businessline's State of the Economy Podcast

In this episode of the State of the Economy podcast, businessline’s Amiti Sen discusses the EU's recent environment-related measures, focusing on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the EU deforestation regulation, with Ajay Srivastava, a former Indian Trade Services officer and founder of the research body Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI).  The CBAM is a tax proposed by the E...

In this episode of the State of The Economy podcast, Ronendra Singh interviews Manish Raj Singhania, the President of the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), to discuss the challenges and the future of the Indian automobile industry. Despite a slight decline compared to pre-COVID levels, the auto retail sales in May showed positive year-on-year growth across all vehicle categorie...

Since 2012, successive governments at the Centre have been trying to make India a global hub for electronics and hardware equipment but have achieved limited success. For example, while the number of mobile handset and accessories factories in the country has gone up, the local value addition is only around 7-8 per cent as most of the critical components are imported. Similarly, attempts to attrac...

The economic slowdown has impacted various parts of the world. In this State of the Economy podcast, Abhishek Law talks to Nidhi Marwah, Group Managing Director-South Asia and UAE and Managing Director-Global Accounts, The Executive Centre to understand how it has affected the Indian flex spaces market.  India is not isolated from global trends but our economy has high resilience. India's large co...

In this episode of the State of The Economy, TE Raja Simhan talks to Lalit Trivedi, former General Manager, East Central Railways about the major challenges facing rail safety in India.    The podcast takes a look at the Balasore train accident, shedding light on the factors that contributed to its occurrence. Upgrading railways requires traffic blocks, hindering regular operations, and maintenanc...

There has been a surprising drop in the valuation of multiple unicorns by private investors so far in FY23. Funding activity declined in both volume and deal sizes in May this year compared to the previous year. The investments in the venture side were dominated by B2B space, specifically enterprise software, AI/ML, climate tech, and EV. This trend is not new, data shows that the numbers still don...

The latest economic indicators released on May 31 present a promising picture of the economy, with GDP showing improvements and GST collections reaching a new normal of 1.5 lakh crore rupees. However, the recovery remains uneven across sectors, raising concerns about the sustainability of the post-pandemic rebound. Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist, ICRA discusses the current state of the economy, high...

The open network for digital commerce (ONDC) has captured the nation’s imagination. Many feel that this is the next UPI, and will revolutionise e-commerce in the country. Yet, there is a lot of confusion about the functioning of ONDC, which is bringing in interoperability and allowing many participants to build on the infrastructure it is creating. How exactly is this going to work? Also, ONDC has...

Copper plays a crucial role in powering the economic growth and development of any country, as it is an essential component in various sectors, ranging from electrical appliances and construction to vehicles and wiring. Understanding the prospects for copper and the dynamics of its demand-supply scenario becomes paramount in gauging the overall health of the Indian economy. In the latest episode o...

The S&P Dow Jones Indices’ SPIVA (S&P Indices Versus Active) report has been leading the debate about the underperformance of active mutual fund managers and how passive investing through index funds or exchange-traded funds delivers superior returns.  In this Business Line’s State of Economy podcast, Benedek Vörös, Director, Index Investment Strategy, S&P Dow Jones Indices, explains the reasons b...

Buoyed by rich orders of civilian and military aircraft, Airbus Defence and Aerospace said that it’s looking to increase its sourcing from India, taking it beyond the existing worth $700 million per year. Airbus also has plans to generate 2,000 more jobs in the next two years which would add to 10,000 direct and indirect placements the company is already supporting through the supply chain activit...

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), enacted in 2016, aimed to streamline and expedite the insolvency resolution process in India. While the IBC has undoubtedly brought significant reforms to the insolvency landscape, its implementation has not been without challenges.  BL State of the Economy podcast focuses on IBC 2.0 and highlights what areas need the attention of policymakers. One of the...

The Ukraine war has brought India and Russia closer in terms of increased bilateral trade, especially with India purchasing large amounts of discounted oil from the country from the last fiscal year on. However, India's exports to Russia are not rising. Neither has the rupee trade mechanism picked up. In this State of the Economy podcast, businessline's Amiti Sen speaks to Dr Biswajit Dhar, an eco...

