Innholdsfortegnelse for 17 August 2025 i Business Today

1. GOVERNANCE & BUREAUCRACY 1. Cut the Regulatory Flab 2. A Bureaucracy for the 21st Century 3. Judicial Reforms to Avoid Tareek Pe Tareek 4. Better Cities for a Better Life 5. Clean up Election Funding 6. Scale up Digital Public Infrastructure 7. Federate the Fisc 8. Laws and Schemes Must Have Expiry Dates 9. Introduce Regulatory Impact Assessment 10. One India, One KYC 2. ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION 11. Get moving on Labour Law Reforms 12. Reimagine, Reform Land Acquisition Norms 13. A GST for Viksit Bharat 14. Expedite Disinvestment and Strategic Sales 15. Recast Inflation Targeting 16. Foster a Research-Nirbhar India 17. Overhaul the IBC 18. Decriminalise to Catalyse 19. Build Bigger, More Efficient Banks 20. Improve Consumer & Investor Protection 3. INDUSTRIAL & MANUFACTURING PUSH 21. Raise Defence spending…

NITI Aayog transformed policymaking from a topdown exercise to a dynamic process of cocreation with states, private players and civil society IN A COUNTRY AS vast and varied as India, the true measure of progress lies not merely in GDP figures or infrastructure milestones but in how well it nurtures its people. Human capital—our education, skills, health, and productivity—is not just an economic asset but a moral imperative. Over the last ten years, a quiet, yet formidable, revolution has taken shape under the stewardship of India’s premier policy think tank, NITI Aayog, reshaping how the country invests in its most valuable resource: its citizens. In a nation where over 65% of the population is below the age of 35, the demographic dividend presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity. But the sheer scale…

Labour intensive sectors like textiles and food products have low employment growth DURING 2011-12 TO 2024-25, the share of manufacturing in GDP stagnated at 14-17%. The government aimed to increase this to 25% post reforms in 1991. The target has remained elusive. Another plan was to raise the share of workers engaged in manufacturing to at least 100 million; we had reached two-thirds of that level in 2023-24 (11.4 % of workers). Overall manufacturing growth during 2011-2025 averaged 5.9% as against overall GDP growth of 6%. To get a 25% share in GDP, manufacturing growth needs to be nearly 1.6 times the rate of growth of GDP. Trade disruptions, supply chain chokes, geopolitical uncertainties, need for a greater oversight of the production process, job creation, innovation and national security make a…

Nearly 12 million people enter the workforce each year, but only a fraction receive formal skilling INDIA CREATED MASS democracy on the infertile soil of the world’s most hierarchical society but failed to create mass prosperity on the fertile soil of a culturally open and assimilative society. In the remaining years to India@100, we have a real chance to combine both in a bold plan that reimagines our economic ecosystem through three pillars: deregulation for employers, decentralisation of power, and deepening of human capital. DEREGULATION FOR EMPLOYERS Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman reminded us that we tend to press the accelerator when we want to go faster, but often achieve better results by lifting our foot off the brake. India doesn’t have a jobs problem but wages problem; this challenge reflects the…

India is making epochal strides in hyperloop. We appear to be second only to China in the level of technology development on this front SEVERAL YEARS AGO, I was at the immigration counter at Heathrow, London, and the officer wanted to know the purpose of my visit. I said I was there to attend a conference on mobility called “MOVE”. I had to clarify to the confused officer—it’s about driverless cars, air taxis, and the like. He’s not alone. People of an older generation are used to looking at cars and planes as belonging to the realm of transportation and would naturally be puzzled to hear the term “mobility”. Much later, I was at a panel discussion when a co-panellist clarified the distinction between, “transportation” and “mobility”. Transportation is mode-centric,…

SOME OF INDIA’S major metropolitan cities have for years provided healthcare services to patients from Africa, the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Central Asia, Africa, Bangladesh, south-east Asia, Myanmar, Nepal, and Bhutan, among others. While Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Kolkata have become thriving healthcare hubs, in case of pharmaceutical manufacturing, the journey has been long. Once known as the pharmacy of the Global South, the Covid-19 pandemic provided India an opportunity to emerge as a full-fledged healthcare engine built for scale. Two of the most widely used vaccines during the pandemic, Covishield and Covaxin, were made in India, with Serum Institute of India’s Covishield earning the moniker “vaccine for the world.” This built a case for India becoming the world’s healthcare powerhouse on the lines of Singapore (Asia’s top…

