Defence – Waiting For The Final Push
A nation that can’t control its energy sources can’t control its future — Barack Obama
As the nation waits with bated breath the outcome of the general elections, the two mainstream political parties — the BJP and the Congress — recently unveiled their election manifestos.
The Congress has promised a massive cash dole scheme for the poorest — it promises a transfer of Rs 6,000 per month to those earning Rs 6,000 or less a month. The party says the scheme has been conceived after consulting many world-renowned economists, including Raghuram Rajan. Among other measures, the Congress promises to do away with angel tax for startups, and zero-registration for new businesses for the first three years.
The BJP, in keeping with its emphasis on farmers, promises to pay them pensions, and give them credit on low rates. The vision document is also rich in its thrust on national security — party’s ideological core.
In this issue of BW Businessworld, we present a comparison of the two documents, with experts weighing in the pros and cons of the two proposals.
While national security remains in focus, especially in light of Pulwama and Rafale episodes, it’s an opportune moment to ask — why has the defence sector, especially the private sector component of the same, failed to take off in India? We talk to leading private players in defence and find that they are waiting for the right kind of impetus to take off in earnest. While they will help us shed the tag of the world’s second-biggest arm importing nation, they will also contribute substantially to the GDP and create jobs.
Defence, then, is our cover story in this issue of BW Businessworld.
We did an interesting survey for this issue — which finds a cover mention.
The startup community is up in arms on a number of issues, not least because of angel tax. With both PM Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi promising them the moon, we asked the startup community what they thought of the duo and their policies. The results are revealing, as portrayed in the survey.
This is also the season of IPL, coinciding with the general elections. Unlike in the past, the IPL organisers consciously decided not to take the event outside the country, and what a spectacle it has been — it’s been houseful at most of the venues, notwithstanding the general elections.
This issue also has a story on the large market of counterfeit pesticides.
This issue comes with all other regular stories, features and columns.
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Happy reading!
