Aimed to evaluate subsidies in services and investigate whether it was in India’s interest to push for a separate discipline to govern subsidies in services under the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The analysis was based on an examination of the existing subsidy practices in selected countries (including India) and in selected service sectors that were of trade interest to India, and the impact of these subsidies on trade in general and specifically on India’s trade in services with these markets. The countries under consideration included the main developed and developing economies that were of trade interest to India, namely the US, EU, Canada, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, China, Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. The sectors under consideration included transport, distribution, energy, construction and engineering, audio-visual, tourism, health, and software services, thus covering sectors that were of a commercial, infrastructure, social, and cultural nature and were of export and / or import interest to India. The analysis was based on a cluster-wise examination of the selected services, depending on the type of service and the rationale underlying the subsidy. Based on the assessment of subsidy practices in other countries and in India, the study would determine how subsidies in services should be dealt with under the GATS and examine the associated domestic policy and reform issues for India in the service sector.
Book Chapters:
“GATS and Developing Countries: Key Issues and Prospect for India”, in ‘World Trade Organization and India: A critical study of its first decade’, edited by J.K Mittal and K.D. Raju, New Era Law Publications, New Delhi, 2005.
“India and GATS 2000 Negotiations: Issues and State of Play”, in ‘Future Negotiations Issues at WTO: An India China Perspective’ edited by Bibek Debroy and Mohammad Saqib, Globus Books, June 2004.
Journal Articles:
“Developing Countries and GATS Negotiations: The Case of India”, in Global Economy Journal, Vol. 5: No. 2, Article 1, 2005
