Madhavi Arora and Harshal Patel

An ‘Apple’ a day could take India’s manufacturing woes away

April 24, 2023

Electronic goods exports lead the way India’s total merchandise exports grew by 6% YoY in FY23 (USD 447.5bn), but it is notable that the top commodity groups saw divergent growth trends. Petroleum products (12% YoY) was the only one of the top five commodity groups which delivered higher growth than...

Fiscal imbalances: Decoding the Centre-states’ dynamics

March 1, 2023

One topic of discussion that often gets limited focus is how fiscal federalism, or the Centre-state relationship on resource sharing is evolving. The premise of fiscal federalism derives from the idea of efficient resource allocation and reducing fiscal vertical imbalances of Centre, states and local bodies. The dramatic shift in...

Delicate Budget act of maximising fiscal impulse

February 3, 2023

In the Union Budget, the fiscal arithmetic aside, the policy theme remains similar to that of the last couple of years, when higher capex allocation was one of the key thrusts of the budget, with focus on building domestic manufacturing capacity in the medium term. This implies a larger fiscal...

The delicate act of maximizing fiscal impulse

January 30, 2023

The FY24 Union Budget will be presented against the backdrop of renewed uncertainties around global and domestic growth and, of course, the Union elections in May 2024. However, even as additional support for some vulnerable segments of the economy is warranted, the policy focus is expected to remain on investing...

In search of good fiscal health

December 23, 2022

Struggling public capex saga As we near the end of the current fiscal year and gear for the fresh budget season ahead, a quick fiscal health of Centre and states so far would serve as a good base for the fiscal math ahead. Both Centre and states face the policy...