Op-Eds

Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian Wednesday said that it is not possible for the diverse Indian economy to have one uniform Goods and Services Tax (GST) across the country. The useful debate in fact can be whether there can be three GST rates instead of the present four rates with the possibility of reevaluating the...   Read More

The GST Council may consider reduction in tax rates on host of items with low revenue implications as part of the tax rationalisation exercise in its next meeting on July 21. The items which could be considered for cutting of tax rates might include sanitary napkins handicrafts and handloom goods besides certain services. Several industry...   Read More

Subramanian who had often batted for policy rate rate reduction said tighter monetary and fiscal policies were needed to hold the line at the time of shocks. Amid the demand for cut in taxes on fuel outgoing chief economic advisor (CEA) Arvind Subramanian on Wednesday said oil windfall should have been used for stepping up...   Read More

Public sector oil companies need to be transparent in their price fixation policies. Policymakers also need to question whether our oil companies/refineries are efficient by world standards. Only then can one identify the ex-post and ex-ante factors behind the high domestic oil price The spikes in petrol and diesel prices are the focus of attention...   Read More

Trust in official statistics is vital for democracy — the new policy must avoid centralisation David Spiegelhalter president of Royal Statistical Society in the U.K. gave a most unusual presidential address in 2017. Instead of talking about esoteric statistical techniques he talked about declining trust in numbers in a post-truth society bombarded by fake news...   Read More

Women comprise over 42 per cent of the agricultural labour force in the country signifying increasing feminisation of agriculture and yet they own less than 2 per cent of its farm land. According to the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) notwithstanding laws ensuring women's rights to agricultural land most such land is owned by either...   Read More

Last month the United States President Donald Tump imposed 25% tariffs on steel imports into the county citing concerns about the dumping of cheap imported steel ruining American industries and taking away jobs. Given the trade relations between the US and India it is important to examine what these tariffs will mean for the Indian...   Read More

About a third of the total area of Tripura is covered by bamboo and bamboo has emerged as a key thrust area for the state’s industrial development. Based on a field visit that was undertaken to study skill development in Tripura’s bamboo sector Bornali Bhandari discusses the livelihood-based approach of Tripura Bamboo Mission vis-à-vis a...   Read More

Delhi recently hosted the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Summit from 10th to 12th March 2018. With 55 countries having signed the ISA framework agreement and 26 of them already ratifying it it looks like the ISA is certainly gaining momentum. Of course India seems to be the right platform for such an event. After all...   Read More

Time magazine dedicated its person of the year (2017) cover to women who broke the silence surrounding the pervasiveness of sexual harassment and violence especially in the workplace. It took a string of allegations by women with public images they could leverage and were willing to put at stake to give heightened visibility to the...   Read More