BUSINESS
Budget 2023: FM Sitharaman would do well to avoid a ‘populist’ budget
Budget 2023 presents an opportunity to fix gaps in capital gains and individual income tax structures. Sound fiscal policy management can also be politically prudent without being blinded by rank short-termism of electoral calendars
BUSINESS
How long can states sustain on Centre’s fiscal support and perpetual loans?
New sources of risk such as a return to the old pension system, and mounting overdue of power discoms could push many states to a fiscal precipice
BUSINESS
World @ 8 Billion | For India, it is about rising median age
Population ageing will have implications on economic growth rates, labour force participation, and brands. For the last three decades, the dominant mantra for brands has been: get the youth hooked. This may have to change
BUSINESS
Consumer demand, high commodity prices, and better compliance behind surge in GST collections
It has taken five years, punctuated by two pandemic years, for revenues to stabilise. This now needs to be made less inflation-dependent, and also better balanced collections across states, where most states’ GST revenue growth consistently remains above the 14 percent mark
BUSINESS
Policy easing can help startups battle funding winter chill
It may be about time for the government to clarify on ‘beneficial ownership’ under Press Note 3 of the FDI policy, and ease some rules, for funds to flow in quickly, and enable capitalisation of India’s promising startup ventures
BUSINESS
National Logistics Policy | NLP can do to India’s logistics what UPI has done to payments
The pivot idea of the National Logistics Policy will be the seamless interoperability, through an overarching interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral, and multi-jurisdictional architecture backed by a robust tech backbone
BUSINESS
At 13.5% Q1 GDP growth, economy noses ahead of pre-pandemic levels
High oil prices and a weakening rupee have had a sobering effect, with value of imports recording a sharp jump in the quarter compared to the same period in 2021
BUSINESS
Many Indian states mirror costly debt slip-ups that rattled Sri Lanka
Punjab spends 21.3 percent of its revenues on interest payments, Tamil Nadu 21 percent, West Bengal 20.8 percent, and Haryana 20.9 percent
POLITICS
Non-merit poll freebies are promissory notes at taxpayers’ expense
It is critical to remain persistently focused on achieving inter-generational upward social and economic mobility and that is where the lens should be. Not on giveaways that follow an electoral calendar
BUSINESS
Revival Package | BSNL needs the smarts, not just capital, to stay in the race
Data and smart offerings will be the vehicles for higher ARPU on the path towards profitability. This requires comprehensive professionalisation, and a mindset overhaul
BUSINESS
Concentration risk should not spoil India’s UPI party
There is a peculiar problem of concentration that is emerging in the UPI ecosystem. Walmart-owned PhonePe and Google’s GPay currently dominate the market of third-party UPI apps
BUSINESS
GST @ Five | Elegant in promise, a work in progress in practice
Five years since it has been in place, the GST continues to remain a work in progress. The primary pain points include multiple tax slabs, taxmen’s arbitrary interpretations, and the over-dependence of the GST compensation for states to plug revenue gaps
BUSINESS
Worrying details could be hiding in sticky wholesale prices
A lot will depend on the fresh arrival of supplies of seasonal vegetables and the summer-sown kharif crop. All eyes are on the monsoon rains, and when they start lashing north-west India, the country’s grain bowl
BUSINESS
GDP | Economy in slowdown mode. Monsoon rains critical to quick revival
GDP grew 8.7 percent in 2021-22, but slowed to 4.1 percent in the fourth quarter. This slowdown comes at a time when people are battling persistently high cost of living with growing prices of both essentials and aspirationals
BUSINESS
Inflation is not what used to be. Temporary tax cuts may be needed to tame it
A rationalisation of taxes in a host of manufactured products can bring down prices quickly, and also help shift the terms of trade favouring farmers who have been paying a higher price for goods that they buy than the price they get for goods that they produce
BUSINESS
State finances need top priority as many dangerously stare down a debt hole
Sunset of GST compensation next month, guarantees for power discom bonds, and extra borrowings for non-asset creating revenue expenditure could end up worsening state finances
BUSINESS
Cut out statistical fallacies. Counting the dead is serious business
Under-reporting of Covid-19 deaths by a multiple of 10 will eventually have to show up in the crude death rates of those years. This will require a door-to-door enumeration. This will be time consuming, but worth the effort for the sake of public health and data in India. Until then, all estimates are just that, estimates
BUSINESS
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to lower VAT on fuel carries a message on burden of fiscal responsibility
The Prime Minister’s April 27 remarks need to be seen in the context of the high tax structure in petroleum pricing, which is a painful legacy issue in a rather flawed design of India’s energy economics
POLITICS
Bureaucrats are right. Fiscally reckless freebies are a bad idea
Building flyovers across the cityscape does not solve the problem of traffic jams. It requires investment in good, efficient and dependable public transport. Likewise for effective welfare economics
BUSINESS
As sustainability reporting kicks in, ESG investing faces global credibility risk
Paul Clements-Hunt, who coined the acronym ESG, said that the ESG fund industry is headed for a ‘shakeout’ over the next five years
POLITICS
Foster innovative thinking in the IAS by defining KPIs, KRAs
The fear of losing if targets aren’t met inspires innovation in the corporate world — something that doesn’t come about in a structure of ‘time bound’ promotions and wage increments
BUSINESS
Pizza toppings and momos have exposed GST’s flawed design. Time for an overhaul and make it good and simple
GST was intended to offer a single shot solution by cleaning up India's untidy patchwork of central and local levies. Five years later, it is risking itself to turn into a distorted caricature of the earlier gobbledygook that it replaced, with multiple slabs, erratic interpretations, and arbitrary taxman interference
BUSINESS
Time to delink political risk management from economic reforms
The Centre would do well by beginning a structured consultative process to reform the farm sector. Besides, setting the ball rolling, it will also signal the government’s intent to walk the talk on its reforms agenda
INDIA
Piyush Goyal the reformer shines through in India-UAE CEPA and other complex trade pacts
Trade negotiations are substantially about expanding the area of the possible, and gradualism is a given approach. Seen through this lens, the pace at which Goyal has piloted these, building personal rapport with his counterparts, are nothing short of big-bang
