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India’s Tryst with Free Trade: Overcoming the Inherent Challenges of Federalism

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World Trade and Local Public Interest

Part of the book series: Studies in European Economic Law and Regulation ((SEELR,volume 19))

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Abstract

Federal States, generally, have an intrinsic characteristic of providing fiscal autonomy to their federating or subnational units. India, although, not a purest form of federal state, reflects a federal structure where the constituent states do, to a certain extent, enjoy financial autonomy in terms of regulating trade and commerce. As an economy, India has come a long way from being a socialist style closed economy to a predominantly liberal and globalized one. India’s tryst with free trade, primarily, started with the major economic reforms of 1991—when it adopted the mantra of liberalization, privatization, and globalization. Like many other federal states, India is not immune to the inherent challenges that a federal system encounters while engaging in trade and commerce at a multilateral level. In times when India has evolved from a closed economy to a prominent global market, identifying and overcoming the inherent challenges to free flow of trade is essential to keep a check on the possible perils of provincialism and protectionism.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Bagchi (2000), p. 3025.

  2. 2.

    Bagchi (2001), p. 2.

  3. 3.

    Sarkar and Patrick (2015), p. 2.

  4. 4.

    Ibid.

  5. 5.

    Office of the United States Trade Representative (2017), p. 208.

  6. 6.

    Ibid 209.

  7. 7.

    Mikic and Wermelinger (2010), p. 8.

  8. 8.

    Ibid.

  9. 9.

    Singh (2016a), p. 451.

  10. 10.

    Kuldeep Nayar v Union of India (2006) 7 SCC 1; Singh (2016a), p. 451.

  11. 11.

    Bagchi (2000), p. 3033; Bagchi (2001), p. 2.

  12. 12.

    Singh (2016b), p. 523; Bagchi (2001), p. 3.

  13. 13.

    Singh (2016b), p. 523.

  14. 14.

    Bagchi (2005), p. 1806.

  15. 15.

    Singh (2016a), p. 453.

  16. 16.

    Bagchi (2000), p. 3033.

  17. 17.

    Singh (2016a), p. 454.

  18. 18.

    Conceição-Heldt (2013), p. 437.

  19. 19.

    Secretariat WTO (2015) para 2.9; Conceição-Heldt (2013), p. 437.

  20. 20.

    Jenkins (2003), p. 80.

  21. 21.

    Secretariat WTO (2015) para 2.14–2.15; Jenkins (2003), p. 75.

  22. 22.

    Bagchi (2002), p. 2303.

  23. 23.

    Ibid.

  24. 24.

    Topalova and Khandelwal (2011), p. 999.

  25. 25.

    Bagchi (2008), p. 42.

  26. 26.

    Ibid.

  27. 27.

    Topalova and Khandelwal (2011), p. 996.

  28. 28.

    Goldar (2005), p. 2.

  29. 29.

    Conceição-Heldt (2013), p. 436.

  30. 30.

    Breton (2003); Bagchi (2008), p. 43.

  31. 31.

    Jenkins (2003); Bagchi (2008), p. 46.

  32. 32.

    Jenkins (2003), pp. 75–76.

  33. 33.

    Conceição-Heldt (2013), p. 436.

  34. 34.

    Pasha and Pasha (2012), pp. 13–14.

  35. 35.

    Office of the United States Trade Representative (2017), p. 207.

  36. 36.

    Pasha and Pasha (2012), p. 10.

  37. 37.

    Secretariat WTO (2015) para 3.39.

  38. 38.

    Bagchi (2005), p. 1806.

  39. 39.

    Office of the United States Trade Representative (2017), p. 207.

  40. 40.

    Das-Gupta (2006), p. 232.

  41. 41.

    Bagchi (2002), p. 2305.

  42. 42.

    Ibid.

  43. 43.

    Singh (2016a), p. 456.

  44. 44.

    Atiabari Tea Co. Ltd v State of Assam (1961) 232 SC AIR 9-11; Bagchi (2002), p. 2303.

  45. 45.

    Datar (2016), p. 488.

  46. 46.

    Atiabari Tea Co. Ltd v State of Assam (1961) 232 SC AIR 9-11; Datar (2016), p. 487.

  47. 47.

    Bagchi (2001), p. 13.

  48. 48.

    Basu (2011), p. 1828; Jindal Stainless Steel Ltd. (2) v State of Haryana (2006) 241 SCC 33-34.

  49. 49.

    Secretariat WTO (2015) para 1.7.

  50. 50.

    Singh (2016b), p. 525.

  51. 51.

    Dani (2016), p. 1.

  52. 52.

    Banik and Singh (2017), p. 10.

  53. 53.

    Notani (2017).

  54. 54.

    Melchior (2010), p. 16.

  55. 55.

    Secretariat WTO (2015) para 3.27; Office of the United States Trade Representative (2017), p. 207.

  56. 56.

    Section 5, IGST Act 2017.

  57. 57.

    Sharma (2012), p. 66.

  58. 58.

    Mikic and Wermelinger (2010), p. 27.

  59. 59.

    Das-Gupta (2006), p. 232.

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Correspondence to Wasiq Abass Dar .

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Dar, W.A. (2020). India’s Tryst with Free Trade: Overcoming the Inherent Challenges of Federalism. In: Nagy, C. (eds) World Trade and Local Public Interest. Studies in European Economic Law and Regulation, vol 19. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41920-2_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41920-2_10

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