BUSINESS
India’s just transition from coal is complex, messy and politically difficult
The biggest problem around a just transition is that coal can’t be pushed out with a precise end date, nor can the massive socio-economic ecosystem that coal creates be replaced easily
BUSINESS
China’s attempt to build a Pax Sinica won’t succeed
China over the last decade-and-a-half is manifestly trying to redefine the global power hierarchy and set out an order with the rules and arrangements that ensure its centrality
BUSINESS
China’s dominance in rare earths and magnets is alarming
In 2022, the country mined 58 percent of the world’s REEs. It accounted for 89 percent of the global REE processing capacity and 92 percent of the global manufacturing capacity for rare earth magnets
BUSINESS
India needs an urgent push to secure its copper resources
India’s copper demand is forecast to reach 3 million tons by 2030 even as it mines only 2.5 percent of the copper it needs, and about 36 percent of the demand is met through recycling scrap
POLITICS
India faces unprecedented diplomatic challenge to secure its military future
India's traditional dependence on Russia for defence equipment, Russia's growing ties with China, US wariness of both countries and India's desire to live in a multipolar world make for a difficult combination to solve
BUSINESS
China’s domination of the global renewable energy sector is here to stay
China’s scale gives it a massive price advantage across the entire renewables chain that strengthens its domination across equipment supply chains
BUSINESS
The CPEC is a metaphor for Pakistan’s failings
CPEC was meant to add about 2-2.5 percent to Pakistan’s GDP every year and create 2.3 million jobs by 2030. These look very distant goals now
BUSINESS
India’s battery manufacturing plans will need a secure nickel supply chain
India currently consumes just over 80,000 tons of nickel annually and almost all of it is imported. The country is expected to be one of the key markets that will drive nickel demand alongside China in the coming decade
BUSINESS
India needs deeper economic ties with Indonesia to counter China
Indonesia carefully balances its handshakes, cultivating China, staying on the right side of the US, and carefully cultivating both India and Australia
BUSINESS
India has a challenge ahead to grab a slice of the semiconductor market
The strategy will be government-led in most parts, yet heavily dependent upon the private sector for the downstream delivery and the ability to quickly secure finance way beyond what the government has currently earmarked
BUSINESS
India’s energy transition must not ignore its complex political economy
There is pressure on India to sign the West-led Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). But, it needs to take the ground realities of power generation, employment and mining-dependent states into account
BUSINESS
China’s deep game in the Middle East can only discomfort Iran
Beijing recognizes Iran’s value as an ally but it also recognizes the economic advantages that Iran’s cash-rich rivals like Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the UAE offer
BUSINESS
India’s PLI schemes must boost SME sector, links with global value chain
A targeted cluster-led approach for SMEs with a specific global and GVC-led focus is crucial
WORLD
Why China is re-calibrating its BRI strategy
Failure of China’s BRI strategy has led to a shift that now focuses on investments that achieve its global goals but with direct benefits to its domestic economy
BUSINESS
India must move quickly to secure its lithium resources
Without lithium security, and large cost-effective lithium refining capacities, India’s Li-Ion battery supply chain could end up lop-sided with an imbalance in supply and demand in the face of global protectionism
BUSINESS
Budget 2023: India needs to look at defence spending in a new way
So far, when it comes to budgetary allocations for defence it’s always been a debate between guns and butter—the dynamics of allocations for defence vis-a- vis those for social spending or subsidies and social support. That view needs to change
BUSINESS
It’s time to look beyond subsidy and view agriculture as a value chain
The era of analysing Indian agriculture from a prism of shortages is long past and politics should not be used as an excuse to prevent progress
BUSINESS
Reforms a must to realise agriculture sector’s potential
The government’s attempt at large-scale reforms of the farm sector had to be abandoned. But, the problems it sought to address remain. It’s time to revive the effort
BUSINESS
Indian oil imports to remain on a slippery track this year
Sanctions and elections can be tricky as the price at which the government buys oil will greatly drive politics
BUSINESS
Why India urgently needs an economic security policy
Aggressor states are not above using economic dependencies as a means of coercion and thereby indirect war, as recent events have demonstrated
BUSINESS
India must step up Iran ties despite tough challenges
Building ties with Iran will be crucial as India seeks to project its rising power status on West and Central Asia
BUSINESS
India’s PLI scheme can spur industrial growth, but what about jobs?
As Indian firms utilize frontier technologies to build competitiveness, manufacturing will deliver lower levels of employment generation. It raises the risk of social disruption due to unemployment
BUSINESS
The emerging contours of US-China hegemonic competition
One way or the other, nation-states are demonstrating their independence. This is being done by either wooing China and refusing to raise oil production like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and OPEC+ or acts like buying or securing vital products like oil and gas from pariah states like Russia, much like India and Japan are doing
BUSINESS
Geopolitics an emerging frontier for companies’ investment canvas
Friend-shoring now seeks to secure a partnership model that covers those nation-states that share more than the US’ or EU’s view of open markets, labour, and environmental standards
