News: India has had a very high rate of tax litigation. Therefore, Government has recently announced that the overarching aim of direct tax policy reform is to move towards a simpler regime, without exemptions and low rates. What has been the status of tax litigation in the country? In 2014-15, about Rs 2.1 lakh… Continue reading A less taxing state
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A bigger, not better, defence budget
News: Even as the total allocation for defence under the current budget has increased, it has fallen as a percentage of GDP. About the recent budget allocation in the defence sector The government allocated Rs 5.25 trillion to the Ministry of Defence, out of the total government outlay of Rs 39.45 trillion. This accounts for 13.31%… Continue reading A bigger, not better, defence budget
Regarding the budget: 4 Choices, No Free Lunch
News: The government has followed a capital expenditure strategy in the recent budget, but there are certain questions associated with the government’s strategy. What is the dilemma the government is facing? On the one hand, the economy still needs fiscal support to drive growth and employment. On the other hand, the global backdrop has become… Continue reading Regarding the budget: 4 Choices, No Free Lunch
INDIA’S Quest to Decarbonize Transport
News: India has recently committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 and public transport is one of the largest emitters. This article discusses the Opex model of Ahmedabad and the challenges that exist while modernizing urban transport. How did Ahmedabad modernize its transport system? Ahmedabad introduced an operational expenditure (opex) model in 2007. The municipality… Continue reading INDIA’S Quest to Decarbonize Transport
Creating jobs by increasing Capex
News: Recent budget has put a lot of attention into enhancing capital expenditure. It is due to the huge potential of capex to generate employment. What is the employment scenario in India? Employment to population ratio: According to data from ILO, India’s employment to population (over the age of 15) ratio has steadily dropped from… Continue reading Creating jobs by increasing Capex
Artificial intelligence technologies have a climate cost
News: Recent budget has described AI as a sunrise technology that has the potential to assist sustainable development at scale and modernise the country. While a large amount of focus is on achieving economic prosperity and global competitiveness with AI, there is hardly any acknowledgement of the environmental cost associated with it. What is… Continue reading Artificial intelligence technologies have a climate cost
Show Me the Money – On Fugitive Economic Offenders
News: Recently, Supreme Court suggested halting criminal proceedings against economic fugitives, who are willing to repay the money they owe to lenders and others they defrauded. This article discusses that government should revisit its current stance on fugitive economic offenders. What is the case? The co-accused in the Sterling Biotech fraud case has claimed that… Continue reading Show Me the Money – On Fugitive Economic Offenders
Fiscal constraints – On Capital Expenditure of Government
News: Recently released Union Budget 2022-23 has increased capital expenditure. Why increasing CAPEX is a significant step? The economy is recovering from a pandemic-induced disruption, and the private sector is not investing because of weak demand. Hence, increased capital expenditure will help in increasing growth and crowd in private investment. It will also increase medium-term… Continue reading Fiscal constraints – On Capital Expenditure of Government
The Budget has ignored the poor
News: The 2022-23 Union Budget was presented in the backdrop of acute unemployment, growing poverty, burgeoning wealth and income inequalities, and accelerating inflation which affect the poor disproportionately. However the recent budget falls short of addressing these concerns. Where is the current budget lacking in addressing the problems of the poor? Not enough government… Continue reading The Budget has ignored the poor
A recipe to deepen the distress in rural economy
News: The pandemic induced slowdown has disproportionately affected those at the bottom. Also the economy specially the rural economy had been facing challenges due to demand deficiency even before the pandemic started. Given that monetary policy has limited success in dealing with a crisis of this nature ,fiscal policy is expected to play the dominant… Continue reading A recipe to deepen the distress in rural economy
