businessline's State of the Economy Podcast

Over 160 million people in India lack access to safe drinking water, aggravated by extensive groundwater usage and contamination. One way we try avoiding this is by introducing budgeting exercises with the farmers, says Bishwadeep Ghose, Country Head, Water For People (WFP) India, in conversation with businessline’s Subramani Ra Mancombu, in this State of the Economy podcast.   The podcast starts...

The oil and gas sector is one of the eight core industries in India. India’s economic growth is closely tied to its energy demand, which is projected to rise. This increasing need for oil and gas makes the sector highly attractive for investment. businessline’s Rishi Ranjan Kala speaks to Sushma Rawat, Director (Exploration) at Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), in this State of the Economy p...

In this episode of the State of the Economy podcast, Sanjana B. speaks with Kritika Murugesan, Senior Director of Nasscom Deep Tech & Startups, and Piyush Mehta, Chief Human Resources Officer and Country Manager of Genpact India, about the future of work and fostering innovation and productivity through collaborative approaches to talent development. Kritika discusses the global tech talent shorta...

 As the Union budget approaches, every sector, including healthcare, has its own set of expectations and demands. In this State of the Economy Podcast, businessline’s  PT Jyothi Datta talks to Shuchi Ray, Partner at Deloitte India, on the current state of healthcare in India, and the sector’s expectations from the upcoming Budget.   Ray elaborates on specific areas within healthcare that could ben...

The Indian private sector defence exports is predicted a significant rise, potentially reaching 60-70% of the total by 2028-2029, says Ashish Rajvanshi, CEO of Adani Defence & Aerospace, in conversation with businessline’s Dalip Singh in this State of the Economy podcast.   The podcast begins by discussing the challenges in navigating the Indian defence procurement landscape. It also explores Adan...

Could the lower prices of luxury electric vehicles (EVs) be spurring demand for these automobiles in India? Could this also indicate a growing market segment where affordability and luxury intersect? In this episode of the State of the Economy podcast, Santosh Iyer, MD and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India talks to businessline’s S Ronendra Singh about the growing demand for such vehicles, and how the comp...

Telecom operators Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea recently increased their mobile tariffs. This sudden surge in charges could impact customers and businesses. In this State of the Economy podcast, businessline’s Anjana PV speaks to Dr. V.Sridhar, Professor, Centre for IT and Public Policy at IIIT, Bengaluru to know more about the impact of the increase in mobile tariffs.  Sridhar say...

In this episode of the State of the Economy podcast, Subramani Ra Mancombu from businessline talks to Sehul Bhatt, Director-Research at CRISIL Market Intelligence and Analytics about the current state of India's steel industry.  Bhatt explains that despite the increase in imports, India's steel production capacity is on the rise. Indian mills are expected to add 55 to 60 million tonnes of capacity...

In this State of the Economy podcast, businessline’s Shishir Sinha and Achala Jethmalani, Economist, RBL Bank, discuss various high-frequency economic indicators and their implications on the macro economy. The conversation covers several key areas including GST collections, PMI manufacturing, employment trends, wholesale price index, fiscal deficit, and retail inflation.  Jethmalani mentions that...

In this episode of The State of the Economy Podcast, we take a glance into the Indian Navy's strategic shift towards self-reliance and innovation in the defence sector. Our guest, Indian Navy Commodore Arun P Golaya (retd.), who sheds light on the exciting initiatives propelling the Navy forward, along with the hurdles they're working to overcome. Commodore Golaya cited the success of programs lik...

In this episode of the State of the Economy podcast, businessline’s Abhishek Law talks to Divyesh Doshi, Director of the Kinjal Group, about the real estate trends for fiscal year 2024.   The conversation begins by focusing on both home sales and commercial real estate. Doshi highlights the 11,00,000 crore infrastructure spending announced in the interim budget and expresses optimism for the real...

In this State of the Economy podcast, businessline’s Rishi Ranjan Kala, speaks to Vikram V, Vice President & Co-Group Head, Corporate Sector ratings, ICRA Limited on the status and future prospects of gas-based power plants in India. Vikram says that Initially, gas-based power plants in India have faced underutilisation, with their plant load factor remaining around 20 to 25 per cent for most of t...

