governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
India has changed. Gone is the earlier hesitation about being coldly pragmatic while keeping the public interest in mind. Foggy Post-Colonial and Cold-War ideological baggage is being stowed away, appropriately. The clear guard rails developed for dealing with the Ukrainian crisis do the country proud—extending principled support for the continuation of the international mediation effort, […]
Read More Being optimistic on IndiaSummer used to be a languid period, of taking time off from the hectic activity of the fiscal year closing, schools shutting down for long vacations, job relocations and new beginnings. No longer. And it is not just because the BJP works all year around at remaining the number one political entity. Annual ministerial jaunts […]
Read More Summer blues: Working Through the headwindsRegulating the retail business in India is messy. State governments directly regulate trade and commerce within a state, whereas the Union government can intervene by legislating for specific products in public interest. The Union law prevails over commercial and industrial monopolies, combines, and trusts. The politics of retail Inter-governmental turf issues have dominated, since 2011, […]
Read More Unshackle Indian retail e-commerceThe Ukraine crisis brings home the fragility of the passive equilibrium, based on the absence of war rather than the absence of a need for war. Equitable and empowered global rule-making, which inspires trust and respect amongst all nations is still some way-off. Till it becomes a reality, there will always be the temptation to […]
Read More US sanctions on Russia impose global collateral damageThere is a great deal of unnecessary melancholy around the low real growth outturns for the October to December quarter (Q3) FY 2021-22. The gripe, if any, is that Q3 confirms a downward trend in quarter-on-quarter growth rates, down from 20.1 percent in Q1, 8.4 percent in Q2, and now 5.4 percent in Q3. It […]
Read More Ukraine and slowing growth in India- Back to basicsCarbon free hydrogen, a fuel, a carrier, and a store of energy, is topmost in the global green agenda. It is a substitute for today’s transition fuel—natural gas—which, whilst being cleaner than coal, diesel, or heavy fuel oil, is nevertheless incapable of delivering the sharp reductions envisaged in carbon intensity to limit global warming to […]
Read More Green Hydrogen Policy – Tentative BeginningsThe Reserve Bank of India-led Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) brewed a storm in a teacup by continuing its accommodative monetary policy stance—retaining the Repo rate (the cost of borrowing from the RBI) at 4 percent and the Reverse Repo (the cost of depositing funds with the RBI) at 3.35 percent. The MPC is a device, initiated in […]
Read More Storm in India’s monetary tea cupExpectations are sky-high that the “digital rupee” — a central bank digital (crypto) currency (CBDC) announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech this year — will ensure a quantum jump to the digital economy, enhance GDP growth and boost financial inclusion. Digital currencies – democratized uptake Nigeria and eight Caribbean countries have […]
Read More Digital Rupee- Taking India higher, faster?A fiscal deficit of 6.4 per cent of GDP on top of a revised fiscal deficit of 6.9 per cent of GDP in the current year and 9.5 per cent the year before is a strong endorsement of what finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Union Budget speech on February 1, called “the need to nurture growth […]
Read More Budet FY 2023- Good intentions but short on specificsBudgets reflect the economic philosophy, near-term political economy pressures, and the long-term vision of a government. A review of budget metrics (table below) across the twilight years of the Manmohan Singh UPA government and the Modi government reveals a surprisingly elevated level of similarity, despite differentiated specific outcomes. In plainer words, the rulers changed but […]
Read More The Modi budgets- High achievements sans institutionalised changes
Opinion India 