The recently concluded state assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh yielded results along expected lines. It’s just that no one could tell the extent of the BJP’s landslide victory in Gujarat, nor how close it would be in Himachal. And it was India’s two leading national parties slugging it out in both states. These… Continue reading Another Landslide Victory and What it Says About the State of the Indian Economy
Just last year, I had written on the occasion of the start of India’s 75th year of independence, about the long, Sisyphean journey our country had taken to reach where we are today. And about the challenges that remain. I had written it also from the point of view of our own personal experiences as… Continue reading A Democracy Fraying @ 75
On hearing the news of India’s FY22 GDP growth announced a few days ago, you might think – like the Indian government and some sections of the media – that ours is the fastest growing large economy. Never mind that the fourth quarter was the slowest growing in a long time – 4.1% - and… Continue reading Growth Depends on India Going Back to Work
As the Covid pandemic wanes, one would expect most economies to recover faster. However, something called base effect prevents us from seeing better rates of growth. And so it is, with our economy in India. After the massive contraction in FY21, the first year of the pandemic, the economy staged an impressive recovery in the… Continue reading Can the Indian Economy Weather the Storms?
In this article, the second of the three Es that I referred to at the start of the year, I write about the Indian economy in the light of the Indian budget that was presented recently. The much-anticipated Indian Union Budget of 2022 has come and gone without any fanfare, nor any major controversy. This… Continue reading Murphy’s Law of Budget-Making in India
It’s been a while since I wrote on the Indian economy and since our second quarter GDP news was released just a fortnight ago, I thought it might make sense to consider this news as well as other issues looming on the horizon. Which is why this piece is not so much about the Q2… Continue reading The Three Es of India to Look Out For in 2022
The much-awaited GDP figures for India’s economy in the last quarter of the last financial year and for the full year are finally here. And while the immediate reaction seems to be one of relief, there is plenty to read between the lines. For the last quarter of FY21, the Indian economy seems to have… Continue reading Indian Economy and Covid Recovery All Slow Down
Just a few months ago, India was being lauded for how well it had handled the Covid-19 pandemic and how the severe lockdowns that were imposed in 2020 actually worked. Never mind that they were cruel on the lives of millions of migrant workers and their livelihoods. Still, the fact that the government quickly scrambled… Continue reading Indian Economy Caught Between a Raging Pandemic and Politics
The Indian Union Budget presented on February 1, 2021, by the Indian finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman was unusual in many ways. For one thing, it was much shorter, as many commentators noted, and one of the reasons was that allocations for each Central Government scheme was not spelled out, as on previous occasions. Yet, on… Continue reading India Budget 2021: Spending Our Way Out of the Pandemic Economy
Hello readers and subscribers. Just to let you know that since 2020 is drawing to an end, I have compiled all my Owl Wisdom Podcasts of 2020 as a pdf document and uploaded it on slideshare.net. So more people can read, listen, download and share some owl wisdom! Given the kind of year 2020 has… Continue reading Owl Wisdom Podcasts 2020
Peripatetic Perch 