New Delhi, July 18: Former Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Dr. Arvind Subramanian on Thursday argued that India should revisit and build upon its earlier liberal economic reforms to address slowing private investment and sustain long-term economic growth.
Delivering the 2026 B.R. Shenoy Memorial Lecture, organised by the Centre for Civil Society (CCS) in association with the Economics Research Centre (ERC), Subramanian presented his assessment of India’s economic trajectory and outlined policy measures that, in his view, could strengthen future growth.
Speaking on the theme “Yes, Yes and Mostly Yes”, Subramanian argued that the period of economic liberalisation contributed significantly to India’s economic expansion, poverty reduction, and improvements in education, healthcare and infrastructure. He said that recent policy shifts represented a departure from that framework and called for renewed emphasis on market-oriented reforms.
According to Subramanian, declining private investment remains one of India’s key economic challenges. He suggested that completing pending structural reforms, expanding openness to global trade and creating an enabling environment for productivity-led growth would help improve investment sentiment.
He also advocated replacing fertiliser and electricity subsidies with Direct Benefit Transfers (DBTs), arguing that such measures could improve the efficiency of public spending. Referring to the increasing use of Quality Control Orders (QCOs), Subramanian expressed the view that some regulatory measures had increased compliance burdens and warranted review.
Addressing the role of economic growth in India’s global standing, Subramanian said sustained high economic growth would strengthen the country’s international influence.
“The unfinished business for India is to complete the reforms we started, re-embrace openness to trade, and create the conditions for sustained, productivity-led growth,” he said.
He further added:
“The best foreign policy, the best way of acquiring power, is sustained 10% economic growth.”
The lecture was conducted online and was followed by an interactive question-and-answer session with participants joining through Zoom.
The B.R. Shenoy Memorial Lecture commemorates economist Prof. B.R. Shenoy, known for advocating market-oriented economic policies during the early decades after Independence. The annual lecture series brings together economists and public policy experts to discuss contemporary economic issues.
Previous speakers in the series include Prof. Arvind Panagariya, Dr. Pravin Krishna, Dr. Surjit Bhalla, Dr. Duvvuri Subbarao, Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Dr. Bibek Debroy, Dr. Parth J. Shah and Dr. Geeta Gouri.
The organisers said the recording of the lecture will be made available on the Centre for Civil Society’s YouTube channel in the coming days.
The lecture recording will be uploaded on the Centre for Civil Society’s YouTube channel in the coming week. Visit www.ccs.in for more information on the organiser and for information on past speakers.
