JBIMS proudly presents Strategym 2013 [/b]scheduled to be held at the Convocation Hall, University of Mumbai on 12th March 2013. The theme for 17th edition of Strategym 2013 is 'Reforming the Indian Economy - Creating hope for people in times of policy paralysis'[/b].
The below 5 papers were fianlists at Strategym 2013[/b]
1. Tapping the Potential of Solar Power Pumps in Irrigation [/b] [/b]
Energy Situation in India
The current energy situation in India is alarming and there is a focus on solar power as never before. Considering the solar power potential in India the Government of India has come out with a National Solar Mission with a target of achieving 22GW capacity by 2020.
Solar Power Pumps Potential
With this background, off-grid solar power solutions are gaining much attention. India is an agriculture dominated country, there is a tremendous untapped potential in the solar powered pumps. There are around 18 million electric pumps and 3 million diesel pumps used for agricultural purposes in India. With effective policy changes and support from the government, there can be a large scale mobilization of resources to make these pump solar powered. Besides the environmental impact, these solar powered pumps would go a long way in helping India reduce the energy deficit.
Approach
In our research paper, we have covered how the solar module prices have been decreasing over the years and hence made solar power commercially viable. Grid parity will soon be achieved considering that these prices would tend to decline further due to the oversupply of solar PV modules. We have then looked at the comparison between various types of pumps and the advantages that solar pumps present. Further, we have looked at the various government policies and initiatives like JNNSM, RPO, and REC and recommended the way forward to support solar power pump. Next, we have done a cost-benefit analysis for the solar power pumps.
Way Ahead
In the next phase of our research paper, we propose to go dwell further and look into various models under the REC mechanism. We also plan to look into the feasibility of grid-interactive solar power pumps based of feed-in-tariffs. Finally, we will do an analysis of our proposals from a business perspective and work out the financial implications.
2. Indian Railway Whistles for a Turn-Around
In our paper we have tried to address the issues the Indian Railways is fraught with. We have divided our line of action into 4 sections:
· Passenger Services
· Freight Services
· Infrastructure Overhaul
· Brand Makeover
i. In Passengers Services we have suggested the following changes/improvements:
ii. Of the total 63327 km of tracks laid by IR, 45961 km are single track. We suggest conversion of these single line tracks to double line especially on busy routes.
iii. Introduction of more Duronto and Jan Shatabdi Express trains to attract passengers currently opting for air travel. Desirability can also be increased by providing basic amenities like clean toilets, faster ticket booking services, clean waiting rooms, etc. Wifi services can also be introduced to attract business class.
i. Increasing axle load by replacing wood sleepers by concrete sleepers, using heavy rails and replacing fish-plate joint by long welded tracks.
i. Improve the condition of basic amenities like toilets, platforms, waiting rooms, etc.
ii. Stations could be given to private enterprises for management. This would lead to a symbiotic relationship wherein the private player will get free place for advertising by paying a fixed fee to Indian Railways. There would be a direct incentive to the private player to keep the station clean and hygienic.
i. Associate the IR brand with desirable attributes like Punctuality, Cleanliness and Connectivity.
ii. Advertise the rich heritage of Indian Railways.
Advertise services like Deccan Odyssey and Palace on Wheels.
3. EXTENDING SECURED NANO CREDIT TO FARMERS TO FOSTER RURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Credit is an essential ingredient to grease the wheels of a modern economy. The banking system full fills this need for the organized sector. However there existed a gap when it came to the unorganized sector. This was because it is economically unviable for banks to handle disbursals and collections in rural areas where the loan ticket size is less. Historically, these small ticket unsecured loans were financed by moneylenders. Moneylenders overcame these operational inefficiencies by charging exorbitantly high interest rates. The moneylenders being from the unorganized sectors had lower legal liabilities and were able to use coercive methods to recover their loans. This however stifled economic growth in rural heartlands due to credit unavailability for their entrepreneurial ventures. Priority sector lending in India got impacted by the ability of the financial institutions to recover their loans. Unlike the moneylenders the Institutions had higher legal liabilities and were not able to use coercive methods for recoveries. This left the borrowers with no incentive to repay the loans and led to the collapse of the system. At the root of the problems were two main causes:
1. The economic in-viability of the repayment schedule given the astronomically high interest rates charged
2. These high interest rates coupled with no penalties for defaults because high NPAs for the institutions which make the institutions in turn raise their lending rates to maintain profitability We plan to use financial engineering to device a risk management model for farmers which will completely mitigate the risks involved in agriculture. This would be a model which combines Commodity futures, Crop Insurance & Logistics. We would check the effectiveness of the model using empirical data and check how the model affects both farmer realizations as well as the rates at which institutions would be able to lend.