AFTER JACK WELCH became chairman and managing director of General Electric Co (GE) in 1981, he shut factories, cut jobs and closed non-performing units in a ruthless consolidation drive. The drive cost thousands of jobs, but Welch, a legend of American business, had the backing of shareholders to see the process through. Welch gained the sobriquet Neutron Jack after the neutron bomb, which spreads radiation to kill people, but spares buildings. GE’s consolidation marked the start of the decline of American conglomerates, or sprawling multi-industry, multinational business groups with independent subsidiaries; it’s a process that has continued for a quarter century with one set of conglomerates replacing another. In India, too, many family-owned conglomerates like the Mafatlals, the Thapar Group, Videocon Industries, owned by the Dhoots, and Walchandnagar, controlled by the…

RICHARD ROSSOW, Senior Adviser and Chair on India and Emerging Asia Economics at Center for Strategic & International Studies, has been tracking India’s reforms trajectory and businesses for the past 25 years. He also does a 30 reforms tracker that is followed across the world. BT spoke to him about strategies that can fast-track India’s movement towards developed country status by 2047 and how it can position itself to take on China in manufacturing and other areas. Edited excerpts: How is Modi 3.0 performing on the reforms front? When you look at the pace of reforms, whether FDI or domestic, it’s been the slowest of the three terms (of the NDA government) so far. The first term saw a bunch of big reforms, about 40 positive changes to the foreign…

A redefined, next-generation framework—IBC 2.0—is required to improve speed, revive smaller businesses INDIA’S JOURNEY with stressed asset resolution has historically been fragmented—spanning laws like the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act (SICA), the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act (SARFAESI), and the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act (RDDBFI). The enactment of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) in 2016 marked a groundbreaking reform, bringing unified, time-bound insolvency resolution under one framework. While the IBC has successfully fulfilled its foundational purpose, it now needs to evolve to address emerging economic realities and system constraints. A redefined, next-generation framework—IBC 2.0—is required to improve speed, revive smaller businesses, and align with global best practices: A. INSTITUTIONALISING PRE-PACK AND OUT-OF-COURT MECHANISMS Globally, out-of-court…

$18.5 TRILLION THE SIZE OF THE CONSUMER MARKET BY 2047, COMPARED WITH $2 TRILLION IN 2022, AS PER DUN & BRADSTREET 1,500 GW THE EXPECTED INSTALLED RENEWABLE ENERGY CAPACITY BY 2047. IT WAS 191 GW IN 2023 $750 BILLION THE EXPECTED SIZE OF THE INDIAN SEMICONDUCTOR MARKET BY 2047 AS AGAINST $34 BILLION IN 2023, ACCORDING TO PHD RESEARCH BUREAU 34% THE EXPECTED SHARE OF INDUSTRY IN GDP BY 2047, AS PER PHD RESEARCH BUREAU. THE FIGURE WAS 26% IN 2023. THE SHARE OF SERVICES WILL REMAIN THE SAME AT 54% THE ECONOMIC SPRINT INDIA’S ECONOMY WILL BE EIGHT TIMES BIGGER BY 2047 RISING INCOME PER CAPITA INCOME MAY CROSS $21,000, UP OVER SEVEN TIMES, IN THE NEXT 22 YEARS * PROJECTIONS SOURCE PHD RESEARCH BUREAU RISING POPULATION INDIA’S POPULATION…

A As India prepares to speed up economic growth to meet the Viksit Bharat dream by 2047, one question crops up quite often: What is to be done? That’s a question 76-year-old economist Arvind Virmani, member of the NITI Aayog, has tackled at different junctures of India’s development journey. In an interview to BT, he talks about the areas that receive lesser attention in conversations about reforms but which are equally vital to ensure that growth meets ambitions. Edited excerpts: Q: What would be the top two or three areas on which we need to work to reach Viksit Bharat status? A: Let me start with things that are less talked about. I would point to three things that I learnt and investigated over the last two-and-a-half years at the…

FTAs cover less than 20% of global trade; the other 80% happens outside such deals. This means FTAs can only help at the margins AS INDIA APPROACHES its 100th birthday in 2047, the country has set bold targets: building a $40 - trillion economy and achieving $10 trillion in annual exports. While these numbers look impressive, India’s current export base, around $825 billion, shows just how steep the climb will be. Success will need structural reforms that strengthen manufacturing, expand services beyond IT outsourcing, and firmly embed the country into the most valuable parts of global supply chains. FROM ASSEMBLY TO PRODUCTION About 80% of global trade revolves around goods, making manufacturing the backbone of any strong export strategy. Yet India’s competitiveness has been slipping, especially in traditional sectors like textiles,…

