Socio Economic Impact of Mobile Telephony in India - Rajat Kathuria and Team 

When mobile telephones were first launched in India in 1995, no one would have imagined their rapid diffusion in the economy, especially in the last five years.    If someone had told the policy makers that India would boast of 500 million mobiles by 2010, they would have ridiculed the optimism and dismissed the claim as being beyond our reach. Not only does this number appear achievable, there is a serious possibility that the target will be surpassed.  Previous research has shown the high correlation between telecom infrastructure and GDP, especially in developing countries where mobile phones are the cheaper and sometimes only means of access and connectedness.  In India too, mobiles have become the preferred mode of access, and while there is anecdotal evidence on its impact along economic and social dimensions, no rigorous quantifiable impacts are available in this regard.  This study will attempt to bridge this gap using secondary data as well as survey based evidence to assess the impact of increasing mobile penetration across rural and urban areas.

In rural areas, the focus will be to assess the impact of mobile phones on agricultural productivity, since about 60% of India ’s population is dependent on agriculture. This study will provide evidence of mobile on farmer’s decisions relating to choice of crops, selling, pesticide use, adoption of new technology and seeds.  Comparison of information available through traditional means will enable us to unpick the additional value of mobiles.  The social impact will be studied with a focus n urban slums while mobile use in enhancing and strengthening the supply chain for SMEs will be explored through detailed case studies. Finally the study will identify factors that constrain emergence of new and innovative business models using the mobile platform and offer policy recommendations to further exploit the potential of mobile telephony.  The study is expected to be completed in early 2009.

Trade in Services for the proposed India – EU Free Trade Agreement

India and the European Union (EU) have started negotiations on a Trade and Investment Agreement. In this context, The Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, has commissioned a study to ICRIER which examines India’s current and future trade possibilities with the EU member countries in thirteen services sectors. These include accountancy, financial, telecommunication, information technology, environmental, energy, postal and express delivery, R&D, health, construction and consultancy, audio-visual, logistic and legal services. Each sector study is conducted by sector experts. The study will also identify the trade barriers faced by Indian companies in the EU and EU companies in India in the selected sectors and suggest negotiating strategies for India. It will analyse the commitments made by the EU and India in the WTO and other bilateral/regional agreements. Finally, sector specific reforms will be discussed.    

Studies on the Development Experience of the People’s Republic of China and India

ICRIER is engaged in a research programme that looks into the respective development experiences of India and China for gathering important lessons. The programme involves Indian researchers studying some specific sectors in China (e.g. mass-manufacturing, infrastructure, labour market and SOE reforms) and vice-versa. The programme is being sponsored by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and is actively promoted by the Governments on both sides.

Convergence towards Regional Integration between the EU and India- Trade Implications for India and UK

The 1990s decade saw a rapid increase in the trade flows between the European Union (EU) and India . The EU was India ’s largest partner accounting for one-fifths of its total trade whereas India was the EU’s tenth largest partner. In terms of bilateral trade flows, the UK accounted for India ’s fourth largest trading partner in goods. The proposed EU-India FTA will lead to deeper integration in the trade of goods and services and at the same time it is being debated whether FTA will truly be a binding block for trading partners in the light of existing non tariff barriers to trade and its potential to impede the benefits of the partner countries. Against this background, the present study attempts to identify the non tariff barriers that at present impede trade between India and UK in the goods sector-particularly Leather and Textiles

Implications of Bilateral Agreements in South Asia on SAFTA

This study is analysing the implications of bilateral FTAs for SAFTA of the SAARC member countries.  It will examine the key features of various bilateral FTAs in terms of the extent of tariff concessions, time span for phasing out tariffs, negative lists, rules of origin and dispute settlement. It will also evaluate the gains accruing to partner countries engaged in various bilateral FTAs and under SAFTA.  It will be carried out using both qualitative and quantitative techniques.

The Global Trading and Financial Systems: Multilateralism of the World Trade Organisation Versus Regionalism

Countries are turning their attention to Free/regional trade agreements (RTAs/FTAs), which they perceive would yield political, social and economic benefits. For SAARC countries various studies have indicated that the SAFTA process is not very effective as compared to other RTAs like ASEAN, MERCOSUR, etc. in augmenting intra-regional trade. SAFTA has been relatively a failure. Is it because of economic reasons or other than economic ones? If it is because of economic reasons, what are they, if not, what action at other front (political front) needs to be taken? These are some of the issues which need to be examined at micro level. Over the longer period, trade liberalization could result in positive spillover of institutional knowledge which could make domestic reforms more credible. The research is thus expected to break new grounds in analyzing the issues of regional/multilateral trade liberalization at micro level.