The slight growth in industrial production in September is largely a mirage
The 0.2 percent growth in September 2020 is on top of a contraction of 4.6 percent in September 2019
Shrinking space and existential threats Congress faces
Apart from major organisational issues, the party has lost its support base among major caste groups in state after state. It never managed to appeal to the growing middle class in the post-liberalisation era or to the youth or women, which would have offset this loss of caste base
Interview | Be fearful when others are being brave in the market, says A Balasubramanian of Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC
Consumer, IT and pharmaceuticals are evergreen sectors. They go through ups and downs no doubt, but investors need to keep these as part of the core portfolio, says the MD and CEO of Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC
Can the cloud trigger the next boom for Indian IT firms?
For all its promise, the cloud business presents several challenges as well. The big one is the potential shrinking of the annuity that Indian IT majors have been used to in the past
Fresh stimulus — The fireworks are missing
The dozen steps announced by the FM will have favourable impact at operational level, but may fall short of generating adequate demand to jump-start economy
Nirmala Sitharaman’s Atmanirbhar 3.0 heavily relies on multiplier potential of infrastructure, real estate to drive growth
The middle class may feel a tad disappointed with no visible measures to raise their spending ability, but the pre-Diwali package seeks to address some structural infirmities
Biden’s policy agenda rests heavily on Senate outcome
Where the incoming administration lands depends heavily on two Senate runoffs in Georgia in early January
California is trying to jump-start the hydrogen economy
With the costs of producing and shipping hydrogen coming down, California is setting ambitious goals to phase out vehicles that run on fossil fuels in favour of batteries and hydrogen
Chart of the Day | You will never guess which is the best performing stock market of the last decade
India is in the middle of the pack
RBI’s conflicting challenges in NBFC regulation
To make India less dependent on banks is one of the central goals of our financial regulators in the next decade
Oil producers have more than a pandemic to worry about
Even an effective COVID vaccine may not offer a route out of the mess the industry finds itself in
Lockdown leads to household savings glut
Where was the extra saving deployed? The biggest chunk went into cash holdings, which shot up to 5.4 percent of GDP, from 1.4 percent for 2019-20 as a whole
Chart of the Day: IHS Markit global survey finds firms in India report slowest recovery prospects from the pandemic
The average recovery time for firms that have yet to reach pre-pandemic levels of output is expected to be five months globally, ranging from an average of 13 months in India to just two months in China and three months in the US. Firms in India are badly in need of a stimulus package
Elections prove that there’s yet no political rival to Prime Minister Narendra Modi
The Opposition needs to reinvent itself, but from where does it start? Into the seventh year of his term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not appear to have a rival as far as the eye can see
BJP, for its own good, must not disturb Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
Narendra Modi and the BJP may have to ensure that the support for Nitish Kumar and his JD(U) is steady and continuous like in the previous term. Any change of strategy may be tempting, but fraught with uncertainty, given the numbers in the new Bihar Assembly
PLI scheme: Electronics shows the way, will others follow suit?
Initial concerns about the scheme's ability to attract investments are receding after the experience in electronics. Last month, the government approved 16 applicants for large-scale electronics manufacturing under PLI. The companies’ total production is expected to be about Rs 10,50,000 crore in the next five years, of which around 60 per cent will be exports
GDP nowcast shows India has slipped into a recession
Elevated inflationary pressures persisted in October, with a poll of professional forecasters putting consumer price inflation at 7.3 percent for the month
Antitrust and the Technology Race
Will the US fall behind China in the race for AI and Quantum Computing supremacy if significant curbs are put on the Big Four?
With debt receding, all Tata Power needs now is a little help at Mundra
Tata Power's September quarter results show notable reduction in debt. The company saw funds infusion from promoters and realised proceeds from stake sales
Economy moving onto a faster lane, but conditions attached
The big question in August was: how long will the impact last? On the eve of Diwali, the question has turned to: Is the revival for real? The economy appears to have regained a significant part of its lost lung power
Renewable power grows strongly, despite the pandemic
Renewables are likely to expand nearly 50% by 2025, the year when, together, they are expected to eclipse coal as the world’s largest source of electric power
Biden is expected to keep scrutiny of tech front and centre
Biden is expected to take on the Silicon Valley giants on misinformation, privacy and antitrust, in a sharp departure from the policies pursued while he was vice president under Obama
SEBI’s stock option manipulation settlement scheme is good, but has many glitches
The implementation, though commendably online, is hardly seamless. There are several hoops that parties have to jump through. Interestingly, SEBI has insisted that parties should also file with the regulator a full set of physical documents
Bihar Results | How and why the NDA won the Assembly election
Bihar is the second state after Maharashtra where the BJP has emerged as the big brother after being a junior for years. This will give it confidence that with right strategy and patience, it can expand its footprint in states where it has relied heavily on allies, such as Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir
