Manufacturing has been a major focus of the annual Budget presented on February 1 by Nirmala Sitharaman. India has long aimed to raise manufacturing’s share in GDP to around 25%, from about 16–17% a few years ago. However, the current share remains significantly lower.In an increasingly uncertai...
The Union Budget 2026-27 places significant emphasis on high-value agricultural products and the adoption of advanced technology. The principal objective of these measures is to accelerate growth in the agriculture sector. Agriculture and allied activities continue to be the primary source of liveli...
India is the world’s second-largest producer of crude steel, after China. While China produces about 850 million tonnes (MT) annually, India produced 151.14 MT of crude steel and 145.30 MT of finished steel in FY25. During the first four months of FY26 (April–July 2025), finished steel productio...
A few weeks ago, the World Inequality Report 2026 was released. The report highlights the deepening income, wealth, and gender inequalities across India as well as globally. It points out that in India the richest 10% hold about 65% of total wealth, while the top 1% alone own nearly 40%. One of the ...
On November 21, the Government of India announced the implementation of four Labour Codes with the stated objective of simplifying and streamlining the country’s labour laws. In its press release, the government claimed that these newly enacted Codes would herald a transformational change by ensur...
The Government of West Bengal (WB) held a Business & Industry Conclave on December 18. This was a relatively new format, as state-based organisations were invited to present the status of their investments and business activities. The conclave also featured multilateral round table discussions i...
Long-established industrial centres such as Kanpur, Moradabad, Bhadohi and Firozabad are currently facing severe disruptions due to the imposition of steep US tariffs. A tariff increase of up to 50% has sharply reduced demand for many products exported from these regions. This contraction in the exp...
On 1 November, the Kerala government declared that the state is now free from extreme poverty — the first state in India to make such a claim. Achieving this required a multi-year, specially designed policy involving thousands of government staff, local body representatives, Kudumbashree work...
India’s recent economic performanceIndia’s GDP grew by 8.2% in the second quarter (July–September) of FY26, according to official data released on 28 November. This is the highest growth in the last six quarters. In Q1 FY26, GDP increased by 7.8%, bringing growth in the first half of the fisca...
V. Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) to the Government of India, has expressed confidence that India’s GDP will grow by 7% in the second half of the current financial year (FY). He noted that the 7.8% GDP growth recorded in the previous two quarters had already been anticipated.Acco...
