Summary

This book presents an empirically estimated applied general equilibrium model for India and the analysis of a wide range of policy issues carried out using the model. The various chapters in the book deal with public distribution policies, foreign trade and aid policies, rural works programmes, terms of trade policies, fertilizer subsidy policies and irrigation development policies. These policies are analysed in terms of their immediate and medium term effects on production, consumption and prices of different commodities, on the growth of the economy as well as on the distribution of income among different groups in rural and urban areas and the incidence of poverty in the economy. Each chapter dealing with policy analysis describes the analytical issues involved, the historical context and experience of the policy concerned, results of the model scenarios and the policy insights that emerge.