Best of BS Opinion: Markets, municipalities, and missed deadlines

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

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India’s latest discussion paper seeks to tighten the operational framework of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 by strengthening the corporate insolvency resolution process, particularly the functioning of committees of creditors. It has also suggested excluding related operational creditors from committees to minimise conflicts of interest. However, as our first editorial notes, despite these procedural refinements, resolution timelines remain significantly stretched with cases averaging 619 days against the mandated 330. Strengthening process discipline may reduce friction, but expanding institutional capacity appears equally critical to achieving timely outcomes. 

Meanwhile, urban governance faces a similar tension between funding and functionality. The 16th Finance Commission has raised grants to urban local governments by 230 per cent over the previous cycle. Untied funds now form a majority share, giving municipalities greater discretion. But, our second editorial highlights, municipal revenues remain at 0.6 per cent of GDP, far below global norms, while investment needs are nearly double that. Weak financial autonomy, delayed elections and governance gaps continue to limit effectiveness. Hence, since transfers have risen, capacity and accountability must follow. 

 

Writing on exchange governance, K P Krishnan examines the implications of the National Stock Exchange’s impending IPO and the proposal to classify exchanges as Market Infrastructure Institutions under the draft Securities Markets Code. Exchanges now operate as profit-driven, listed entities while remaining tightly supervised by SEBI. This hybrid model, he argues, creates conflicting incentives. Profit motives may dilute market integrity, while deep regulatory control risks inefficiency and blurred accountability. Krishnan calls for ownership aligned with long-term market development, lower exchange fees and clearer separation between regulator and regulated. 

Vinayak Chatterjee revisits public-private partnerships, once central to India’s infrastructure expansion. During the 11th Plan, PPPs accounted for nearly 37 per cent of investment, but flawed risk allocation and rigid contracts led to distress. Private participation has since fallen to around 20-22 per cent, even as a new pipeline of 852 projects worth Rs 17 trillion emerges. Revival, he argues, depends on realistic risk-sharing, formal renegotiation frameworks, stronger institutions and faster dispute resolution. Infrastructure policy now hinges less on asset creation and more on credible governance. 

Finally, Sneha Pathak reviews Ekta Chauhan’s Sheher Mein Gaon, which studies nine urban villages across the National Capital Region. Chauhan documents how rapid urbanisation has produced both prosperity and neglect. Land values have risen, but communal spaces have eroded and governance remains fragmented. Tensions between original residents and migrants, along with gender and generational divides, shape daily life. Drawing partly from her connection to Khirki, Chauhan combines field research with personal narrative to show that these villages are neither relics nor anomalies, but central to understanding Delhi’s uneven urban transformation. 

Stay tuned!