Op-Eds

National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) India’s largest and oldest economic think tank announces the appointment of Poonam Gupta as its new Director-General. NCAER is delighted to announce the appointment of Poonam Gupta as its next Director General. Poonam the first woman Director General of NCAER will succeed Shekhar Shah who has led NCAER...   Read More

With livelihoods affected during the pandemic the importance of land ownership for access to formal loans as well as government relief programmes became more evident. But the relatively poor availability of clear and updated land titles remains a hurdle. For a significant section of the rural poor land is both an asset and a source...   Read More

The recent semi-public exchanges between Sebi and DFS raise several questions about the legislative function of regulators that need careful consideration In March 2020 a private bank wrote off Additional Tier 1 (AT-1) bonds worth Rs 8415 crore based on a scheme of reconstruction approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This created a...   Read More

The government should reduce price distortions while farmers must organize themselves to gain collective bargaining power Our skewed policy of providing support prices chiefly for two crops has led to the oversupply of these even as our subsidy-cum-procurement regime turned farmers dependent on it. The roots of the continuing farmers’ agitation go back over 50...   Read More

Auto fuel pricing goes beyond taxes to refineries The discourse around the spikes in gas petrol and diesel prices follows the usual line. The government argues that the consumer has to bear the high price because global crude oil prices have hardened. The Opposition argues that the higher domestic price is due to frequent upward...   Read More

The proposed SPV meant to carry out the monetisation should take essential steps for making land assets of PSUs free of any hindrances Urban development in India is largely obstructed by the lack of availability of land at affordable prices a key prerequisite for infrastructure development and housing. According to the Numbeo database for 2021...   Read More

The pandemic may have limited our ability to connect with the external world but for several Indian women isolation isn’t unfamiliar or new. When we tell our children and grandchildren about 2020 we will talk about a time when we shut ourselves in our homes to keep the world and the pandemic out. Our only...   Read More

Excessive centralisation of skilling programmes may hinder the ability of training institutions to effectively respond to Indian market requirements. About a month ago the Government of India launched the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 3.0 the third phase of the short duration national skilling programme. Unlike some other public policy campaigns of recent times there...   Read More

The allocations show that the focus is more on income support than improving crop and livestock yields That agricultural sector is critical for the overall socio-economic development of the country needs no re-stating. On average the agriculture and allied sector accounted for 20 per cent of GDP between 2012-13 and 2019-20 and is estimated to...   Read More

India’s finance minister also announced a set of financial sector reforms be it in insurance banking or development finance. Success would depend on how well these are carried out. The budget has announced some laudable reform initiatives but their success will depend on how well they get implemented The budget has surprisingly opted for fiscal...   Read More