A key to India achieving its COP 26 pledge of 500 gigawatts (GW) of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030 is energy storage. Considering the importance of battery energy storage systems (BESS) in India’s electricity mix, businessline in a podcast with Rahul Walawalkar, the President & MD of Customized Energy Solutions India, went down the memory lane on how BESS gained prominence. Walawalkar is a noted...

The auto sector in India is a significant industry worth over 100 billion dollars, contributing around 8 per cent of the country's total exports and accounting for 7.1 per cent of India's GDP. The Covid-19 pandemic affected the sector in the past few years, but it is now recovering and is coming back to normalcy. In this State of the Economy podcast, S Ronendra Singh talks to RC Bhargava, an auto...

In the last three decades, the Indian aviation industry has witnessed many airlines, including NEPC, Kingfisher, Modiluft, and Jet Airways, enter the sector with a bang but fail to stay in business for long. The latest is Go First, which in recent months has been facing trouble and has sought voluntary insolvency. What does this latest episode of an airline threatening to go off the radar mean for...

India’s airlines are once again in trouble, this time with the fall of Go First. The fall of the airline could impact the entire airlines ecosystem. In this State of the Economy podcast, Ravi Loonkar, a stress resolution expert who has worked for SBI Capital Markets, GE Capital talks to businessline’s Hamsini Karthik, Senior Assistant Editor on the role of NCLT in Go First’s insolvency resolution....

Siddharth 'Sid' Pai is a technology consultant and an investor in deep tech/science-based startups. An IT industry veteran who has worked with the likes of IBM, Xerox, Logica, KPMG, and ISG, he has personally led over $20 bn in complex, first-of-its-kind outsourcing transactions. He is a prolific columnist and an author who has written books on the sector. In an in-depth conversation with Venkates...

India’s digital infrastructure has witnessed a huge transformation since the 1990s. The country is expected to have more than 900 billion internet users by 2025. India’s digital economy is also growing rapidly.  However, there is a huge digital divide between rural and urban India. Within urban areas, many are not able to access the internet as telecos are increasing user charges. Almost half of t...

With many professionals preferring to work from home and companies still opting for remote work, are commercial rental spaces still relevant? What are some of the challenges that the real estate sector face amidst the slowdown? In this episode of the State of the Economy podcast, businessline's Abhishek Law and Kaustuv Roy of Savills discuss the impending slowdown and its impact on the real estate...

P.V Subramanyam, author of the blog www.subramoney.com, starts by discussing why equity investing was probably easier in the 80s when he made his debut, because the only information you had on a company came from its annual report! So every investor needed to do his or her own due diligence and in the process came to understand every business he owned very well. In contrast, today, all financial i...

Welcome to another episode of the Businessline State of Economy podcast. Today, we’re delving into the world of deeptech startups. As technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, deeptech has emerged as a promising area of innovation, with startups creating solutions that are based on cutting-edge research in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics and space tech. Joining us today are...

Government and various private agencies came out with high-frequency economic indicators such as GST collection, PMI Manufacturing and automobile sales among others. Data are undoubtedly impressive, but there are other sides to the data which is giving food for thought. In this episode of the State of the Economy podcast, businessline’s Shishir Sinha talks to Chief Economist of Care Ratings, Rajan...

April 30, 2023, was a historic day for Indian cricket. The match between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians was the 1,000th match since the Indian Premier League started in 2008. The tournament, which was launched sixteen years ago, has seen many innovations like the strategic time out or the "Impact player" substitute. Why, even the stumps used are LED ones, where the bails light up when a batsm...

The importance of competition law cannot be understated. Without the regulations flowing from such a law, businesses would be free to engage in anti-competitive practices that would harm consumers and stifle innovation.  By promoting fair competition, competition laws help to ensure that consumers have access to a variety of high-quality products and services at reasonable prices. It is in this co...