Economy & Policy Analysis

Nominal GDP growth slowdown raises concerns despite strong real growth

Despite strong real growth, slowing nominal GDP and a sharply weaker deflator raise fiscal concerns, challenging Budget assumptions for FY26

As India transitions to clean energy, it must empower states for task

The success of net-zero transition depends less on national mandates and more on local innovation

Gaining traction: AIF commitments jump to ₹13.5 trillion in 2025

India's march toward a $6.6-trillion economy is being powered by booming AIF activity, with commitments touching ₹13.49 lakh crore and domestic investors emerging as major contributors

Air pollution: A four-point plan to help tackle the ever-growing menace

As a first step, the state, through the FCI or a new agency created for this purpose, should buy all the rice crop waste of North India at a remunerative price

Hype vs reality: Is artificial intelligence delivering the promised ROI?

AI promises trillions, but organisations fail to capture value

Inflation targeting and Viksit Bharat at 2047: A framework for review

India's ill-conceived and hurriedly adopted inflation targeting is one such initiative that needs to be carefully evaluated

Datanomics: Rupee drag may delay India overtaking Japan's economy

India posted strong 8.2% real GDP growth in Q2 FY26, but rupee depreciation trimmed its dollar GDP, keeping Japan narrowly ahead in the April-September comparison

How FDI can unlock India's consumption economy and power MSME growth

Deeper capital flows, strong logistics, digital retail and MSME integration can energise the consumption economy and accelerate the path to Viksit Bharat

DPDP rules 2025: Why Indian businesses must act now on data compliance

The notification of the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules 2025 on November 13, 2025, marks a significant milestone in India's journey towards a harmonised data privacy regime

QCOs: Why ensuring their smooth implementation is need of the hour

So far, a total of 187 QCOs covering 769 products have been notified for compulsory certification of BIS by various departments/ ministries of the government

PLI incentive schemes: achieving ambitions, but timelines and progress vary

ICRA estimates that around Rs. 2.5 trillion capex will be incurred by March 2026, which is 60-65 per cent of the total estimated capex

Statsguru: Indian Cloud infrastructure firms face bottomline haziness

The annual trend in Cloud company formation reveals notable growth over the years. However, in 2024, the number dipped, both globally and in India

Tracking India's solar future: Why every GWh matters in energy transition

As India builds renewable capacity at record speed, the focus must shift from scale to strength-ensuring every GW added delivers dependable GWh and lasting energy security

India could cut trade costs and boost exports through CPTA: Report

Cross-border paperless trade, which builds on the broader idea of paperless trade and refers to conducting trade through electronic communication, is gaining momentum regionally

Statsguru: Kerala outshines others in literacy and poverty reduction

Kerala marks a social milestone with zero extreme poverty and world-class human development metrics - but weak job creation and industry remain its Achilles' heel

Datanomics: Donald Trump's trade tariffs bring windfall gains for US

US customs revenue surged 153% in FY25 as tariff rates spiked to decade highs, lifting India's import share to a 10-year peak while China's slipped below 10% for the first time since 2015

Datanomics: Kerala set to become India's first extreme poverty-free state

But its definition of extreme poverty was based on a lower floor of earning than the World Bank's

Russian oil may flow to India through loopholes despite new US sanctions

Trump announced fresh sanctions on two of Russia's largest oil companies in a bid to stop the Ukraine war. But this is not likely to spell the end of Russian oil flows to India, a major buyer

Rethinking India's Monetary Policy Framework: A response to the RBI Review

Former RBI Chair Professor Charen Singh says the 4 per cent inflation target stifles growth and jobs, calling for a flexible 5-7 per cent range and a band-only framework instead of a fixed point targe

Size Matters: What will it take for India PSBs to break into Global Top 20?

With a rank of 43, the State Bank of India (SBI) is currently the only Indian public sector lender in the latest S&P Global Market Intelligence ranking of the world's 100 largest banks by assets