Best of BS Opinion: Recycling assets and rethinking digital access

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

India’s fiscal arithmetic is tightening, and the Union government has turned again to asset recycling. The second edition of the National Monetisation Pipeline, steered by Niti Aayog, aims to mobilise Rs 16.72 trillion, with roughly Rs 6 trillion expected from private capital. With borrowing pressures rising and public capital expenditure showing signs of moderation despite an 11 per cent Budget increase, the government is positioning monetisation as a pragmatic funding route, notes our first editorial. By offering predictable revenue streams, it hopes to attract insurance firms and sovereign wealth funds. Yet risks persist: uneven regulatory credibility, memories of contract reversals, and reluctance to pursue broader privatisation beyond cases such as Air India could limit long-term impact. 

A separate debate is unfolding over children’s access to social media. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is examining age-based restrictions after the Economic Survey highlighted digital addiction as a public health concern. Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has confirmed that options are under review, including stronger verification norms. Blanket prohibitions raise privacy and surveillance concerns, especially if large-scale data collection becomes necessary, argues our second editorial. The policy question is how to protect minors without curtailing access to information and community, particularly for those in remote or marginalised settings. 

Writing ahead of the WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference, Amita Batra notes that the multilateral trading system faces institutional drift. Under Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the WTO is confronting unresolved issues, including the extension of the e-commerce customs moratorium and the incorporation of the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement. With dispute settlement weakened and trade increasingly shaped by global value chains, members have leaned on bilateral agreements. India’s opposition to integrating the IFDA reflects procedural concerns, but Batra argues that greater flexibility could strengthen both domestic investment prospects and global trade governance. 

Jayant Sinha proposes a universal retirement account for every citizen at birth. The state would contribute Rs 1,500 annually until age six, invested in low-cost equity index funds and locked in until retirement. At scale, the fiscal cost would be about Rs 26,250 crore annually, while long-term compounding could generate meaningful supplemental income. Beyond retirement security, the scheme would broaden capital ownership and deepen domestic equity markets, shifting redistribution from immediate transfers to long-term asset creation. 

Finally, Prosenjit Datta reviews Made in India, chronicling the rise of Lupin and its founder Desh Bandhu Gupta. Starting with Rs 5,000 and support from his wife Manju, Gupta built a global generics firm despite licence raj constraints. Policy shifts, notably the 1970s process patent regime and opportunities created by the Hatch-Waxman Act, enabled Indian companies to expand abroad. The book places Gupta’s journey within the broader transformation that established India as a leading supplier of affordable medicines, underscoring how entrepreneurship and policy reform combined to reshape an industry. 

Stay tuned!