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This report is part of the Observer Research Foundation’s “Financing Green Transitions” series which aims to find potential linkages between private capital, in all its forms, and climate action projects. The series will primarily examine domestic and international barriers to private capital entry for mitigation oriented climate projects, while also examining potential avenues for private capital flow entry towards adaptation and resilienc

Ties between India and Japan are historical and enduring. In the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC), the leaders of the two countries have married their respective countries’ “Act East” Policy and “Free and Open Indo Pacific” aspirations. The AAGC is envisioned to provide a renewed opportunity for partnership where both regions can complement each other’s development and growth.  The AAGC will bring out the economic gains for Afr

The best news in years is that India’s government finally seems to recognize the scale of the problems it faces.

Narendra Modi came to power with an unexceptional agenda: push economic growth; transform the infrastructure; bring about a social transformation. But this agenda appears to be in danger of being drowned out by a cacophony of voices from Hindutva organisations.

Indian industry stalwarts have welcomed the arrival of Narendra Modi. The first priority of Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be to ensure the revival of economic growth, which has gone below 5 per cent in the past two years and also tackle food inflation and price rise.

Mr Modi was one of the first to warn the developed world that terrorism was a hydra which strikes rich and poor alike.

As usual there is speculation about the normalcy of the monsoons. A deficient monsoon this year will certainly aggravate the stress of farmers who suffered losses due to the unseasonal rains in the last winter season. It will also dent the high growth profile that India is currently enjoying. Such a situation will test Modi's ability to manage crisis.

The opening up of Myanmar has added a new strategic value to the Bay of Bengal. Isolated for decades, Myanmar is actively engaging the world's major players in redefining its geopolitical identity today. This has further encouraged naval exchanges, exploration of energy resources and development of connectivity infrastructure in a vital littoral of the Bay. Within this evolving context, this paper attempts to examine the implications of these cha

To sequence Indian priorities on the FDI question is fairly simple. Consumer-centrism is paramount. Competitive SME sector growth, which will lead to job creation as well as value addition, is a strategic economic priority, which in turn can be aided by a strong e-commerce industry as has been witnessed in China.

This Special Report is based on some of the most important ideas shared amongst participants in ORF's roundtable on Changing Geoeconomic Landscapes, held on 21 December 2015 in New Delhi. The discussion examined current patterns in world economy, initiatives being taken by the Indian leadership to steer domestic economy, and the need for the country to carefully integrate its domestic economic priorities, including those of reforms, with its fore

Development cooperation has gained further currency in a post-pandemic world amid staggered economic growth and an increasing gap in financing the Sustainable Development Goals. As a strategic geographic expanse, the Indo-Pacific has witnessed an upswing in cooperation programmes under different modalities (North-South, South-South, and triangular development partnerships). This paper explores the role of development cooperation as a tool of dipl

India is in need of both FIIs and FDIs, to grow at the targeted 7.5 to 8 per cent growth. They go to countries with high growth potential and laws that are flexible and allow greater investor freedom. India is constrained by certain important considerations related to the rights of the people and protection of the poor.

The recent shrinking of the trade deficit to $6.7 billion in September (from $10.9 billion in August) has cheered the UPA government. However, we need to be cautious about favourable signs like a reduction of the trade deficit. Because though it is going to reduce one of the disturbing parameters that are slowing down growth, it could also be indicative of slack industrial activity.

Though GDP growth in India may be less than China's, there are not so many problems that the government is facing except perhaps the latest problem of accelerated insurgency by the Maoists. Like China, India should also be worried about reducing the glaring inequality of incomes and balanced development between the rural and urban areas.

Even if GDP growth rises in India, there will be growing inequalities unless there are strong policies aimed at the uplift of the vulnerable sections and the rich are taxed in an efficient and judicious manner. There should be some insurance against unemployment and sickness which will enable low income families to live with dignity.

Big ticket reforms promised by Mr. Narendra Modi are likely to resume stalled projects and revive business climate. However, if India is to return to its erstwhile double digit growth, the importance of banking sector reforms cannot be overstated.

There is an urgent need to focus on key legislations in the real world; expanding internet access in India by ensuring social and technological growth go hand-in-hand; and the complexity of bridging divides between various factions on the issue.

No government can tread the path of a single-minded focus on GDP growth. But wanton populism is no answer either, as the widening fiscal deficit must be trimmed.

The nature of work is changing, leading to the loss of some jobs and the creation of others that require radically changed skills. In India, as the requirements of this evolving labour market change, co-working spaces fulfil many of the new needs. The aim of this paper is twofold: to describe the development of the co-working industry in India, its driving factors, as well as the architecture, design and social aspects of the work environment; a

The government has been firefighting since FY 2019 using mostly Band-Aids of the cheapest kinds.

Emerging technologies have the potential to reshape our world. These innovations, also called disruptive technologies, have started to seep into the area of finding solutions for mobility. Is existing infrastructure prepared for such technological advancements? These and related themes were discussed in a roundtable organised by Observer Research Foundation (ORF) on 8 February 2016. The roundtable, Urban Transportation and Disruptive Technologies

NGOs that deter economic progress or infrastructure growth have to be actively discouraged. The agenda and priorities have to be Indian and not determined in some remote western city. The government, in turn, has to be transparent and active in providing solutions to environmental and human problems.

