Subsidies In India
The Indian government has ,since Independence, subsidised many industries and products, from petrol to food. Loss-making state-owned enterprises are assisted by the government and farmers are given access to free electricity. Overall, a 2005 article by International Herald Tribune stated that subsidies amounted to 14% of GDP. As much as 39% of subsidized kerosene is stolen.
On the other hand, India spends relatively little on education, health, or infrastructure. Urgently needed infrastructure investment has been much lower than in China. According to the UNESCO, India has the lowest public expenditure on higher education per student in the world.
India's vast subsidies have been severely criticised by the World Bank as iallegedly ncreasing economic inefficiency.
However, this argument against subsidies in India does not consider the fact that just agricultural and fisheries subsidies form over 40% of the EU budget (see Agricultural subsidy) although in Europe only fraction of the people compared to India will be affected. This fact is also true of United States and most other Western countries.
Read more about Subsidies In India: Introduction, Subsidy Issues in India, Methodology For Estimation of Subsidies in India, Subsidies of State Governments, Centre and States: Aggregate Budget-based Subsidies, Benefits of Subsidies, Agenda For Reform
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