Economist Arvind Panagariya advocates for Kerala to foster a business-friendly environment, maximise Vizhinjam port potential, and push for public sector reforms to fuel economic growth and urban development.
Arvind Panagariya has urged Kerala to back policies that give entrepreneurs room to expand, saying the state should focus on creating conditions that let businesses choose the most productive opportunities. Speaking at an event organised by Kerala Lok Bhavan on urbanisation and growth, the chairman of the 16th Finance Commission said governments should avoid trying to second-guess private enterprise and instead concentrate on getting the policy framework right.
Panagariya also said Kerala should make better use of Vizhinjam international seaport, arguing that the port could support more economic activity if planners took a more imaginative approach. He suggested that the area could become a base for assembly operations, with components brought in, put together and sent back out for export.
The economist also returned to a longstanding theme in his policy work: the case for privatising public sector enterprises and public sector banks. According to his remarks, India does not need a large state banking sector, and greater reform should include a sharper push to sell government holdings and reduce the public sector’s footprint in commercial activity. That view is consistent with comments he has made elsewhere, including a recent interview in which he backed renewed disinvestment efforts and even proposed a separate privatisation ministry to speed the process.
Urbanisation, Panagariya said, is central to India’s ambitions of becoming a developed country by 2047. He argued that cities must be made more business-friendly and employment-friendly, and that policy should support “special employment regions” built around jobs. He also said land acquisition, building by-laws, conversion rules and the difficulty of buying urban land remain major obstacles. In his view, the concern that urban expansion will threaten agriculture is overstated, because built-up land accounts for only a small share of India’s total area. Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, who inaugurated the event, said urbanisation should grow from local roots and culture rather than simply importing Western models.
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