Following a 2013 ruling by the Belize supreme court, all licences and contracts related to offshore drilling in Belizean waters were thrown out, due to fears over safety standards and unsatisfactory environmental provisions.
For this reason, Chandrabhan Prasad, a dalit writer, supports quotas but argues that more important is help for dalit businesses in the "unorganised" sector, where distributorships, grants of alcohol licences, construction contracts and so on are involved.Amit Mitra, of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, supports similar schemes, as well as preferment schemes by banks.
Ashok Malik, a columnist sympathetic to Mr Modi, observed this week that the most "lucrative" ministries those most vulnerable to the corrupt because they dish out licences or contracts—are set aside for ministers whose ethics are beyond reproach.The most senior new appointments this week suggest Mr Malik could be right.
Businesspeople generally argue that an indictment or a criminal charge can cause unacceptable damage, including the loss of operating licences, government contracts and customers, so their only realistic choice may be to settle, even if they have a good chance of being acquitted.
Small companies often act as additional producers for large companies, formulating drugs and packaging them with the name of the large company, on 'loan licences' or contracts that allow them to manufacture a product of another party.
Immediate Media, which struck a £121m deal with BBC Magazines to buy, licence or contract publish its 34 titles in 2011, saw group operating profits rise from £8.2m to £14.4m in the year to the end of March 2014.
Productivity falls were greater when the government was heavily involved, through contracts, licences or regulations.
Their entire lives – their business, licences, bank accounts, contracts – are all predicated on their right to residency as EU citizens.
Well-placed people have made their fortunes this way ever since rulers had enough power to issue profitable licences, permits and contracts to their cronies.
The policy was part of a broader package of policies that confer race-based preferential access to business licences, public-sector contracts, government grants, bank credit, share capital and jobs.The recently introduced changes will undo a relatively small but significant part of the bumiputera policy framework.
