Best of BS Opinion: Growth revival, Japan's break, and labour's new mood

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

India’s economy is showing renewed momentum, with growth projected at 7.4 per cent this year, up from 6.5 per cent in 2024-25. The lift has come largely from steady government capital expenditure since the pandemic, intended to draw private investment back into action. As highlighted by our first editorial, evidence from more than 700 listed non-financial firms indicates that fixed assets expanded 13.1 per cent in the first half of 2025-26, the fastest in six years, while gross fixed capital formation touched 30.5 per cent of GDP. Yet private investment still faces hurdles which have been created over a decade. Reforms in customs and duties, along with deeper trade openness, will determine whether this early revival turns durable. 

Meanwhile, Japan has entered unfamiliar political territory with Sanae Takaichi winning a commanding mandate in the snap election, notes our second editorial. As the country’s first woman prime minister and a protégé of Shinzo Abe, she has discarded Tokyo’s old balancing act between Washington and Beijing in favour of closer alignment with the US and higher defence spending. However, structural challenges including an ageing populace, labour shortages, and tight immigration rules remain unresolved, leaving her reliance on automation and greater female workforce participation as partial answers. 

Back home, A K Bhattacharya notes that Union government capital expenditure growth has slowed sharply to 4.2 per cent in 2025-26 after five years of double-digit expansion. The slowdown contrasts with the post-Covid surge that had pushed public investment above 3 per cent of GDP and helped stabilise the economy when private spending was subdued. With companies now reporting stronger asset creation, the Centre appears to be recalibrating, leaning on interest-free loans to states and public sector undertakings while promising a rebound next year. 

Labour relations are also shifting. Nivedita Mookerji writes that recent strikes by delivery workers, bank unions and cab drivers signal rising confidence among service-sector employees, particularly in the gig economy. Formal recognition under the new labour Codes and Budget commitments to social security have encouraged workers to press for better pay and fairer platform rules, though earnings remain low and bargaining power uneven. 

Finally, Neha Kirpal reviews Shinjini Kumar’s Busy Women, which follows working lives across Tier 2 and Tier 3 India to argue that economic change is being shaped far beyond the metros. Through interviews with entrepreneurs, Anganwadi workers and family-business managers, the book shows how women negotiate work and home while quietly altering social expectations. The stories suggest that India’s next phase of growth will depend on how fully these women are drawn into the mainstream of commerce and culture.  Stay tuned!