Regulatory bodies have replaced direct ministerial and bureaucratic control with indirect regulatory regimes THE THREAT TO federal India is more from the political economy than realpolitik. True, under a majoritarian-minded political government with a strong democratic mandate, centralisation is taking place at a faster pace. A strong Centre in the Indian federal system has already become much stronger vis-à-vis the sub-national entities, i.e., the states. Along with much else, this is also because of economic liberalisation that started in the mid-eighties. The bigger and more long-lasting threat to federalism in India, in that sense, is structural. The pulls of the economy and the pushes of the market have directionally put the governance system on a path of overt and covert centralisation. With socialism giving way to business liberalism, a parallel institutional…

The main roadblock to further GST reforms is the apprehension of revenue loss in both the central and state governments GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (GST) was introduced in India in July 2017 to improve both production and consumption efficiency. The pre-GST system of domestic indirect taxes was characterised by multiplicity of taxes, multiplicity of rates for the same tax, cascading of taxes, undue emphasis on the origin principle of taxation, and fragmentation of a genuine all-India common market. However, GST 1.0 was only partial. Some important goods were left out of its purview, including alcoholic products for human consumption, electricity, and petroleum products. It continued to have multiple rates, which also kept on changing through various GST Council meetings. A compensation cess, now discontinued, was introduced to facilitate the transition. India’s…

India has a rare window of opportunity as countries and MNCs alike are seeking resilient, and scalable alternatives in Asia WITH OVER 59 million enterprises powering nearly a third of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) and almost half of its exports, and employing 41.8% of its working population, micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are the invisible engine of India’s growth and employment. As global supply chains pivot toward Asia, many of its MSMEs remain locked in a low-value cycle, discouraged from formalising and subtly coerced into staying informal, despite government policy support intended to foster formalisation and competitiveness. Sometimes, regulatory leniencies have been extended to ensure MSMEs’ survival during challenging times. For instance, the objective of the regulatory body, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), is to protect consumers’ interests…

WHEN THE JAN Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, was enacted last year, few realised its scope would extend far beyond legal tweaks. By decriminalising 183 provisions across 42 central laws, the government started shifting its approach—from viewing businesses as potential offenders to recognising them as partners in nation-building. Fast forward to mid-2025, and the next phase—Jan Vishwas 2.0—is already on the table. The government is preparing to decriminalise over 100 additional provisions, with the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025, expected to be listed for introduction in the Winter Session of Parliament. Together, these reforms are beginning to redesign the regulatory playbook for industries across the country. The move was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Union Budget 2025–26 speech, “To further trust-based governance, Jan Vishwas…

Historically calibrated for access to essentials like medicines and food, the IP framework must evolve into (an) engine for innovation-led growth ACHIEVING THE GOVERN-MENT’S goal of transforming India into a developed nation by 2047 hinges critically on increasing the share of manufacturing and service-providing industries in GDP. This necessitates comprehensive, yet meticulously specific, reforms to the intellectual property (IP) regime. Historically calibrated for access to essentials like medicines and food, the IP framework must evolve into a strategic engine for innovation-led growth across high-tech sectors. Key to this is fulfilling two non-negotiable conditions: jettisoning “one-size-fits-all” reforms for nuanced, technology-specific rules that acknowledge industry differences (eg., semiconductors versus pharma); and striking a trade-off between IP strength to attract multinational capital/expertise and flexibility to cultivate domestic capabilities and self-reliance. India must create…

India can, and is following established playbooks for aligning research, industry, and government THE NEWLY LAUNCHED ₹1 trillion Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Scheme is India’s bold move to channelise scientific talent into economic strength for the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision. This investment arrives at a pivotal moment. The urgency is undeniable. India spends just 0.6% of GDP on R&D, well below the 1.8% global average and a fraction of the 3–6% spent by leaders like South Korea and Israel. Private industry accounts for only 36% of India’s R&D spend, compared to ~70% in leading economies. The RDI scheme is promising, but concessional capital alone will not drive high-risk research. We need systemic coordination. FROM FIRST MOVER TO MISSED OPPORTUNITY India has been on the front edge of several deep…

Most of the talent in metros comes from smaller towns. Building your business where the talent is reduces operational costs ONE OF THE primary drivers of innovation in India is its demographic advantage. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, over 65% of whom are under the age of 35, India has a young, dynamic workforce eager to embrace new technologies and ideas. This demographic advantage has helped in the growth of the IT industry, which has transitioned from services to building an active product and SaaS ecosystem over the last decade. India’s population presents unique challenges across infrastructure, healthcare, banking and finance, manufacturing, renewable energy, agriculture, and other industries. As our challenges are unique, so should be our solutions. For example, UPI transformed and digitised the economy, addressing the issue…

