Op-Eds

The National Green Hydrogen Mission is a strong first step, but India must adopt a whole-of-economy approach to scale its efforts. As the world races to address the climate crisis, green hydrogen emerges as both a promising solution and a potential disruptor in the clean energy landscape. Unlike conventional hydrogen derived from fossil fuels, green...   Read More

India faces a significant wastewater challenge, with over 70% of urban wastewater untreated. The market is projected to grow from $13.1 billion in 2023 to $23.8 billion by 2033, driven by urbanization and industrial demand. In a country where over 70% of urban wastewater is untreated and flows into rivers, lakes, and coastal zones, India’s wastewater...   Read More

Dynamic policymaking can ensure that India grabs this golden opportunity presented by the shifting global scenario to foster a boom in its education sector. India’s education system is severely capacity constrained. Young people comprise almost a third of the country’s population, but only a quarter of them enrol in higher education. We need to increase...   Read More

Reform, global reach and financial stability statecraft.  Amid developing tensions, the International Monetary Fund’s 2025 Financial Sector Stability Assessment for China arrives at a pivotal juncture. More than a domestic stocktake, it reflects the structural transformation of China’s financial system, marked by increased complexity, persistent contradictions and a steadily expanding global footprint – much of which is...   Read More

As India seeks to enhance its innovation ecosystem, it is worthwhile to pay attention to opportunities and lessons from the self-inflicted wounds on American science What do lasers, the internet, Google’s search algorithm, the gene-editing tool CRISPR-9, Wireless MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) technology, and Covid vaccines have in common? Key innovations underlying each originated in an...   Read More

India’s water crisis is not only about scarcity. It is mismanagement, over extraction of groundwater and pollution that are the real culprits In a country where nearly 600 million people face high to extreme water stress and where per capita water availability has dropped sharply from 5,177 m³ in 1951 to about 1,400 m³ today,...   Read More

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