BUSINESS
The case to regulate opinion trading in India
Opinion trading platforms often claim to foster skilful engagement, even though their core mechanics align more with gambling for two primary reasons - unpredictable outcomes and binary decision making. Therefore, it is vital that India regulate the opinion trading sector.
BUSINESS
Tackling litigation delays to boost India’s economic growth
Litigation delays in India hinder investment, economic growth, and infrastructure development. Addressing these inefficiencies requires judicial reforms, improved court infrastructure, and proactive government action to create a predictable business environment that fosters innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainable growth
BUSINESS
The Income Tax Bill 2025: A milestone in simplification
Over six decades of amending the income tax law has made it an unwieldy legislation, increasing the incidence of litigation. The new income tax bill tabled in Parliament on February 13 tries to cut through the complexity and offer stakeholders a simpler legislation.
BUSINESS
Chart of the Day: Born in bull market, will new mutual funds investors stick around?
Most mutual fund investors have not experienced a bear market yet
INDIA
Bharat Tex 2025 elevates India’s textile industry to global heights
Bharat Tex 2025 will elevate India's textile industry through innovation, sustainability, and global collaborations. Featuring exhibitions, seminars, and cutting-edge technology, the event aims to position India as a global textile leader and boost its $5 trillion economy ambition.
INDIA
The Power of Public-Private Partnerships in Water Management: Adding the fourth ‘P’
India can address water challenges through public-private partnerships and innovation, ensuring sustainable and equitable water systems for future generations with collaborative efforts
BUSINESS
SEBI’s settlement mechanism needs an overhaul
SEBI’s settlement mechanism aims to give applicants a chance to settle potential enforcement actions, in conjunction with the regulator, as opposed to lengthy adjudicatory proceedings. This powerful tool is increasingly losing its efficacy because of flaws in the process. It requires a relook by the regulator to live up to its potential
BUSINESS
Chart of the Day | PVs can gain from penetration-led demand
The gap between rural and urban areas is relatively small in 2Ws compared to PVs
BUSINESS
India needs to find its Moore’s law of growth by investing in AI innovation
Failing to act now by not ramping up innovation and R&D investments by 100x could stand to make us irrelevant. India must significantly ramp up AI R&D investment to assert global leadership in innovation and economic growth, drawing inspiration from Moore’s Law for future progress.
BUSINESS
US-China rivalry intensifies in quantum technology race and security
The adversarial competition between the United States and China in quantum technology is an underappreciated and often overlooked facet of their ongoing rivalry.
BUSINESS
A neutral start to RBI MPC’s easing cycle
RBI said it will look to use the flexibility embedded in the flexible inflation- targeting (FIT) framework. This suggests that the RBI could start to gradually move away from its fixed 4 percent CPI inflation target and instead embrace a range, especially when faced with CPI shocks, such as those from volatile vegetable prices
INDIA
Win-win for BJP; curtains for Kejriwal
A hard fought victory in Delhi and a resounding one in UP’s Milkipur bypoll have wholly overturned the political mood of June 2024. Three successive state assembly victories have increased BJP’s relative strength in Indian politics and diminished the bargaining capacity of its NDA allies
BUSINESS
RBI moves in the right direction but global uncertainty can change plans
Global disinflation is stalling due to service inflation. Expectations on the size and pace of rate cuts in the US have receded and the US dollar has strengthened. Any unanticipated increase in energy prices could also impact future stance
BUSINESS
RBI puts economic growth on the front burner
This has been achieved by letting the rupee become more market determined and mitigating the tightness in liquidity conditions with injection of liquidity through various tools. In the April MPC, subject to global factors, the base case should be for another 25bp rate cut, bringing the Repo rate to 6 percent
BUSINESS
The Reading List: February 7, 2025
A selection of articles and social media gems from the world of economy, business and finance, curated by our research and opinion teams.
BUSINESS
Regulating online games with skill, chance and FDI considerations
A statistical framework that differentiates between games of skill and chance is a silver bullet for online games regulators
BUSINESS
Chart of the Day: Interest rates and the two sides of liquidity
Deposit rates have risen consistently, but tight liquidity hasn’t forced banks to hike loan rates
INDIA
Solutions to invigorate India’s lacklustre arbitration system
India’s arbitration sector is overdue for disruption by market forces. Arbitration Council of India (ACI) should take over arbitrator appointments from courts—but only as a transitional measure. The goal is to nurture a competitive arbitration marketplace, where multiple competing platforms emerge—just like ride-hailing or food delivery services
INDIA
Negative spillover effect of Press Note 3 persists
Press Note 3 was introduced in 2020 to intensify scrutiny on FDI sourced from countries sharing a land border with India, which really means China. It did not define a key concept, ‘beneficial ownership’. The lack of clarity around what constitutes ‘beneficial ownership’ has created roadblocks for many private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) firms based out of Europe and USA.
BUSINESS
Chart of the Day| Premium hotels rush to add capacity as the sector defies consumption slowdown
The healthy demand uptick is leading to pick-up in new room supply and commencement of deferred projects in the last 24-30 months
BUSINESS
Role of P2P lending platforms in empowering the underserved
Peer-to-peer lending (P2PL) offers a promising solution to India’s gendered credit gap. By bypassing traditional banking barriers, P2PL provides flexible, accessible loans tailored to rural women entrepreneurs, fostering financial inclusion and supporting their business growth and resilience
BUSINESS
Budget’s most far-reaching change is in tariff rationalization
Inverted customs duty structures have been one of the biggest impediments to competitiveness of Indian exporters. Imposed mostly ad-hoc, in response to specific demands for import protection, the duty inversions have adversely affected prospects. The Budget might have done for Indian exports what trade policy hasn’t been able to
BUDGET
Budget 2025 set to transform the insurance sector for growth
The Union Budget 2025-26 introduces significant reforms for India's insurance sector, including raising FDI limits, enhancing digital infrastructure, and expanding coverage for gig workers. These initiatives aim to drive innovation, growth, and greater accessibility, particularly in rural markets
BUDGET
India's strategic push for cleantech manufacturing and renewable energy growth
Budget 2025 outlines efforts to boost manufacturing, focusing on renewable energy (RE) and cleantech. The National Manufacturing Mission aims to enhance domestic production across key sectors, reducing import dependency, and fostering innovation, technology, and skills for future growth.
