Best of BS Opinion: Food surplus, chip plans and shifting geopolitics

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

The government’s food procurement system is showing visible strain. Central rice and wheat stocks stood at 59.45 million tonnes in January 2026, nearly 178 per cent above the buffer norm of 21.41 million tonnes. Designed to secure supplies for the Public Distribution System and emergencies, the system now grapples with excess grain, rising storage costs and procurement delays. As our first editorial notes, the proposed course correction is gradual alignment of procurement with PDS needs, discouraging state bonuses beyond MSP, and assured support for pulses, oilseeds and millets to diversify cropping while containing fiscal stress. 

Meanwhile, India’s semiconductor ambitions advanced with the inauguration of Micron Technology’s ATMP facility in Sanand, backed by a $2.75 billion investment. The plant will assemble and package chips fabricated abroad, generating jobs and supplier ecosystems. Yet fabrication capacity remains limited, notes our second editorial. Industry estimates suggest that by 2032, nearly 60 per cent of India’s demand by value could be for sub-10 nm chips, implying sustained import dependence. Expanding skilled manpower through AICTE courses, ensuring reliable power and ultra-pure water, and developing specialty chemical supply chains, it argues, are central to deepening capability. 

 

Writing on global instability, Ajay Chhibber argues that US military and trade actions have unsettled energy and commerce. Military strikes on Iran have raised oil prices, affecting importers like India. On trade, President Donald Trump has used multiple statutory tools to impose tariffs despite judicial constraints. While the recent India-US trade understanding preserves farm protections and restores access for labour-intensive exports, trust has weakened. With blocs such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership expanding, he argues, India must strengthen domestic reforms and regional ties. 

Ajay Kumar examines cyber and information warfare as continuous, low-intensity conflict. From the 2018 Cosmos Bank breach to the 2022 ransomware attack on AIIMS Delhi and data theft episodes in 2025, reported incidents have risen sharply, according to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team. Misinformation campaigns during the CAA protests and the 2024 elections demonstrated how digital tools can inflame tensions. While ministries and the National Security Council Secretariat have defined roles, the framework remains civilian-led. Kumar proposes a structured civil-military coordination under civilian authority, clearer crisis obligations for private firms, and defined thresholds for military support as AI-driven threats grow. 

Finally, Chintan Girish Modi reviews Eradication: A Poet at the Heart of the Rohingya Genocide by Mayyu Ali with Emilie Lopes. The memoir recounts Ali’s life in Myanmar, the 2017 exodus of over 740,000 Rohingyas to Bangladesh, and resettlement in Canada with support from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It documents discrimination, land seizures and violence, while criticising figures such as Ashin Wirathu and expressing disappointment with Aung San Suu Kyi. The interwoven poems frame testimony with resilience, situating the Rohingya question within India’s ongoing legal and moral debate. 

Stay tuned!