businessline's State of the Economy Podcast

In this episode of the State of the Economy podcast, Dalip Singh, interviews Lieutenant General Rajiv Chaudhry, VSM, Director General of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). The podcast delves into the state of India’s border infrastructure development and the challenges faced due to hostile topography. Chaudhry talks about the significant role played by the BRO in enhancing security preparedness...

In this episode of the State of the Economy podcast, businessline’s Haripriya Sureban is joined by KS Viswanathan, Vice President, Industry Initiatives, Nasscom and Vijay Guntur, President, Engineering and R&D Services, HCL Technologies. They discuss the growth and prospects of India's engineering research and development (ER&D) industry.   The episode starts with an overview of India's Engineerin...

In this episode of the State of the Economy podcast , Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, Bank of Baroda, explains the concept of internationalizing the Indian rupee, aiming for its acceptance as a hard currency globally. Internationalization would mean that the rupee becomes widely acceptable for trade and payments across countries, similar to major currencies like the US dollar or euro. This move w...

There is a growing concern that is affecting the business of money – attrition in the banking sector. In This episode of the State of the Economy podcast, Hamsini Karthik and Srinath Sridharan, Author, policy researcher and corporate advisor, delve deep into the reasons behind this phenomenon and its impact on the industry.  In the podcast, they discuss how digitisation, emerging technologies, and...

Sustainability reporting has evolved from being a voluntary practice to a crucial component of corporate governance.  It aids in measuring, managing, and communicating an organization’s sustainable performance, considering environmental, social, and economic aspects.  By providing stakeholders with accurate and comprehensive information, sustainability reports foster better decision-making, boost...

In this episode of the State of the Economy podcast, businessline’s TE Rajasimhan talks to Captain Mohan Ranganathan about the lack of Flying Training Organisations in South India and its impact on aspiring pilots and the airline industry.   He explains that the focus on hiring pilots from the northern regions of India became prevalent as the aviation industry expanded. This resulted in a decline...

In this State of the Economy podcast, we delve into the intricacies of the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the UK, shedding light on the current state of negotiations and the critical issues at play. With both the Indian and UK governments committed to concluding the FTA talks by year-end. Biswajit Dhar, economist and former professor at JNU, offers valuable insights into the...

In June, Indian automakers witnessed growth in the overall market and domestic sales. The passenger vehicles, two-wheeler segments and three-wheelers saw a rise in sales in June. In this episode of the State of the Economy podcast, S Ronendra Singh talks to Vinod Aggarwal, President of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), to get the overall industry perspective. In the podcast, t...

In this episode of the State of the Economy podcast, Sohit Kapoor, co-founder of Driftcase, talks about the world of digital health lockers and their role in the Indian healthcare ecosystem.  The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) aims to digitise the Indian healthcare landscape, providing citizens with a unique identifier called the Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABA). Through this account,...

In this episode, Subramani MR, Commodities Editor, businessline talks to Sanjay Gupta, MD and CEO, NCML, about the current state of the Indian agriculture sector amidst the erratic monsoon season. Gupta talks about the unpredictable nature of this year's monsoon, which has presented both challenges and opportunities for the agricultural industry. While India as a whole is experiencing a small surp...

In the latest episode of Business Line’s State of Economy podcast, Haripriya Sureban delves into the world of generative AI and its influence on the Indian IT sector. Joined by Siddharth Pai, co-founder, Siana Capital, the podcast takes a look at the market opportunities that have spurred major investments in generative AI by top-tier companies. The discussion centres around the transformative pot...

In this episode of the State of the Economy podcast, Thomas K Thomas, Chief of Bureau-Mumbai, businessline, and Prashant Singhal, the EY global TMT emerging markets leader, discuss the rollout of 5G in India. Singhal commends India for its rapid rollout of 5G, with a significant number of base stations installed and good progress made considering the delayed spectrum auctions. He mentions that 5G...