However the model would require acceptance of forwards markets in villages. The viability of the financial model would hinge upon this acceptance. This would be a massive shift from the traditional model in which the farmers sell their crops. For these reasons, the farmers will have to be educated about the benefits of hedging and risk management. Financial institutions can facilitate the sale of financial products thus helping cover their operational expenses. In order to check the acceptability of these products in villages, we propose to conduct a primary research in villages in Maharashtra & at the same time try to educate farmers in one village about these products to gauge their response for the same.
The exoskeleton of the model proposed would enable the risk management of financial institutions by hedging the comparatively high operational and transactional costs which forms the major part of the red loads of the business against structured financial products offered to the farmers, thereby creating both safety net as well as joint liability net for the farmers. However, the loan will be disbursed to the farmer against qualifying asset or set of qualifying assets thereby, inculcating financial discipline in the mindsets of the farmers and thus, preventing the intervention of the external forces which may result in consistent defaults. The entire objective behind the project study is to ensure that asset liability management of financial institutions is regulated so as to counter any systematic contingent defaults which may arise from the system and avoid any major disruptions. This, in turn, will eliminate the periodic bottlenecks from the system while capital disbursement takes place from lending banks to financial institutions to farmers.
4. Direct Cash Transfer[/b]
Approach:
In our study we propose to analyze the current system of Cash Transfers in India, its benefits and shortcomings to both the government and the public for whom it is intended. Also we plan to do a comparative study of the current system in India by juxtaposing it with the Brazilian ‘Fome Zero’ program to understand what needs to be done and whether it can be done by India as an economy and thus create a formalized structure so as to achieve the unprecedented success achieved by the Brazilian economy.
The objective of this paper is to provide a review of the arguments for and against of what are usually called ‘Cash Transfers’ relevant to India. As we shall point out, the term is more nuanced than suggested by its use in casual comments in the media or by academic observers. Part of the problem with the state of the debate on cash transfers in Indian policy circles is due to the breadth of the term.
We want to see that once we have identified the possible flaws in the system, how we can use an alternative method to plug the system, track the money and monitor the program. Who can be the partner agencies and how would they benefit from the proposed system. We would try to implement a cost benefit analysis of the same. Also if the system can be used to generate revenue for the government.
We also want to understand the costing of implementing our suggestion and how would it be more effective than the current proposed system. And under the current ambit we would like to see how we can reduce the Subsidy bill by looking at alternative options to fulfill a particular need in fixing the same.
Apart from our College faculty we are seeking to reach out to :
a. Reetika Khera, who is an Assistant Professor at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. She has been actively involved in working in the implementation of Government of India's NREGA scheme.. She has published quite a few research papers on analyzing the NREGA, Public Distribution System (PDS) and other socio-economic issues concerning India.
b. Jean Drèze (born Belgium, 1959) is a development economist who has been influential in Indian economic policymaking. His work in India includes issues like hunger, famine, gender inequality, child health and education, and the NREGA. He had conceptualized and drafted the first version of the NREGA. He has worked closely Reetikha Khera and we may stand to interact with him through Reetika Khera
c. Apart from them we would be meeting officials from the banks and RBI to understand the implications and costing of our suggestions.
5. Affordable mdeicie for the Aam aadmi
Healthcare is counted among the basic needs of an individual, as essential as food, clothing and shelter. It is a human right. Yet, today we see suffering. Illness. Disease. Disability. There are those among us that do not or cannot avail of this right to healthcare. There are some who are dying and are unable to do anything about it. There are some who are unable to pull themselves out of their condition. We see children dying of sickness, their parents unaware of what has hit them.
Why? Is it that India is unable to provide them with the care they need? Or is it that the care is available but the people are unaware of its existence? Or are they aware of it but do not reach out to it under the assumption that it is not within their means?
Although 70% of the Indian population lives in rural and semi-urban areas, nearly 80% of the healthcare infrastructure in India is present in urban areas. According to the national health profile, there are more than 3,50,000 government hospital beds in urban areas, as compared to just around 1,50,000 in rural and semi-urban areas. These facts bring to the forefront the stark problems of penetration, accessibility, and availability of healthcare to the vast majority of the Indian population.
The central idea of this research paper revolves around these issues. The objective of this study is to research how healthcare and medicine can be made more affordable to the common man of India. Our solutions up until now focus on the intervention of the private sector and different models like the Devi Shetty model and the Private Healthcare Centers model. We have also commented on the current governmental policies and their efforts to support the private sector in healthcare development.
We surveyed a sample of 53 respondents from three hospitals in Mumbai – KEM Hospital, Nair Hospital, and Tata Memorial Hospital to understand public perception on affordability, accessibility, quality of healthcare sevices, and perception on preventive healthcare in an urban India setup.
Our further study will include probing the viability of the above solutions outlining the financials, marketing, viability, operations and human resourcing aspects of the proposed solution. We also plan to delve deeper into the field of preventive healthcare and design a model that is both economically viable as well as socially affordable.