Child-friendly cities’ is an emerging concept in the urban management sector in many countries across the globe, including India, where it complements government schemes that aim to develop India’s urban spaces as centres of human capital development, knowledge hubs, and drivers of growth and prosperity. These flagship missions include, for example, the Smart Cities Mission and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT

Like the US, India, too, is grappling with its own version of the fiscal cliff, the biggest challenge before Finance Minister P. Chidambaram. The UPA has exhausted its fiscal space even as growth has fallen to a 10-year low. The challenge is to effect a sharp reduction in the fiscal while not adversely affecting quality public investment, which can in turn give a fillip to private investment.

The demand for basic needs has outpaced supply in many cities of the world. This fact is observed in the urban housing sector. High economic growth along with urbanisation has created a huge demand for housing, and according to recent estimates, there is a massive shortage of dwelling units in many urban areas of the world.

पाणबुडी निर्मितीसाठी भारताने सर्व अडथळ्यांवर मात करणे आवश्यक आहे. देशहिताच्या दृष्टिकोनातून P75(I) या कार्यक्रमात संस्थात्मक पातळीवर पुरेसे प्रयत्न करणे आवश्यक आहे.

पाणबुडी निर्मितीसाठी भारताने सर्व अडथळ्यांवर मात करणे आवश्यक आहे. देशहिताच्या दृष्टिकोनातून P75(I) या कार्यक्रमात संस्थात्मक पातळीवर पुरेसे प्रयत्न करणे आवश्यक आहे.

Is Pakistan's economy really at the verge of a collapse? Let us look at the facts at first. Last year, the GDP grew by 2.4 per cent; the service sector marked a growth of 4.1 per cent, the agricultural sector 1.2 per cent and remittances topped $11,201 million.

It may not have been pretty, but the finish-line is within sight for the Zardari-led coalition government in Pakistan. And the first democratic transfer of power is a significant milestone in the growth of democracy in the country.

The concept of ‘gentrification’ has been studied extensively in urban agglomerations, specifically in tier-I and tier-II cities. ‘Gentrification’ is largely understood as the displacement of people belonging to certain classes in an area due to the influx of investment and affluent classes into that area. In India, settlements are based on religious and social vectors of caste, rather than economic vectors of class. With settlemen

Why has the UPA been so ineffective in pushing GDP growth in its second term? Why has it not been able to tame inflation? Looking back, it was the three stimulus packages that the UPA government gave that was responsible for much of what is wrong today.

Dr. C. Rangarajan, Chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, has made an impressive case for "economic statesmanship" which he said would ensure inclusive growth and stability in India as well as globally.

Recent years have highlighted the global headwinds against China's increasingly aggressive moves in the Indo-Pacific region. Vulnerabilities associated with an overdependence on the country for several critical goods, including electronics, have exacerbated prevailing anti-China sentiments. This has provided the impetus for diversifying electronics supply chains, an opportunity India is well positioned to leverage. This brief assesses Ind

The Electric Vehicle (EV) segment in India has gathered momentum in recent years, but a mismatch in intent and action has resulted in limited on-ground adoption of EVs. However, the expected growth of the automobile sector (especially in the personal-mobility space), due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and people’s increased understanding of vehicular emissions, creates immense scope for the exponential growth of the EVs industry in India. Ess

India needs to enhance its engagement with the neighbours to fulfil its vision for shared growth and prosperity – a key mantra of the nation’s neighbourhood policy.

Infrastructure investments are required to enable economic growth and provide the services required by a growing population. The infrastructure already available is threatened by climate change, damaging existing assets and reducing future productivity. Investment in new infrastructure has to increase to fill the gap; as this occurs, the operation and maintenance cost of infrastructure are also expected to rise. Furthermore, as resources are scar

This paper argues in favour of integrating valuation of ecosystem services in development policy planning in India. The paper presents three cases where monetary values of ecosystem services have been estimated to illustrate the significance of the exercise: the Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) in Uttarakhand, the Kunigal Wetlands in Karnataka, and the Indian Sundarbans Delta (ISD) in West Bengal. The first two cases highlight the ecosystem-livelihoods

In many parts of the world, including India, Public Credit Guarantee Programmes (PCGP) improve access to credit for small enterprises that are unable to obtain assistance from mainstream financers. This brief discusses the relevance of PCGPs in India, their mechanisms, features, and efficiency. Although these programmes have improved access to credit for MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises), there are concerns regarding their efficiency an

Public health is the worst spot in India’s economic path despite a recent rise in GDP growth. Without a healthy population and labour force, India cannot hope to compete with countries in the West or the ASEAN.

The Centre having addressed issues in terms of suppliers' liability through parliamentary legislation in the case of nuclear power projects, the nation will have to now decide if it wants growth with risks or would be happy with riskless regression.

As India assumes the G20 presidency, it has the opportunity to further the cause of mutually beneficial, rules-based international trade at a time when the world is facing a series of multiple and overlapping political and economic crises. This paper opens by describing a confluence of factors that together open a window of opportunity for India’s presidency to advance pragmatic engagement on trade, specifically in shoring up the multilateral t