Author
Minhaz Merchant is the biographer of Rajiv Gandhi and Aditya Birla and author of The New Clash of Civilizations (Rupa, 2014). He is founder of Sterling Newspapers Pvt. Ltd. which was acquired by the Indian Express group
With the 2024 Lok Sabha election due in just over three months (the first phase of voting will probably be held, as it was in 2019, in the first week of April), government spending is set to rise in manufacturing and infrastructure
Read MoreIndia’s proactive moves to secure a regular supply of both rare earth and critical minerals is vital to the success of its green energy strategy in renewables, batteries, EVs and related technologies
Read MoreTill last year, analysts were predicting that China would overtake the US as the world’s largest economy by the early 2030s. Now many economists believe China is headed for the sort of long-term economic ennui that Japan slipped into in the 1990s
Read MoreThe private sector had long complained of credit availability in banks. That no longer holds good. If the private sector now joins the government to invest in manufacturing and infrastructure, India’s economy can once again beat economists’ forecasts of muted growth in 2024-25
Read MoreMost institutional forecasts see the Indian economy growing at 6.5 per cent in 2023-24. They could be wrong. A figure closer to 6.8-7.0 per cent is more likely
Read MoreIndia needs deep structural reforms. Workforce productivity remains low. Skillsets vary: of the roughly six lakh engineers India produces a year, only the top 20 per cent – around 1.20 lakh – are world-class
Read MoreIf the manufacturing and software services sectors fire at the same time, tax revenue remains strong and corporate earnings maintain their upward trajectory, spurring greater private investment across sectors, the RBI governor’s recent upbeat forecast for the economy might well appear prescient
Read MoreThe relationship between Europe and China has soured since the Russia-Ukraine war. The BRI was meant to be a new Silk Route from Asia to Europe. That vision has blurred
Read MoreWestern nations regard climate change as a time bomb that is already ticking. The rich world caused the problem. But it needs the rest of the world – which did not play a significant role in warming the planet – to help fix it
Read MoreWith financial resources flowing into the broader economy, average annual GDP growth at seven per cent will be well within reach. That is the key number for India in order to achieve upper-middle income status by 2047, eliminating poverty and mitigating inequality
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