Bs Special

The economic reforms paradox: A few states dominate FDI inflows

Just seven states accounted for nearly 82% of all FDI equity inflows to India from January 2000 to March 2026

Best of BS Opinion: Maturity lies in managing risks that progress creates

The real test is not whether a system can reach the next milestone. It is whether it can manage what comes after

Bluechip valuation slump offers value bets amid weak investor sentiment

The BSE Sensex has fallen 6.8% since the end of September 2025, with its trailing P/E multiple down 10.8%

Best of BS Opinion: A test of how power becomes credible

Power lasts only when the underlying institutions are credible

Wholesale changes have not happened in civil services: M Veerappa Moily

There is a pronounced tendency to centralise now… Centralisation will not take the country forward, either socially or economically, he said

The word control had become anathema for us in 1991: Sudha Pillai

Pillai tells that the CCI could have done more to curb concentration, and social protection should have featured more prominently in the reforms

Bengal Beckons: West Bengal FM Swapan Dasgupta's 'look east' policy

West Bengal finance minister calls for respecting relative differences of eastern states but acknowledging their commonality

Restaurants need ease of doing business ecosystem: Anjan Chatterjee

Speciality Restaurants founder Anjan Chatterjee talks about his entrepreneurial journey, changing dining habits, food safety and his ambition to take Bengali cuisine global

Fruits of reforms are often reaped by later governments: Shankar Acharya

Shankar Acharya says that structural constraints need to be addressed for India to become an advanced economy by 2047

Big business and policy push key to breaking Bengal's investment jinx

Business leaders and economists called for competitive incentives, easier land acquisition and stronger industrial ecosystems to attract investment and help MSMEs scale up

Power tariffs and building norms top reforms agenda: West Bengal FM

Power sector reform, he reckoned, was a "low-hanging fruit", with an "Open Access" policy under consideration to help lower electricity prices in the state

Best of BS Opinion: Symptoms demand attention, solutions require diagnosis

A military strike is mistaken for strategy, even when no one has planned what comes next

Kiranas to quick commerce: How the landscape changed for retail trade

India's retail sector has evolved from neighbourhood kiranas to organised retail, ecommerce and quick commerce, driven by liberalisation, technology and changing consumer habits

Best of BS Opinion: Durable progress depends on systems that work

Numbers, brands and ideas may all signal progress, but it's systems, these pieces tell us, that actually decide the durability of progress

From BoP crisis to record reserves, RBI's forex strategy pays dividends

That swing has been made possible by a shift in forex management policy that was forged in the fire of the balance-of-payments crisis of 1991

Best of BS Opinion: Buffers cannot carry a system forever

As these pieces tell us, stability will not come from stockpiles, settlements, symbolic defences or inherited structures alone. It will come from the capacity to adapt when old buffers no longer hold

Incomplete 1991 reforms failed to foster India's industrialisation: Nayyar

Nayyar speaks about the vulnerabilities in India's reform journey and what needs to be done to realise its demographic dividend and avoid the middle-income trap

Uttar Pradesh, Bihar's per capita income still trails India average

Punjab and Maharashtra, among the top 5 states at the dawn of reforms, have since moved down the order

'Neither Rao nor Singh could have brought in the 1991 reforms alone'

P Chidambaram recalls how Rao and Manmohan Singh shaped the 1991 reforms and argues India now needs greater competition, openness and a revived WTO

Bombay Club fears were misplaced; family biz raked it in after reforms

Family-owned companies accounted for 72 per cent of the combined revenues of listed firms in FY26, up from 50 per cent in FY01