The economics column

India posted 7.6% real GDP growth for FY2025–26 while the United States slowed to 2.1% and the Eurozone limped along at 1.4%. This piece argues that outcome was engineered rather than lucky — a policy stack of tax exemption, rate cuts and GST reform that was, in retrospect, almost perfectly timed against three simultaneous shocks.

On why the Union Budget's ₹20,000 crore allocation to Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage is an industrial strategy rather than an environmental concession — and why, with the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism arriving, decarbonising steel and cement is about competitiveness, not compliance.

Capital expenditure surged 89% between 2022 and 2026. This piece traces the multiplier — every ₹1 invested yielding ₹2.45 in growth initially and ₹3.14 over time — and argues that asset creation, not consumption support, is what builds durable prosperity for a young population.

India leapfrogged from agriculture to software and skipped the industrial phase that built East Asia's middle class. Using Peter Evans's idea of embedded autonomy, this piece asks whether the National Manufacturing Mission can finally deliver the Lewisian transition — and warns that escaping the middle-income trap requires indigenous component ecosystems, not just cheaper labour.