The below 5 papers were fianlists at Strategym 2013[/b]
1. Tapping the Potential of Solar Power Pumps in Irrigation [/b] [/b]
Energy Situation in India
The current energy situation in India is alarming and there is a focus on solar power as never before. Considering the solar power potential in India the Government of India has come out with a National Solar Mission with a target of achieving 22GW capacity by 2020.
Solar Power Pumps Potential
With this background, off-grid solar power solutions are gaining much attention. India is an agriculture dominated country, there is a tremendous untapped potential in the solar powered pumps. There are around 18 million electric pumps and 3 million diesel pumps used for agricultural purposes in India. With effective policy changes and support from the government, there can be a large scale mobilization of resources to make these pump solar powered. Besides the environmental impact, these solar powered pumps would go a long way in helping India reduce the energy deficit.
Approach
In our research paper, we have covered how the solar module prices have been decreasing over the years and hence made solar power commercially viable. Grid parity will soon be achieved considering that these prices would tend to decline further due to the oversupply of solar PV modules. We have then looked at the comparison between various types of pumps and the advantages that solar pumps present. Further, we have looked at the various government policies and initiatives like JNNSM, RPO, and REC and recommended the way forward to support solar power pump. Next, we have done a cost-benefit analysis for the solar power pumps.
Way Ahead
In the next phase of our research paper, we propose to go dwell further and look into various models under the REC mechanism. We also plan to look into the feasibility of grid-interactive solar power pumps based of feed-in-tariffs. Finally, we will do an analysis of our proposals from a business perspective and work out the financial implications.
2. Indian Railway Whistles for a Turn-Around
Scope of Action
In our paper we have tried to address the issues the Indian Railways is fraught with. We have divided our line of action into 4 sections:
· Passenger Services
· Freight Services
· Infrastructure Overhaul
· Brand Makeover
Passenger Services
i. In Passengers Services we have suggested the following changes/improvements:
ii. Of the total 63327 km of tracks laid by IR, 45961 km are single track. We suggest conversion of these single line tracks to double line especially on busy routes.
iii. Introduction of more Duronto and Jan Shatabdi Express trains to attract passengers currently opting for air travel. Desirability can also be increased by providing basic amenities like clean toilets, faster ticket booking services, clean waiting rooms, etc. Wifi services can also be introduced to attract business class.
Freight Services
i. Increasing axle load by replacing wood sleepers by concrete sleepers, using heavy rails and replacing fish-plate joint by long welded tracks.
Infrastructure Overhaul
i. Improve the condition of basic amenities like toilets, platforms, waiting rooms, etc.
ii. Stations could be given to private enterprises for management. This would lead to a symbiotic relationship wherein the private player will get free place for advertising by paying a fixed fee to Indian Railways. There would be a direct incentive to the private player to keep the station clean and hygienic.
Brand Makeover
i. Associate the IR brand with desirable attributes like Punctuality, Cleanliness and Connectivity.
ii. Advertise the rich heritage of Indian Railways.
Advertise services like Deccan Odyssey and Palace on Wheels.
3. EXTENDING SECURED NANO CREDIT TO FARMERS TO FOSTER RURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Credit is an essential ingredient to grease the wheels of a modern economy. The banking system full fills this need for the organized sector. However there existed a gap when it came to the unorganized sector. This was because it is economically unviable for banks to handle disbursals and collections in rural areas where the loan ticket size is less. Historically, these small ticket unsecured loans were financed by moneylenders. Moneylenders overcame these operational inefficiencies by charging exorbitantly high interest rates. The moneylenders being from the unorganized sectors had lower legal liabilities and were able to use coercive methods to recover their loans. This however stifled economic growth in rural heartlands due to credit unavailability for their entrepreneurial ventures. Priority sector lending in India got impacted by the ability of the financial institutions to recover their loans. Unlike the moneylenders the Institutions had higher legal liabilities and were not able to use coercive methods for recoveries. This left the borrowers with no incentive to repay the loans and led to the collapse of the system. At the root of the problems were two main causes:
1. The economic in-viability of the repayment schedule given the astronomically high interest rates charged
2. These high interest rates coupled with no penalties for defaults because high NPAs for the institutions which make the institutions in turn raise their lending rates to maintain profitability We plan to use financial engineering to device a risk management model for farmers which will completely mitigate the risks involved in agriculture. This would be a model which combines Commodity futures, Crop Insurance & Logistics. We would check the effectiveness of the model using empirical data and check how the model affects both farmer realizations as well as the rates at which institutions would be able to lend.
