Best of BS Opinion: GST uncertainty continues, erratic realities, and more

Here's a selection of Business Standard opinion pieces for the day

If the Reserve Bank of India’s annual report confirmed that the Indian economy would shrink this fiscal, a survey by Deloitte shows why. Average salaries gained just 3.6 per cent in the fiscal year that started in April, down from 8.6 per cent a year ago and less than a quarter of the companies said they would raise salaries this year, making a consumption-led recovery unlikely. This presents an opportune moment to achieve the kind of changes that could put India on a high growth trajectory. But as the columns on the opinion pages today suggest, it is the private sector that is forging ahead. Kanika Datta sums up the views.

The two options Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has given to the states to resolve the issue of compensation owing to a shortfall in GST collections has raised more questions for the Centre to answer in the coming weeks, the top edit points out. Read it here

Higher education offers huge opportunities for India to become a global talent base but the government needs to allow universities to compete in their own way, writes Naushad Forbes. Read it here

From retail to aviation to online education, steel and cement, consolidation is taking place across India Inc. This trend may create monopolies that need to be guarded against but it also suggests that Indian business is maturing, says Shailesh Dobhal. Read it here

Joe Biden looks like a strong contender for the White House in November but a second Trump victory should not be ruled out. In that case India needs to be prepared for the same erratic, transactional relationship of the past four years, the second edit says. Read it here

QUOTE OF THE DAY

‘[The] Congress needs to target the BJP with surgical strikes instead of wasting its energy by targeting its own’

Kapil Sibal on the party’s UP unit passing a resolution on expelling Jitin Prasada