of which were preparedin the first SA. Te first SA for Indiafor 200203 was also prepared by NCAER.

    (2) o develop a detailed methodology forworking out the contribution of tourism

    in GDP and employment that will helpthe Ministry to compile the estimates ofaggregates pertaining to tourism for theintervening period between the second andthird SAs. (3) o prepare SA for twostates Kerala and MP.

    Te main responsibilities involve givingguidance and directions to the SA

    research team which is working on largescale NSS data on domestic tourismsurvey, employment, unemployment, andconsumption expenditure surveys as wellas ISI conducted international passengersurvey; obtaining and compiling otherdata requirements from NAD, CSOand the Sate Economic and StatisticsDepartments; interacting with officials ofMo and CSO and organising AdvisoryCommittee meetings, when required; givingpresentations to the committee memberswhen asked for; and writing report.

    Status: Extraction and analysis of dataof Domestic ourism Survey surveyconducted by NSSO completed. heanalysis of International Passenger Survey isbeing carried out. Tese two surveys are theprerequisites for preparing SA. Further,tourism-specific supply and use table, asrecommended in RMF 2008, is beingprepared. Te final report will be submittedin November 2012 and the state SAreports will be submitted in December 2012.

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    India has been one of the leading enginesof growth in the world economy duringthe last decade. It has weathered the recentmajor global economic crisis with resilience,with the second highest GDP growthrate globally even though the rate hasdecelerated in the last couple of years. Tekey concern is about the Indian economyperforming well below its potential. Eventhough investments in infrastructure haveproceeded, the economy seems to havehit a roadblock arising from a deficit inphysical infrastructure and in the paceand direction of economic reforms. Tereis an urgent need to impart a major pushto the investment climate so as to attractnew domestic and foreign investments inphysical infrastructure including power,roads, ports, airports, telecom, urban, andagricultural supply chains.

    NCAER has been on the forefront of provi-ding support to the efforts by the governmenton issues of building, maintaining, contracting,and financing physical infrastructure. It wasin 1996 that NCAER came out with alandmark study titled India InfrastructureReport: Policy Imperatives for Growth andWelfare, one of the first comprehensiveassessments of the infrastructure deficit thathad been allowed to develop over the years.Ever since then NCAER has contributed a

    number of important studies and reports ontopics including energy, telecom, transportand rural infrastructure. Some highlights ofthe studies this past year follow.

    One of the recent studies on seekingefficiency and excellence in the projectimplementation in infrastructure haslooked at the success and failure factorsin 16 case studies of the implementationof infrastructure projects in India.Te study points to an improving trend inperformance, although the targets set stillremain well above actual performance.

    Another study has assessed the impact ofairlines operations on the economy usinga case study of the Emirates Airlines. Testudy has identified quantitative effectsof airline operations in the form of directeconomic contributions, multiplier effectson output and employment, and inducedeffects on tourism. In the aviation sector,we have also done a study of the economicimpact of Delhi Airport and have startednew study of Hyderabad Airport, both usinginput-output analysis.

    Railways are a lifeline of the Indian economy.NCAER is currently looking at the demandfor rail passenger travel, willingness topay, and the quality of services. hisstudy aims to examine implications of achange in tariffs for passenger rail travelusing passenger and household surveys.In future, it will be necessary for the Railwaysto consider more of such passenger surveysto understand customer needs and to pricerail travel in efficient and equitable ways tobalance increased user access, convenience,timeliness, and comfort with the objective ofincreasing passenger revenues and makingthe railways more self-sustainable.

    A study on fiscal issues and allocativeefficiency of the transport sector in Indiahas recently been submitted to the Nationalransport Development Policy Committee.Te study provides a detailed documentationof the complex tax regime faced by alltransport sectors road, rail, air, and water.It suggests that reform simplifying the

    The Investment Climate, Physical and

    Economic Infrastructure

    * Programmes/projects completed during financial year 201112.

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    existing tax regime facing the sectors wouldprovide a big impetus to economic growthand welfare.

    NCAER has been prominent in its work onIC, particularly in developing e-readinessbenchmarks for states suggesting thereadiness for value creation opportunitiesfor firms, government, and consumers.It has since then developed a comprehensive

    index of e-development based on severalcomponents that suggest the extent ofdigital success that a state h