The Stabilization and Structural Adjustment Programme (S&SAP) aims at constant reduction of fiscal deficits. The losses incurred by the State level Public Enterprises (SLPEs), form an important component of such fiscal deficits incurred by the various states. The sectoral composition of the losses incurred by the SLPEs has been a matter of intense debate. The extent of such losses incurred by the various state governments has also turned out to be a matter of considerable interest to the policy makers. The present volume fills up this void significantly. This book is based on the research study sponsored by the Planning Commission. The study presents the estimates of financial profitability and losses of the SLPEs into three categories: Manufacturing, Commercial and Commercial-cum-Promotional. The study presents a normative framework to measure the performance of the SLPEs and then to find out the deviations. The causes of such deviant behaviour have been dealt at length in the present work. This volume would be of immense research interest for the purposes of policy making to the Central and the various state governments. The research community involved in studying the efficiency of the use of economic resources would also find the volume of considerable interest to them. The students of post-graduate courses and the first level doctoral programmes in Economics, Commerce, management, and Public Administration would find the volume very useful from the point of view of understanding the fiscal dimension of the financial performance of SLPEs.

The State Level Public Enterprise (SLPE) reforms have their origin in discussions about their performance in the early 1990s. The Planning Commission was debating the performance of these enterprises around this period. The various state governments also felt the pinch as many of their enterprises had become a bottomless pit. The Fifth Pay Commission also commented adversely on the performance of these enterprises. The Planning Commission and the Institute of Public Enterprise came together in 1992 to organize a seminar which was attended by the policy makers from the Central Government, various State Governments and nodal organizations. The Seminar discussed the feasibility of non-privatisation reforms, restricting and privatization of these enterprises for performance improvement. The experiences of some states with privatization were also discussed. It was felt that while non-privatisation reforms were necessary to bolster the performance of non-privatised enterprises, it was necessary to off load the perennially loss-making enterprises from the public enterprise portfolio in view of the continuously deteriorating financial position of the state governments. The book will be useful to policy makers, planners, heads of nodal agencies in-charge of the SLPEs, regulators, bankers and CEOs of development finance institutions, researchers and the post-graduate students specializing in economics, management, commerce, public administration, banking and law.

This book presents an account of the State Level Public Enterprises (SLPEs) during the period 1960-1985 and incorporates the macro dimensions of their performance 1991-92 to 2002-03. These enterprises had registered a phenomenal growth during the period 1961 to 1985-86. The contributions on various states covered their dimensions of performance during this period as related to their objectives, form of organization, investment, functional classification, profitability and net worth. The description statewise also offers a peep in their problems and the suggestions that could have made their working effective. The performance of these enterprises differed from state to state based on the socio-economic and political philosophy of each state and also the degree of professionalisation of their managerial personnel. The study reveals that whereas some states such as Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu excelled in managing their SLPEs, states such as Bihar and Assam were not successful in putting up a satisfactory performance. The period 1991-92 to 2002-03 provides a perspective on the functioning of these enterprises which enables us to observe movements with regard to their various macro economic aggregates. A study of the happenings in the SLPEs during this period points out a vast scope for improvement in their capacity utilization, turnover and profits. It also reveals the need for labour adjustments in these enterprises and their plans to facilitate such adjustments. The book will be useful to policy makers, civil servants, researchers in management, economics, commerce, political science and public administration. It will also be useful to the research students registered for doctoral degree and M.Phil. Degree.

The performance of commercial banks in financing agriculture during the post-nationalisation period exhibited signs of large scale improvement in agriculture in the plain areas but this was no so in the hilly and drought-prone areas of the country. The present book is an attempt to study indepthly the role of commercial banks in promoting agricultural development in hilly and drought-prone areas. Accordingly the book makes an attempt to answer the following questions emerging out of the study: (a) Whether the present cropping pattern is adequate and what changes in the cropping pattern can be effected for the development of agriculture in such hitherto neglected area?, (b) Is the demand for credit by farmers, as distinguished from non-borrowers met by commercial banks?, (c) Have the farmers utilized the credit for the purposes for which they had been issued loans, (d) Did the farmers repay the loans taken from banks fully and timely, (e) What are the bottlenecks that affected the role of banks and the performance by the farmers handling agricultural credit; (f) What special measures are needed to improve the involvement of banks in the hitherto neglected hilly and drought-prone areas. The work is original and makes a pioneering effort to solve some of the vexed problems which had lingered in the minds of the scholars for a long line. The book is very useful to bankers, policy makers, statesmen, teachers of universities and researchers. In view of this, the study may be considered as a valuable addition to the existing stock of literature on the subject.