Op-Eds

India today finds itself at an unusual and potentially transformative juncture in the global economic order. On one side lies the long-negotiated India–EU agreement — often described as the mother of all deals — impenetrable with market access, regulatory standards, and long-term discipline. On the other is the rapidly deepening India–US economic engagement — increasingly...   Read More

The oil shocks taught India a painful lesson: management without measurement is a vulnerable idea. Minerals now occupy the same position that oil once did, but across more sectors. The oil crises of the 1970s have never quite left India’s collective memory. What tends to get lost, however, is that the real failure of that...   Read More

Summary Large dams remain central to India’s irrigation and food security strategy Evidence shows command areas outperform non-command regions in agricultural income Nearly one-third of total benefits arise from indirect impacts such as health and education Governance gaps and inequitable distribution dilute potential gains In India, large dams evoke strong and often irreconcilable emotions. To...   Read More

When work is exhaustive, commutes are long, and phones are an easy distraction, leisure reading becomes a luxury. India has long nurtured the image of a “reading society”, a civilisation rooted in the written word. We celebrate the chaos of book fairs, obsess over the rigours of curriculum reform, and fret incessantly over the learning...   Read More

India has a framework of policies and programmes aimed at supporting older persons, but these are under-utilised and under-resourced relative to the scale of need. At 101 and 92, the two sisters lived alone in a senior citizen housing complex in Pune, a bustling city. Former freedom fighters and fiercely independent, they were determined to...   Read More

The deal creates economic and strategic opportunities, yet its sustainability will depend on how adjustment costs are managed and how quickly firms are enabled to become competitive. After nearly two decades of intermittent negotiations, India and the European Union have finally moved towards a comprehensive trade agreement that is being billed as both economically significant...   Read More

Economics often feels abstract, something that exists in charts and equations rather than in everyday life. But once the jargon is stripped away, it looks surprisingly familiar. It behaves a bit like a bicycle. It needs motion to stay upright, balance to move smoothly, and constant adjustment as the terrain changes. Push one part too...   Read More

Historically, India has had a much larger share of workers who are self-employed and a smaller proportion of wage and salaried workers. In this post, Farzana Afridi outlines recent trends in self-employment and the key issues associated with such work. She proposes policy solutions to address constraints around skilling, access to formal credit, and legal...   Read More

The grants have strengthened local finances, but deep-rooted institutional constraints remain a challenge  For more than a decade, Finance Commission (FC) grants have served as the backbone of fiscal decentralisation in India. They were intended to give Panchayats predictable, formula-based resources so that local governments could plan works, maintain essential services and respond to citizens’...   Read More

While India’s fish consumption has been dominated by freshwater species, high-value marine fish and shrimp are expanding their footprint. In this post, Bandyopadhyay and Joshi discuss how this transition is reflective of broader changes in income, urbanisation, technology-driven market access, and consumers’ nutrition awareness. They highlight the role of policy in ensuring affordability, strengthening environmental...   Read More