Somasundaram PR, the Regional CEO of the World Gold Council talks to businessline’s Subramani Ra Mancombu on the reasons for the increase in prices; how late monsoons or the El-Nino effect can affect gold demand; and why demand is still low in the festival season. Somasundaram points out that while high import duties, currently at 18.5%, have contributed to the high prices, they are not the sole r...

In this episode of the“State of the Economy podcast, Abhishek Law talks to Pushpa Bector, Senior Executive Director, DLF Retail on the retail sector’s recovery post-COVID. She highlights the strong rebound in retail sales, with luxury, Indian designers, athletic leisure, and food and beverage segments performing exceptionally well. Vector discusses how the pandemic has shifted consumer behavior, w...

The PMI manufacturing figure stood at 57.8, while GST collections for June amounted to 1.61 lakh rupees. In this episode of the State of the Economy, Shishir Sinha, Associate Editor, businessline and Radhika Rao, Executive Director and Senior Economist at DBS Group Research discuss the recent high frequency economic indicators to assess the state of consumer demand in India. Radhika Rao shed light...

Generative AI has immense potential to transform businesses and marketing. Shiv Shivkumar, operating partner at Advent International, and Debjani Ghosh, the president of NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies) discuss the significance of generative AI and its limitless possibilities. Debjani Ghosh explains that generative AI is not new but rather an evolution of AI that h...

Education and healthcare are vital sectors in our vast and youthful country. Within the education industry, the edtech sector has gained significant popularity and witnessed exponential growth, particularly during the pandemic when traditional in-person classes became impractical. However, it is worth noting that the edtech sector is currently characterized by fierce competition and regulatory cha...

The global economy is facing significant challenges, with concerns about a potential lost decade due to the pandemic and slowing investment.  In this episode of the State of the Economy podcast, Lokeshwarri SK is joined by Arun Singh, Global Chief Economist, Dun and Bradstreet, as they delve into the concerning growth and inflation figures from around the world and their implications for India.  S...

It is said that wars don’t change, but weapons do. We can find that conflicts are now fought in new and innovative ways. Experts note that wars are fought on a combination of conventional and unconventional strategies, methods and tactics. Emerging technologies, like drones and Artificial Intelligence, are used to attack and sabotage the enemy without even getting into a battlefield. How can the I...

Shyam Sekhar, an entrepreneur and past President of the Tamilnadu Investors Association, is a highly accomplished equity investor in his individual right. In the last five years, he has donned a new hat as Founder and Chief Ideator for i-thought Advisory Services helping individual investors with mutual fund selection and running a successful Portfolio Management Service. Aarati Krishnan, Consulti...

For any country, an efficient transportation network of highways, railways, ports, and airports, is essential for the movement of goods, services and people within the country and across international borders. It helps increase trade and market access while also promoting economic integration. It is crucial for the growth of the manufacturing and industrial sectors and it can create direct and ind...

The global rice market has been grappling with a significant production deficit, set to be the largest since 2003. Various factors, including deficient rains in India and severe floods in Pakistan, have led to tight supplies and a tightening of the market. In this episode of the State of the Economy podcast, Charles Hart, an agri-business analyst at BMI and Fitch Solutions, explains that while the...

In this podcast episode, Dr. Ritesh Jain, Founder, Infynit, discusses the concept of de-dollarization, which refers to reducing reliance on the US dollar as the global mode of exchange. He highlights the increasing concerns about the dominance of the USD in the global financial system and how developing countries perceive it as excessive dependence and potential weaponization by the US. Jain expla...

Indian drugs and vaccines, which, as many of us know, have been part of the international healthcare landscape for a long time now, even before the Covid-19 pandemic, But while the Covid-19 emergency is over, there are many other global storms that continue to rage over trade, big geopolitical challenges, supply chain issues, quality issues, and so on. In this episode of the State of the Economy p...

In this episode of the “State of the Economy” podcast, Nivedita V discusses the pressing issue of gender disparity in the Indian workforce with special guest and women’s rights activist, Dr. Valli Arunachalam, Nuclear scientist, semiconductor technology consultant and scion of Murugappa Group. With an alarming number of 670 million women workforce being left behind in India’s growing economy, the...