Rakesh Mohan Reflects on Dismantling the License Permit Raj
Today my guest is Rakesh Mohan, the is President Emeritus and Distinguished Fellow at Center for Social and Economic Progress in New Delhi. He has also served as Executive Director on the Board of the International Monetary Fund, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India
We talked about his work with the Government of India since the 1980s, especially dismantling the infamous License Permit Raj during the 1991 reforms, his work on urbanization and infrastructure, the kinds of structural reforms India still needs to undertake, and much more.
Recorded April 25th, 2025.
Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.
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Timestamps
(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:01:13) - Labyrinth of Control
(00:23:55) - Dismantling the Licensing System
(00:48:27) - Regrets
(01:07:31) - The Infrastructure Report
(01:28:05) - Structural Transformation
(01:46:23) - Outro