Today’s uncertainty makes it important that India craft a new playbook that can enable sustainable and inclusive growth THE INDIAN ECONOMY is in a good place, poised to overtake Japan as the world’s fourth-largest. We have been a top performer in GDP and export growth for the past decade and are well positioned to be a major player in crucial industries such as renewable energy, electric vehicles (EVs), semiconductors, and defence. We are already home to almost 2,000 global capability centres (GCCs). We are a global innovation leader, accounting for more than one out of 10 “Unicorns”. And yet, there is room for improvement. The Indian economy has the potential to grow 8-9% a year for the next generation. With 8.5% growth, per capita income would rise almost sixfold by…

Boundaries between producer and consumer will blur. India will be home to millions of prosumers—those who consume and produce simultaneously IN 1947, WON its political freedom. By 1991, it began a journey of economic liberation. In 2025, it is navigating the turbulence of a digital age. But by 2047 the real revolution will be that of the Indian consumer. She will emerge as a powerful force shaping markets, ethics, and innovation. From being price-conscious to value-driven, from underserved to over-informed, the consumer will be a sovereign citizen. DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND In 2047, India’s population will likely be over 1.6 billion. Over 1.3 billion Indians will be online, and close to a billion will be using smart devices embedded with AI agents that anticipate needs, preferences, and spending behaviour. Consumption will be…

INDIA WILL mark a century of Independence in 2047. In just over two decades, the country could well be among the world’s top three economies, a technological powerhouse and a decisive voice in global business and geopolitics. But there is nothing inevitable about this rise. Reaching that goal will take bold decisions, deep reforms and an unflinching commitment to inclusive, sustainable growth. This special edition of Business Today charts that path with 100 transformative reform ideas—a to-do list for policymakers, industry and citizens alike. The ideas are deliberately varied. Some are granular fixes, others are big-picture shifts. Together, they reflect a desire; India’s growth story needs to be accelerated even further. The list sets out an expansive vision for India’s future through 100 recommendations. It begins with governance and bureaucracy,…

India’s fastgrowing young workforce is [an] advantage few countries enjoy. This alone can help it leapfrog to a high growth trajectory GROWTH IS NOT the sole objective of economic policy. It is necessary to ensure that the benefits of growth accrue to all sections. Eradication of poverty is thus an important objective. The objective of this article is to (a) examine briefly the recent trends in poverty and (b) look at the strategies needed to reduce or eliminate income and multidimensional poverty by 2047. RECENT TRENDS The estimates by R. Rangarajan and myself (2025) show that poverty ratios (rural + urban) declined from 29.5% in 2011-12 to 9.5% in 2022-23 and to 4.9% in 2023-24. Recently, World Bank (2025) released a brief on Poverty & Equity for over 100 developing…

India witnessed decades when the sex ratio at birth was skewed towards males. This has improved now INDIA HAS THE largest population in the world today, at 1.46 billion people, and around a billion in working age of 15 to 64 years. India overtook China on both counts recently. While India’s population is still growing due to improved longevity, it is important to note that the number of births peaked a quarter of a century ago, at 29 million in 2001, and is estimated to be about 23 million for 2024. The single most important factor driving demographics is a country’s total fertility rate (TFR), defined as the number of live births per female of reproductive age. Contrary to popular belief, India’s TFR has crashed below replacement rates, i.e., the level…

BT CAUGHT UP with Goa Chief Minister Pramod Pandurang Sawant, 52, at Sai Nursing Institute in Harvale, nestled in his home constituency of Sanquelim in North Goa, on a quiet Sunday evening. Now serving a second term, Sawant, an ayurvedic doctor with a master’s in social work, was one of India’s youngest chief ministers when he first took office in 2019 after the passing away of his predecessor, Manohar Parrikar. Rooted in the ideological framework of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and a key face of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the coastal state, Sawant led the party to a successful reelection in 2022. Today, he is busy crafting a growth road map for Goa, India’s smallest state by area but among the richest by per capita income, to punch above…

IN THE SUMMERof 2000, Tata Tea acquired UK’s Tetley Tea for $450 million. Nothing spectacular, you might imagine. But it bordered on sheer audacity. After all, the buyer had a net worth of just $114 million and was gobbling a much bigger company, with a revenue of $264 million. Tata Tea saw a strategic rationale for the leveraged buyout (using debt to acquire a company and leveraging the acquired company’s assets as collateral). It gave Tata Tea access to international markets with significant play and scale. Soon, going global became a stated ambition for Indian corporates. In the past, barring a few exceptions, domestic business houses had an overseas presence through exports or small offices. But the Tetley deal marked the coming of age of India Inc. and start of…

