09-06-2004, 10:16 AM
Middlemen and touts are back in business after a gap of nearly five years.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Given the Opposition's obsession with the 'tainted' ministers, some of the questionable doings of Commerce Minister Kamal Nath seem to have escaped public scrutiny. As a result, he is said to have made the best of the opportunity to do very much what he pleases unmindful of any scruples.
Anyone remotely familiar with the goings-on in the corridors of Udyog Bhawan, which houses, among others, the Ministry of Commerce, would know that middlemen and touts are back in business after a gap of nearly five years. As proof, two specific cases of highly controversial decisions are often cited. If a dispassionate view is taken, both these decisions, involving the release of several hundred crores of rupees from the national exchequer, will be hard to justify.
The first pertains to the restoration of the cash incentives on steel exports. The previous Government had withdrawn the incentive following a sharp spurt in the price of steel in the domestic market. A slew of steel users associations had represented to the Government and carried out a sustained media campaign complaining against the inordinate rise in the price of steel, pleading that it had made their working highly uneconomical and, if it remained unchecked, it might lead to widespread industrial closures and, consequently, labour unrest. Steel prices had been marked up by a handful of producers in view of the rising exports to China and a few other countries.
Indeed, on the eve of the Lok Sabha election a couple of highly-placed representatives of the steel manufacturers' cartel had approached the BJP leaders seeking restoration of the export incentive in exchange for a very liberal contribution to the party's election kitty. The party did not bite the bait. And when quite unexpectedly the Congress Party replaced the BJP as the ruling party, sources in the Commerce Ministry insist, the steel cartel repeated the offer. And this time Nath readily agreed to restore the export incentive, even though there were no elections to be funded and no party coffers to be filled.
The second case pertains to the basmati rice development cess. A two per cent cess on basmati exports was imposed by the Commerce Ministry in the wake of attempts by a couple of foreign firms to usurp India's claim to the world - famous variety of rice. After a protracted campaign in the international fora, the sub-continent's proprietary claim on basmati variety of rice was duly upheld. By then the basmati development fund had grown to over Rs 30 crores and the rice exporters were pressing the Commerce Ministry to refund the same in proportion to each exporter's contribution.
At that time the considered view of the Commerce Ministry was that the fund should be used to further enrich and develop the growth of basmati. Therefore, it turned down the plea of the exporters to refund the amount thus collected. But once Nath took over as the Commerce Minister, it did not take long for the basmati exporters' cartel to get their way. Now they will be richer by over Rs 30 crores and, naturally, licked tongues in Udyog Bhawan haven't stopped wagging since the Minister initialed the controversial decision. Â
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Given the Opposition's obsession with the 'tainted' ministers, some of the questionable doings of Commerce Minister Kamal Nath seem to have escaped public scrutiny. As a result, he is said to have made the best of the opportunity to do very much what he pleases unmindful of any scruples.
Anyone remotely familiar with the goings-on in the corridors of Udyog Bhawan, which houses, among others, the Ministry of Commerce, would know that middlemen and touts are back in business after a gap of nearly five years. As proof, two specific cases of highly controversial decisions are often cited. If a dispassionate view is taken, both these decisions, involving the release of several hundred crores of rupees from the national exchequer, will be hard to justify.
The first pertains to the restoration of the cash incentives on steel exports. The previous Government had withdrawn the incentive following a sharp spurt in the price of steel in the domestic market. A slew of steel users associations had represented to the Government and carried out a sustained media campaign complaining against the inordinate rise in the price of steel, pleading that it had made their working highly uneconomical and, if it remained unchecked, it might lead to widespread industrial closures and, consequently, labour unrest. Steel prices had been marked up by a handful of producers in view of the rising exports to China and a few other countries.
Indeed, on the eve of the Lok Sabha election a couple of highly-placed representatives of the steel manufacturers' cartel had approached the BJP leaders seeking restoration of the export incentive in exchange for a very liberal contribution to the party's election kitty. The party did not bite the bait. And when quite unexpectedly the Congress Party replaced the BJP as the ruling party, sources in the Commerce Ministry insist, the steel cartel repeated the offer. And this time Nath readily agreed to restore the export incentive, even though there were no elections to be funded and no party coffers to be filled.
The second case pertains to the basmati rice development cess. A two per cent cess on basmati exports was imposed by the Commerce Ministry in the wake of attempts by a couple of foreign firms to usurp India's claim to the world - famous variety of rice. After a protracted campaign in the international fora, the sub-continent's proprietary claim on basmati variety of rice was duly upheld. By then the basmati development fund had grown to over Rs 30 crores and the rice exporters were pressing the Commerce Ministry to refund the same in proportion to each exporter's contribution.
At that time the considered view of the Commerce Ministry was that the fund should be used to further enrich and develop the growth of basmati. Therefore, it turned down the plea of the exporters to refund the amount thus collected. But once Nath took over as the Commerce Minister, it did not take long for the basmati exporters' cartel to get their way. Now they will be richer by over Rs 30 crores and, naturally, licked tongues in Udyog Bhawan haven't stopped wagging since the Minister initialed the controversial decision. Â
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