|
Urban
Water: Rationale
for Demand-side Management --Maniklal
Adhikary and Debasis Mallik
The
focus of this paper is to concentrate on urban water issues
and discuss the growing importance of demand-side management
of water, though supply-side management has been the traditional
tool. An attempt is made in this context to study the various
methods adopted by various researchers to estimate residential
demand for water and the pricing strategies adopted by various
countries. The synthesis of this review of literature is that
an efficient pricing strategy forms the heart of demand-side
management. While pricing can be both average cost pricing
as well as marginal cost pricing, it is the latter that can
incorporate a scarcity value of water in the price. Again,
marginal cost pricing can be either an increasing block rate
or a decreasing block rate structure. Typically, an increasing
block rate structure is used for goods which are scarce in
supply, especially environmental or ecological goods. This
not only enables the authorities to become self-sustaining
in providing the service of the good, but also educates the
user about the need of conservation.
©
2004 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
The Role and
Performance of Small-scale Industries in
Indian Economy
--Dr.
Srinivasulu Bayineni
The
small scale industry which plays a key role in the Indian
economy in terms of employment and growth has recorded a high
rate of growth since independence. Till 1956, the number of
small scale units was 6195. Today it stands at 35.72 lakhs.
The inherent advantages of small-scale units are reduction
of regional imbalances, low investment, greater operational
flexibility, low costs of production, high capacity to innovate
and export, greater geographical dispersal, utilization of
local material and human resources. In terms of employment,
it employs 199.65 lakh persons and is the second largest employer
of India's workforce after agriculture. Today, there is a
global recognition for the small enterprises as they could
very well be or become the backbone of the economy. The central
discussion of this paper highlights the role and performance
of small-scale industries in the economy with the parameters
of number of units, production, employment and exports.
©
2004 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
|
