More Hardsell

IF hardsell was the hallmark of Chidambaram’s London visit, there was more when he flew in to Washington DC for the annual World Bank-IMF meet. Delivering his keynote address on the concluding day of the meet, Chidambaram made firm statements on public sector reforms, promising to cut the subsidy offered to them. "We have adopted dual standards to evaluate private sector projects—in the latter case, we have conveniently ignored hidden costs and subsidies. Traditionally, we have been used to informal arrangements between public monopolies: now we ask them to price their products commercially," he said.

Clearly, Chidambaram needs these strong words if he is to realise his target of doubling infrastructure investment by AD 2000 and trebling it over a decade. However, achieving these targets could be a long way off. "We do have to begin somewhere. What we are, in fact, doing is going through the learning curve," he said, admitting to the steep climb.

A climb he made tougher for himself, when he said he would like to see India’s infrastructure problem solved without government counter-guarantees. If the empty seats in the audience were any indication, Chidambaram’s trip may have fallen slightly short of the targets he had set for himself.