Opinion

Employment for growth: India needs a vibrant apprenticeship ecosystem

A NITI Aayog report calls for major reforms to India's apprenticeship system, urging stronger industry participation and better integration with education to support job-led growth

Waiver danger: Repeated agricultural loan bailouts must be avoided

Maharashtra's new farm loan waiver may fulfil a poll promise, but repeated debt relief risks weakening credit discipline and straining the state's fiscal balance

Bank fraud: The blind spots of risk control and the culture behind failures

Sophisticated systems track risk, but culture - shaped by incentives and frontline pressures - remains the real control

Govt must improve its ability to plan and execute hiring programmes

Despite a push to fill vacancies through Rozgar Melas and recruitment drives, India's Union government workforce has barely grown in a decade, highlighting limits in hiring capacity

Best of BS Opinion: Oil turmoil and India's looming economic risks

Here are the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Why India needs Russian oil: Energy security outweighs US pressure

Oil prices have already risen 23.6 per cent, from about $72 per barrel a day before the war began on February 28 to around $89 per barrel now

A clear derating: Markets risk underperformance without growth revival

Absolute foreign ownership of the Indian market is at a 15-year low, and we see foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) selling on a daily basis

A broken model: China is unwilling to implement the reforms needed

China's growth model has lasted longer than expected but is now losing momentum, as the government runs out of fiscal space to sustain investment-driven expansion

Rising external uncertainties: Iran war can complicate economic management

Economists expect a CAD of about 1 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) this financial year. This could increase to about 1.5 per cent in 2026-27

India's urban reset: What 16th FC report, Budget 2026-27 mean for cities

Record Finance Commission grants promise greater fiscal autonomy for cities, but sharp cuts in central schemes shift the burden of urban transformation to states and municipalities

Best of BS Opinion: Broader ecosystem response needed to check cyber fraud

Today's Opinion highlights RBI's draft digital fraud framework, Nepal's political churn under Balen Shah, questions around India's growth optimism, LBS reforms, and a book on plastic's global spread.

EXIM Matters: Deferred duty payment scheme extended to eligible importers

Now, CBIC has prescribed the eligibility criteria not only for manufacturers but also for traders who send imported goods to job-workers registered under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) laws

Building trust in open finance framework anchors India's financial future

In the wake of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, the industry must transition from passive compliance to radical transparency

Bullish outlook on Indian economy is simplistic as well as unrealistic

Almost any economy can grow at 8% for few years. Sustaining that pace for decades is far rarer and requires policy continuity, relentless implementation, and the ability to correct course when needed

Lead Bank Scheme needs to contextualise recent changes instead of tinkering

The draft circular makes changes in the coordination structure, with subcommittees for inclusion and literacy; agriculture; micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs); and payment systems

Fraud safety net: RBI's new framework will boost trust in digital payments

The framework comes at a time when India's digital-payment ecosystem is rapidly expanding

Himalayan hopes: RSP's decisive victory raises Gen Z's expectations

Mr Shah, popularly known as Balen, rode a wave of GenZ discontent to defeat four-time former Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli

Consumer Protection: Bank faces higher penalty for delayed card closure

The Karnataka State Commission questioned why bank had failed to close the card in 2010, and had raised a demand after seven years

The road to 2047: Some thoughts for banking panel for Viksit Bharat

Issues the high-level committee can look into to prepare the Indian banking system for 2047

Best of BS Opinion: War in West Asia and the risks India cannot ignore

Here are the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today