Will India Do Better Or Worse Under ‘Centrists’ Biden & Harris?

The Democratic National Convention (DNC) nominated Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for the November elections in a uniquely spectacular manner. The fact that it was a COVID-induced ‘virtual event’ was perhaps the least of it. But the parade of Republican heavyweights at a Democratic convention was unp…

Budget 2020: Despite ‘Fixing’, ESOP Remains A Much-Abused Acronym

India taxes ESOPs, ie employees stock options, harshly, very harshly. Let me give you a quick history lesson. When I founded TV18 in the early 90s, we had given generous stock options to our critical team members. In that sense, we belonged to a clutch of ESOP pioneers in India. And since we were l…

Budget 2020: Don’t Give Tax & Fiscal Cuts — Just Give Us ‘TRUST’

It’s a familiar cacophony. Cut taxes. Invert the inverted duty structure. Control the fiscal deficit. Be honest about your arithmetic. Abolish equity taxes. Step up government expenditure, the fisc be damned. Bring back investment allowance. Slap inheritance taxes... And on it goes, a laundry list …

Terrific Reforms, But Beware of ‘BABU-JAAL’ — Bureaucratic Cobwebs

For over five years, I’ve criticised ‘state creep’ on Prime Minister Modi’s watch. This tendency hit a crescendo on 5 July 2019, when the second Modi regime’s first budget was read out in parliament. While that document was riddled with state over-reach, I will remind you only of the most egregious…

Let’s Not Waste a Good Maharashtra Political Crisis

The Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress coalition in Maharashtra is perhaps the second most ‘unthinkable’ political alliance in India, next only to the most incompatible BJP-PDP coalition in Jammu & Kashmir, that ended with devastating consequences. So, what are the lessons from this most unusual, 80-hour…

Dear PM Modi: Crack This Quiz & Fix the Economy

India’s economy today can be described by a four-letter word. Oh c’mon, it’s not what you are thinking… Even the sarkari (government-owned) State Bank of India says that GDP growth could fall to around four percent when the July-September number is revealed, that’s what! And as usually happens in …

Soaring Markets & Slowdown Caused by Lingering Confusion in Policy

Coal output crashes by over 20 percent. Overall, eight core sectors lose a stunning 5.2 percent year-on-year over September 2018, contracting to an 8-year low. GDP hits a 6-year low. And yet, India’s stock markets hit an all-time high! Why, you ask? To understand this conundrum, let’s dial back a…

Why I Call Maha, Haryana Polls ‘Juggernaut-Stoppers’: 6 Takeaways

I know that adjectives like “milestone”, “game changer” and “watershed” are frequently used after polls that throw up contrarian, unexpected results. But even adjusting for this caveat, I would call the October 2019 mini national elections a “juggernaut stopper”. Tune in to this podcast for my six …

PMC Scam: Shameful to Promise Just Rs 1 Lakh Insurance to Victims

The PMC Bank scam was more audacious than any Bonnie and Clyde heist. A high-living father-son duo, Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan, had 44 bank accounts in a loosely regulated outfit in Mumbai called Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank.  They used these accounts to suck out nearly Rs 6500 crore, a …

Dear FM, Here Are 3 Tax Cuts the Common People Would Welcome More

Finally. Finally! The Modi government has acknowledged the futility of trying to pump prime India’s GDP by ever-escalating government expenditure, which increased by an astonishing double-digit CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) over six years of impotent growth. Remember, Indian governments driv…