Researchers Publication

The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), one of India’s premier economic policy research think tanks, carried out the 136th Round of its Business Expectations Survey (BES) in March 2026. NCAER has been carrying out the BES every quarter since 1992, covering 464 firms across four regions.

The future of irrigation lies not in choosing between the big and the small, but in integrating the two within a coherent, systems-based approach. India’s irrigation story has long been told through large dams and canal networks. For decades, policy has focused on expanding major and medium irrigation projects to create irrigation potential. Yet, much...   Read More

The ongoing parliamentary session addressing the 33% Women's Reservation Act underscores its profound economic and social advantages. Studies indicate that when women participate in policymaking, the results are transformative—leading to enhanced investments in healthcare and education and a significant drop in child mortality rates. Yet, India still trails behind in female political representation compared to...   Read More

Strengthening enforcement mechanisms is the most critical priority. A persistent challenge in India’s labour market is the weak enforcement of regulations, especially in the informal sector The recent strike by gig workers and the protest by factory workers in UP against low wages and poor working conditions underlie the operational challenges of labour reforms in...   Read More

The growth of India’s economy is a means, not an end in itself. It must translate into good jobs and better lives. However, Time Use survey data shows significant disparities in the hours that India’s young work. Could AI adoption reduce these gaps? The recent revision of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) data has generated...   Read More

The crucial role of microfinance in bridging the credit gap for low-income households, who are often excluded from the formal banking system, is widely acknowledged. By providing small, collateral-free loans, microfinance empowers individuals, particularly women, to initiate or grow income-generating activities, thereby strengthening household finances, creating local employment, and enhancing overall community resilience.

The productivity crisis is no longer a theoretical risk; it is a mechanical and biological reality crippling India’s industrial heartlands India is currently winning the global trade shuffle. As political instability rocks traditional hubs such as Bangladesh, international buyers are pivoting toward Indian textile clusters. But as factories in Tiruppur and Bengaluru take on these...   Read More

In a warming world, the value of irrigation lies not only in what it produces, but in the uncertainty it removes. In a canal-irrigated village in eastern India, farmers increasingly speak not just about yields, but about certainty. “Earlier, we waited for rain,” one cultivator observed. “Now we plan.” That shift—from dependence on rainfall to...   Read More

Recent reports suggest the central government may be considering a way around the delimitation deadlock on women’s reservation. The proposal, if it advances, would expand the Lok Sabha from 543 to 816 seats, with 273 of the new seats reserved for women and allocated using 2011 Census data rather than waiting for a fresh Census....   Read More

Stable fiscal ratios, high growth and low inflation portray India as a haven of stability and calm in a very turbulent world. However, this may well be a calm before the storm. The stable fiscal ratios notwithstanding, fiscal space is shrinking, which handicaps the country in coping with the economic shock, which is expected in...   Read More

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