A K Bhattacharya

The cutting edge of governance

From 2G spectrum allocation to India staying out of RCEP, a former bureaucrat provides a peek into the inner functioning and decision-making processes behind key incidents

India's reactive defence spending

Wars and border tensions have pushed up budgets since Independence but the expenditure tends to fall back once a situation eases

Get real on spending

Ensuring a realistic assessment of expenditure is critical in the current environment of uncertainty

Focus on regulation

Caps on contracts are only a partial solution for dealing with oligopoly in India's airports

Good policy needs good process: Lessons for Modi government's reforms

Lessons from ethanol blending in petrol and levying a fee on digital payments should not be ignored

Young Indians need employment, not just a better examination system

For young Indians, a better testing system is imperative, as is creating more skilling and employment opportunities

AI threatens low-end jobs, making skilling an urgent national priority

Govt needs to focus more on low-end work, which will be impacted more by technology and artificial intelligence

Managing Public Finances: What public finance documents don't tell you

Economist Anoop Singh's book is a laudable initiative to create greater awareness about healthy public financial management in India

A level playing field: Look beyond retired civil servants for chairpersons

Financial-sector entities should look beyond retired civil servants as their non-executive chairpersons

India must use West Asia respite to pursue overdue policy reforms

An end to the West Asia conflict augurs well for India, but it should not lull the government into policy inaction

Tax rebates: FY26 provisional expenditure, revenue show need for a rethink

The provisional expenditure and revenue numbers for 2025-26 underline the need for reviewing tax rebates

Not just an external threat: India faces strong fiscal headwinds within

More attention needs to be paid to fiscal implications of the West Asian conflict for the Union and state governments

Austerity and symbolism: Matching intent with action amid crises

Following through announcements with enforcement of measures is key, as a run through recent Indian economic history shows

Revamped NITI Aayog, PMEAC can aid in deciphering state of India's economy

It is time the country had access to a larger and a more varied range of assessments of the Indian economy

The West Asia Challenge: Govt must revisit its macroeconomic assumptions

West Asia tensions threaten India's fiscal balance, growth outlook, and external stability, forcing a rethink of macroeconomic assumptions

The Covid lessons: West Asia conflict can also be used to usher in reforms

West Asia conflict may disrupt Budget 2026-27 projections, squeezing revenues and raising subsidies, prompting fiscal adjustments and potential reforms, echoing lessons from the Covid-era shock

An opportunity in a crisis: Oil import dependence needs urgent policy fix

The ongoing oil crisis risks becoming a lost opportunity unless the government outlines a clear plan to reform exploration policies and boost India's domestic crude oil output

Govt must improve its ability to plan and execute hiring programmes

Despite a push to fill vacancies through Rozgar Melas and recruitment drives, India's Union government workforce has barely grown in a decade, highlighting limits in hiring capacity

As 16th FC boosts southern share, delimitation may face fewer hurdles

More than three weeks after the 16th FC's recommendations became public, the southern states are no longer complaining about an unfair deal in the way central taxes are distributed among them

Capital expenditure, not just revenue spending, needs close monitoring

After years of rapid expansion, the Centre's capital spending growth eases as private investment shows early signs of revival