The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013 (hereinafter referred as the “Land Act’) is a significant step towards bringing in socio-economic balance in land acquisition which is critical to the industrial growth paradigm in India. We would like to commend the efforts of the Ministry of Rural Development, for its efforts in making the Land Act a reality. Based on our research findings, we suggest policy propositions, which in our honest assessment, could ensure that the law is made effective in its implementation. We would like to humbly put forth our observations as an independent research group, which we came across in the course of our recently released research study, in collaboration with GIZ, “Fair Pricing of Land and its Compensation in an Emerging Economy: Case for India”. The study, based on an empirical analysis of land prices over a period of thirty years, proposes an alternative pricing approach over the existing method of the circle rates. We believe such an approach is fair, scientifically defensible and will also leverage the government's present efforts of computerisation of land records, which in itself is a milestone. Our Report can be viewed under the Reports Section at our website. Based on the research findings, we consider that using the circle rates as a basis to arrive at the compensation of land is not consistent with the economic realities of the day. This essentially creates a disharmony between the original owner of the land and one willing to buy it.

We present a thought paper on Social Sector Fund/ Social Venture Funds as defined in the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) - Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) Regulations to be included as an eligible investment to be covered as a permissible activity for CSR spending. We believe that this will align the overall goals of the Government in relation to its commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and will bring in desired social outcomes that are envisaged through an effective implementation of Schedule VII of the Companies Bill 2011.

Why is there a need to go back to the basic concepts of demand today? It is not because this will provide solutions to the economic problems embedded in the world of speculation and arbitrage, whether for real goods and services or for financial products including derivatives. It rather attempts to provide a direction and guidance with the aid of analytical tools that is based on a disequilibrium framework to understand the dynamics of the market. The principle of equilibrium in economics deals with the relationship between aggregate demand and supply of products and services in a market. Equilibrium of prices is established when the aggregate of demand and supply is matched. Hence any price above the equilibrium price creates a surplus of quantity and conversely at a price below the equilibrium creates a shortage. Real world never operates in a perfect equilibrium and hence the process of optimum price discovery is critical for all of us. Though these principles are based on theories of classical economist, Keynes, there are shortcomings even today and one hopes to develop new analytical tools to study consumer of enterprise behavior

India’s dreams of becoming a global manufacturing giant seem to have met with massive and rather unforeseen challenges. Local and foreign investment proposals came in droves in strong appreciation of the opportunities in the country. But, today, a closer look at the investment projects, in implementation or on the drawing board, there is huge disappointment with near total uncertainty about the conditions surrounding them. The situation is not so bad for small or even medium sized manufacturing units. It was not so good about them in the past too. But, they are still on course helped and driven by the expanding market. But, the large projects, most of them, whether related to manufacturing, infrastructure or real estate are passing through a very difficult period. Tatas or Adanis or Reliance have not been able to set up their Ultra Mega Power Projects, the massive steel projects of POSCO, Arcelor Mittal Steel, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, etc.. have either been given up or held on with the investors hoping against hope for some miracle to happen and change the day for them some time.

In the wake of the Satyam Computers scandal there has been a renewed interest in the management of family owned businesses in India. While that was a case in accounting fraud, bribery and investment in an unrelated family business; and the importance of good governance practises in family run businesses, including the issues of dominant ownership, (lack of) independence of board and collusion with the audit firm; there is, separately a rising concern on the issues pertaining to the succession issues in Indian family run businesses. E.g. in the split of the Reliance Group between Anil and Mukesh Ambani after the demise of their father the creator of the group with a charismatic “rags to riches” story and acrimonious public mudsling between them as well as the much publicised debate over the lack of succession plans for Mr Ratan Tata when he turned 70. This paper will focus on the goals of family run businesses and the different approaches to succession planning that have been successful.