ON JULY 9, 2025, over 250 million workers participated in a country-wide strike helmed by major central trade unions to protest a number of issues, including labour-related policies. Workers, both formal and informal, from sectors ranging from agriculture, factories and mining to banks and railways, joined, indicating a discontent in the country’s diverse and teeming labour force. Some of the issues included rising unemployment, underemployment, consolidation of Labour Codes, lack of labour protection, and shortage of fixed-term employment opportunities. A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD It was not a one-off strike. Labour issues have proved to be a headache for successive governments with workers taking to the roads time and again. On the other end of the spectrum, domestic and foreign investors have been seeking a review of India’s cumbersome labour laws and…

Let’s build a start-up ecosystem that prioritises profitability over hype, impact over vanity, and innovation over imitation AS INDIA MARCHES towards its centennial in 2047, we stand at the cusp of an unprecedented opportunity—one that demands we fundamentally reimagine how we fund, build, and scale start-ups that can shape the nation’s destiny. This is not just about chasing the next billion-dollar company; it’s about nurturing a generation of founders who will build enduring, profitable businesses that solve India’s most pressing problems and contribute meaningfully to our economy. Over the last decade, we’ve seen India’s start-up ecosystem grow from a handful of fledgling companies to a vibrant, global powerhouse. The emergence of ‘Indicorns’—Indian start-ups that achieve not just scale but also profitability—marks a pivotal shift. Companies like Of business, Unicommerce, and…

TRAINS FASTER THAN planes? Yes, you read it right, and it could be a reality soon. China recently tested magnetic levitation (Maglev) technology trains running at 600 km/h. India is experimenting with 1,100 km/h hyperloop technology, which can cover the Delhi to Mumbai distance in just over an hour. Hyperloop uses capsules supported by an air-bearing surface within a low-pressure tube. A 410-metre-long hyperloop test tube is already operational in IIT Chennai. The government is now planning the development of a 50-km hyperloop corridor—the longest in Asia—for commercial transport. This will completely change train travel. This is part of a series of futuristic infrastructure projects related to urban development, smart mobility, energy transition, and social and digital infrastructure that India is exploring keeping in mind its aspiration to become a…

Investments in climate-smart agriculture and low-emission enterprises will position rural India as a leader in sustainable development AS INDIA SETS its sights on becoming Viksit Bharat by 2047, the transformation of its rural economy is not just a policy imperative—it is the foundation of national progress. Nearly two-thirds of India’s population still resides in rural areas, and any vision of equitable, sustainable development must begin in the villages. While agriculture has traditionally anchored the rural economy, the reality on the ground is changing rapidly. Rural households are diversifying their incomes, engaging in non-farm work, adopting digital tools, and seeking upward mobility. The future of Bharat is not in preserving its rural past, but in reimagining its economic potential. A recent working paper by PRICE, “Reimagining Annadata Households and Their Livelihoods Beyond…

India’s position in the world economy will continue to strengthen in the coming years AMID THE GEOPOLITICAL uncertainties in the world today, India stands out for its resilient growth. A confluence of factors is contributing to this, including consistent and credible fiscal and monetary policy, world-leading ~7% GDP growth, a broadening infrastructure footprint, sustainable capital formation, a strong banking system, digitisation across all sectors, fast-growing capital markets and a robust ecosystem of entrepreneurs. As the country advances toward its independence centenary, this trajectory looks increasingly promising. Set to become the world’s fourth-largest economy in 2025, India has seen its consumption double to $2.8 trillion over the past decade, according to World Bank data. India’s large and diverse consumer base positions the economy for continued growth, across economic cycles. The consumer is…

There is much room for improvement, but it is also important to rejoice in the fact that India has achieved an ‘inclusive growth miracle’ IN 1500, INDIA was one of the advanced economies of the world. Now, it is trying to make its way back into the advanced countries’ club. India is the fastest-growing major economy in the world, and is expected to contribute a remarkable 20% of global growth in the coming years (Econofact, 2025). It would be felicitous if the re-entry happened by 2047, a 100 years after independence. The re-entry will be a remarkable achievement even if it occurs a couple of years or even a couple of decades later. Growth is a marathon, not a sprint. A question for policymakers to ponder in the interim is: how…