Best of BS Opinion: Clear diagnoses but slower cures across key sectors

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

The Indian banking system has quietly repaired itself after a long period of stress. The Reserve Bank of India’s latest Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India shows how far the clean-up has gone. Gross NPAs have fallen from about 8.5 per cent in 2020 to 2.1 per cent by September 2025, while net NPAs are close to 0.5 per cent. Recoveries are stronger, slippages are lower, profitability has improved, and banks are better capitalised. Yet, as our first editorial notes, new pressures are emerging, especially as loan growth continues to outpace deposit growth and funding patterns shift away from banks. 

A similar moment of reassessment is visible in the Supreme Court’s decision to stay its earlier ruling on the definition of the Aravalli range. The court’s willingness to revisit an elevation-based definition that would have excluded most of the Aravallis from legal protection reflects long-standing concerns raised by environmental groups and scientific agencies, highlights our second editorial. While the temporary ban on new mining licences is welcome, the broader argument is that weak enforcement and faith in concepts such as “sustainable mining” have repeatedly failed. Without firm legal protection backed by sustained oversight, redefining categories alone will not arrest ecological damage. 

In his column, Laveesh Bhandari argues that North India’s air pollution problem is not mysterious or unsolvable. The sources are well known and mapped, from vehicles and construction dust to industry, waste, and biomass burning. What is missing is urgency and coordination. He suggests that air quality can improve within five years if governments adopt a clear timeline and a region-wide approach. Moving towards a zero- to low-pollution economy, backed by mandates, taxes on fossil fuels, and incentives for clean technology, could align households, firms, and states. 

Jyoti Parikh and Rajib K Mishra focus on a similar coordination gap in clean energy. India’s renewable push is being held back by the lack of storage. Without it, surplus solar power is wasted during the day, while evenings still depend on coal. They estimate storage must grow from about 200 Mw today to nearly 30,000 Mw by 2032. Falling battery costs and advances in storage technology help, but policy must move faster. Renewable expansion, they argue, will stall without parallel growth in storage capacity. 

Stay tuned!