Op-Eds

How many handloom weavers are there in India? According to the 4th All India Handloom Census (2019–20), there are 26,73,891 handloom weavers and 8,48,621 allied workers in the country. In other words, there are a total of 35.2 lakh handloom weavers in the country. Challenges in Estimating the Number of Handloom Weavers in India: A Comparison...   Read More

India’s water crisis is no longer a spectre of the future; it is a daily reality. As the summer of 2025 looms, farmers from Punjab to Tamil Nadu brace themselves for parched fields while urban residents grow anxious about taps running dry. Beneath the cracked earth and empty rivers lies an even more alarming threat:...   Read More

NDIA is entering a defining decade for its water and wastewater management. The challenge   is monumental, but so is the opportunity. With surging industrialisation, relentless urbanisation, and climate-sensitive agriculture, the country's wastewater market is no longer an environmental issue alone-it is an economic, social, and political imperative. According to recent estimates, India's water and wastewater...   Read More

‘Preparedness, not prediction, is the watchword’  History has a habit of repeating itself, particularly with recent shifts in global trade and financial instability in developing economies. When the Latin American debt crisis hit in the 1980s, it was sparked by oil price shocks and deteriorating trade terms, and then made worse by an over-reliance on...   Read More

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) appears to have recognized that communication is no longer subordinate to economic design — it can make or break reform and change, especially where trust in institutions is thin and fiscal room is limited. The IMF's latest Fiscal Monitor dedicates a chapter to public consent as a precondition for good policy....   Read More

The US wants to be the permanent global hegemon. BRICS+ must boost regional trade and build alternative financial infrastructure. The Illusory Truth Effect — a psychological phenomenon where repeated exposure to falsehoods makes them seem true—has become a cornerstone of modern political propaganda. A 2023 study in Public Opinion Quarterly found that by the end...   Read More

As the financial system becomes increasingly digitised, it raises a pressing question: are our senior citizens unintentionally being excluded from the financial mainstream? India’s digital transition in the financial sector has been one of the most striking developments of banking system and for making financial transactions seamless, transparent, and accessible. However, this transformation has not...   Read More

India’s logistics sector, which is one of the most carbon-intensive in the world, needs to undergo a green transformation. Viksit Bharat is not just a vision. It is a commitment to having a stronger, self-reliant India by 2047. At its core lies inclusive development, ensuring that growth reaches every citizen, every business, and every region....   Read More

Everyone is talking about AI taking away jobs, but few are considering its transformative potential for India’s energy sector. While the conversation focuses on disruption, AI could be the key to revolutionizing energy efficiency, renewable integration, and sustainability. Yet, with this power comes the challenge of managing AI’s own growing energy demands. India is on...   Read More

The promise of markets and the reality of constraints.    In a vulnerable low-income country, what an entrepreneur typically lacks is not ideas, ability or demand – but financing. Local banks are often undercapitalised, ill-prepared or unwilling to take on risks and capital markets, where they exist, are thin, shallow or inaccessible. The absence of...   Read More