Researchers Publication

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

NCAER, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO), organised a one-day roundtable titled Building Inclusive Economies: Gender, Financial Inclusion, and the Platform Workforce on 08 December 2025 at the NCAER campus in New Delhi. The event brought together a diverse group of stakeholders, including senior government and RBI officials, representatives of the ILO and...   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

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The IHDS Forum is a monthly update of socio-economic developments in India by the IHDS research community, based on the India Human Development Survey, jointly conducted by NCAER and the University of Maryland. While two earlier rounds of the survey were completed in 2004-05 and 2011-12, respectively. Fieldwork for the third round was undertaken in...   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

“The key issue is not the lack of ideas or technology, but the lack of people with the right skills for specific job roles.” In the latest episode of the Renewable Watch Podcast, we sit down with Bornali Bhandari, Professor, and Isha Dayal, Consultant, National Council of Applied Economic Research for a wide-ranging conversation on...   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