However the model would require acceptance of forwards markets in villages. The viability of the financial model would hinge upon this acceptance. This would be a massive shift from the traditional model in which the farmers sell their crops. For these reasons, the farmers will have to be educated about the benefits of hedging and risk management. Financial institutions can facilitate the sale of financial products thus helping cover their operational expenses. In order to check the acceptability of these products in villages, we propose to conduct a primary research in villages in Maharashtra & at the same time try to educate farmers in one village about these products to gauge their response for the same.
The exoskeleton of the model proposed would enable the risk management of financial institutions by hedging the comparatively high operational and transactional costs which forms the major part of the red loads of the business against structured financial products offered to the farmers, thereby creating both safety net as well as joint liability net for the farmers. However, the loan will be disbursed to the farmer against qualifying asset or set of qualifying assets thereby, inculcating financial discipline in the mindsets of the farmers and thus, preventing the intervention of the external forces which may result in consistent defaults. The entire objective behind the project study is to ensure that asset liability management of financial institutions is regulated so as to counter any systematic contingent defaults which may arise from the system and avoid any major disruptions. This, in turn, will eliminate the periodic bottlenecks from the system while capital disbursement takes place from lending banks to financial institutions to farmers.
4. Direct Cash Transfer[/b]
Approach:
In our study we propose to analyze the current system of Cash Transfers in India, its benefits and shortcomings to both the government and the public for whom it is intended. Also we plan to do a comparative study of the current system in India by juxtaposing it with the Brazilian ‘Fome Zero’ program to understand what needs to be done and whether it can be done by India as an economy and thus create a formalized structure so as to achieve the unprecedented success achieved by the Brazilian economy.
The objective of this paper is to provide a review of the arguments for and against of what are usually called ‘Cash Transfers’ relevant to India. As we shall point out, the term is more nuanced than suggested by its use in casual comments in the media or by academic observers. Part of the problem with the state of the debate on cash transfers in Indian policy circles is due to the breadth of the term.
We want to see that once we have identified the possible flaws in the system, how we can use an alternative method to plug the system, track the money and monitor the program. Who can be the partner agencies and how would they benefit from the proposed system. We would try to implement a cost benefit analysis of the same. Also if the system can be used to generate revenue for the government.
We also want to understand the costing of implementing our suggestion and how would it be more effective than the current proposed system. And under the current ambit we would like to see how we can reduce the Subsidy bill by looking at alternative options to fulfill a particular need in fixing the same.
Apart from our College faculty we are seeking to reach out to :
a. Reetika Khera, who is an Assistant Professor at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. She has been actively involved in working in the implementation of Government of India's NREGA scheme.. She has published quite a few research papers on analyzing the NREGA, Public Distribution System (PDS) and other socio-economic issues concerning India.
b. Jean Drèze (born Belgium, 1959) is a development economist who has been influential in Indian economic policymaking. His work in India includes issues like hunger, famine, gender inequality, child health and education, and the NREGA. He had conceptualized and drafted the first version of the NREGA. He has worked closely Reetikha Khera and we may stand to interact with him through Reetika Khera
c. Apart from them we would be meeting officials from the banks and RBI to understand the implications and costing of our suggestions.
5. Affordable mdeicie for the Aam aadmi
Healthcare is counted among the basic needs of an individual, as essential as food, clothing and shelter. It is a human right. Yet, today we see suffering. Illness. Disease. Disability. There are those among us that do not or cannot avail of this right to healthcare. There are some who are dying and are unable to do anything about it. There are some who are unable to pull themselves out of their condition. We see children dying of sickness, their parents unaware of what has hit them.
Why? Is it that India is unable to provide them with the care they need? Or is it that the care is available but the people are unaware of its existence? Or are they aware of it but do not reach out to it under the assumption that it is not within their means?
Although 70% of the Indian population lives in rural and semi-urban areas, nearly 80% of the healthcare infrastructure in India is present in urban areas. According to the national health profile, there are more than 3,50,000 government hospital beds in urban areas, as compared to just around 1,50,000 in rural and semi-urban areas. These facts bring to the forefront the stark problems of penetration, accessibility, and availability of healthcare to the vast majority of the Indian population.
The central idea of this research paper revolves around these issues. The objective of this study is to research how healthcare and medicine can be made more affordable to the common man of India. Our solutions up until now focus on the intervention of the private sector and different models like the Devi Shetty model and the Private Healthcare Centers model. We have also commented on the current governmental policies and their efforts to support the private sector in healthcare development.
We surveyed a sample of 53 respondents from three hospitals in Mumbai – KEM Hospital, Nair Hospital, and Tata Memorial Hospital to understand public perception on affordability, accessibility, quality of healthcare sevices, and perception on preventive healthcare in an urban India setup.
Our further study will include probing the viability of the above solutions outlining the financials, marketing, viability, operations and human resourcing aspects of the proposed solution. We also plan to delve deeper into the field of preventive healthcare and design a model that is both economically viable as well as socially affordable.