Computers and Human Rights

would, of course, be delighted. But the sad point is that the interest rate has little or no connection with allocative efficiency in the Indian context. Quite apart from the experience of industry in India, where the rate of interest has had no impact on either inventories or on investment decisions, there is the over-hang of sick industries, and of investments in the pipeline. In respect of the latter, for large projects alone (each of Rs 20 crore or more), the total value of only central government investments in the pipeline today is in excess of Rs 65,000 crore. The important issue there is timely completion; and owing to the scarcity of financial resources with the government, they are likely to be staggered and delayed. Raising the rate of interest would imply that their costs would escalate further, and affect their viability They are part of past commitments, and cannot be left unfinished, as that would only mean a waste of capital. Nor would raising the rate of interest help to complete these projects faster. The rehabilitation of sick industries would also become that much more difficult.