Summary

As part of the process of liberalisation, the Indian government has been trying during the 1990s to reduce if not eliminate all subsidies, leaving the market to decide as far as possible, prices at which such goods would be bought or sold. This effort has not been uniformly successful. The two difficulties have been with products and services consumed by the poor or by special interests like farmers, and others for which the liberalisation affects another vital sector. The most successful has been telecommunications, with vast growth potential, much unsatisfied demand, consumers who can ...