Best of BS Opinion: Stigmatised capital, TMC's election success, and more

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

The head of the Serum Institute of India (SII), Adar Poonawalla, said in a recent interview to The Times that he had been receiving calls that were full of “aggression”, including from political leaders. It was strongly implied that he had flown to the UK to escape this pressure of being “vilified and blamed”. Mr Poonawalla’s comments clearly reveal the pitfalls of doing business in India, argues our lead editorial.

It is reasonable to believe that the TMC’s electoral success in 2021 was to a great extent facilitated by the successful rollout of welfare schemes, funded by the state government as also by the Centre, writes A K Bhattacharya

Vinayak Chatterjee suggests that India needs a new Highway Services Authority. This new Authority should be distinct, and distanced, from the “asset creation” role of the existing NHAI; and have its own board, governance structure and performance metrics.

Quote for the day

GOI doesn't get it. The only way to stop the spread of Corona now is a full lockdown — with the protection of NYAY for the vulnerable sections.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi