India Today Conclave 2012: Pranab Mukherjee to speak on economy of the future.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is rated as one of the best minds in the Manmohan Singh government and has succeeded in steering the Indian economy to one of the fastest growth rates in the world at a time when the western economies had collapsed and soaring international prices of crude and other essential imports have fuelled domestic inflation.

Mukherjee, who will address the India Today conclave on Saturday in an exclusive debriefing on the Union Budget which he would have presented the previous day, rose to the occasion during the global economic meltdown with a bold fiscal policy that enabled India to spend its way out of the crisis as allocations to big infrastructure projects in highways, ports and power plants were stepped up. Pranab Babu as he is popularly called remains the government's chief political troubleshooter and his debriefing will also provide a macro view on how he sees India as an economy of the future.

He also placed more money in the hands of consumers by scaling down income tax rates and cut excise duties on goods such as cars, refrigerators and TV sets so that prices remained within the reach of buyers and factories could keep up production.

Various tax concessions given to exporters helped them to keep afloat and earn precious foreign exchange as they were able to diversify into markets outside Europe and the USA where the demand for Indian goods had crashed in the wake of the economic meltdown.

It goes to his credit that foreign direct investment has continued to flow into the country despite the slowdown worldwide and the country has ample foreign exchange reserves to finance imports at a time when international oil prices are going through the roof.

However, Mukherjee's role in the government does not stop at being a successful finance minister as he brings with him a wealth of experience and understanding of the country's complex politics woven in a diverse web of caste, creed and regional diversity.

He also wears the mantle of being the Congress Party's real politik manager when it comes to dealing with temperamental coalition partners or a hostile and intractable opposition.

The most complicated of policy decisions confronting the UPA government whether it be related to land acquisition, telecom, mining, the oil sector or the need for sugar exports are always passed on to a group ministers invariably headed by Pranab Mukherjee to take the final call.

His parliamentary career spans over four decades beginning as a Rajya Sabha member from the Congress Party in 1969. He made his debut in the council of ministers as deputy minister of industry in 1973.

Mukherjee rose rapidly through rungs to become the Finance Minister for the first time in 1982 to 1984. His term was noted for India not withdrawing the last $ 1 billion installment of an IMF loan as he managed to turn the Indian economy around and was adjudged as the best Finance Minister of the World by Euro money magazine in 1984.

It was also during Mukherjee's first term as Finance Minister that Dr Manmohan Singh was appointed the RBI Governor, a post that proved crucial in his journey into the corridors of power.

In the last 28 years, Mukherjee has been at the helm of all important ministries which apart from finance include shipping, commerce and industry, defence and external affairs.

Mukherjee, of course, has had his share of the rough and tumble of politics as he was not included in Rajiv Gandhi's cabinet after the Lok Sabha elections following Indira Gandhi's assassination.

He went into political wilderness at this juncture as the political party that he had floated drew a blank in the West Bengal elections. However with VP Singh mounting an offensive against Rajiv Gandhi from within, Mukherjee was rehabilitated in the Congress in 1989.

His political career revived when PV Narasimha Rao became Prime Minister and appointed him as deputy chairman of the planning commission and later a Union cabinet minister. Mukherjee served as External Affairs Minister for the first time from 1995 to 1996 in Rao's cabinet. In 1997, he was voted outstanding Parliamentarian.

His sagacity is much needed at this crucial juncture when Euro Zone jitters are impacting the Indian economy adversely. An overhang of corruption scandals and judicial activism has meant that India's investment climate has been impacted adversely with growth rates plummeting. All ears at the India Today conclave will try and glean new insights on the state of the economy from his debriefing.

Source : indiatoday.intoday.in