In this State of the Economy Podcast, bl.portfolio editor Parvatha Vardhini C, talks to Varun Saboo, Head of Equities at Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers, on the post-election market dynamics and where the opportunities lie now. He explains that the severe market reaction post-election was driven by unmet expectations of a higher seat count. However, he reassures that the market's fundamentals...

In this State of the Economy podcast, businessline’s Sanjana B talks to Padmashree Shagrithaya, Executive Vice President and Head – Insights & Data Global Business Line– India, Capgemini, and Sudhir Chaturvedi, President and Executive Board Member, LTIMindtree, on the importance of Generative AI in companies.  According to the experts, Generative AI is a burgeoning field in artificial intelligence...

In this State of the Economy podcast, businessline’s Anjana PV talks to Anirudh Tagat, Research Author, Department of Economics, Monk Prayogshala, on the impact of internet shutdowns on businesses. In a recent report by Keep It On coalition, a grouping of civil society bodies that advocates against Internet blockades, it was reported that the Internet was snapped 116 times in the country last year...

In this episode of the State of the Economy podcast, businessline’s Amiti Sen talks about the performance of India’s goods exports as we move into the new fiscal year, with Ajay Sahai, Director General, Federation of Indian Export Organisations.   After a 3 per cent decline in goods exports in 2022-23, totalling $437 billion, the new fiscal year has started positively with two consecutive months o...

In this state of the economy podcast, TE Raja Simhan speaks to Ravichandran Purushothaman, the President of Danfoss India, on the link between Cold chain industry and the logistics sector. Ravichandran Purushothaman, the President of Danfoss India, has emphasised the transformative potential of the cold chain industry in India, recognising it as a crucial element in the nation’s food supply chain....

In this State of the Economy podcast, Dr. Renisha Chainani - Research Head Of Augmont - Gold For All and businessline’s Subramani Ra Mancombu discuss the volatility in the gold market.  Gold prices peaked at $2,450 before dropping over 5 per cent, influenced by geopolitical tensions, currency movements, and anticipated US Federal Reserve rate cuts.  Chainani predicts that gold prices will likely r...

In this State of the Economy Podcast, PT Jyothi Datta explores the phenomenon known as the "silver tsunami," in conversation with Saumyajit Roy, co-founder and Chief Executive of Emoha, a five-year-old company providing services for the elderly, including emergency and health-related support systems.   In 20 years, India will transition from having one in ten people being elderly to one in five. T...

In this State of the Economy podcast, businessline’s S Ronendra Singh delves into the performance of the Indian automobile retail sales for May, with Manish Raj Singhania, President, FADA.  The Indian auto retail sector achieved a modest 2.61 per cent year-on-year growth, with sales reaching 20,89,603 units compared to 20,36,528 units in May 2023 of the previous year. Despite the overall growth, t...

In this State of the Economy podcast, Dr B K Singh, Director BKC Aggregators Pvt Ltd, ex-Founder SKYMET and businessline’s Subramani Ra Mancombu discuss the outlook for the current Kharif season in India, following a challenging period of drought and dry conditions due to El Niño from June 2023 to May 2024.   The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts above-normal rainfall, and internati...

In this episode of ‘State of Economy’, businesslines’s Shishir Sinha speaks to Rishi Shah, Partner and Senior Economist, Grant Thornton, to discuss the latest high-frequency economic indicators released over the past week.  The conversation starts with an analysis of GDP numbers for FY24 and Q4 FY24, which have surpassed expectations. Rishi discusses the strengths in manufacturing and services sec...

In the latest State of the Economy podcast, Kurmanath KV and Vishal Salvi, CEO of Quick Heal Technologies Limited look at the issue of cybersecurity threats during elections. The episode, which is the first of a new series of podcasts on cybersecurity, looks at how and why hackers are targeting elections globally, including recent events in India, and discusses the sophisticated methods used to ma...

In this episode of the State of the Economy podcast, businessline’s Haripriya Sureban, talks to Ritesh Tyagi, Vice President & Global Head, VLSI Practice & Engineering Wipro, Ameer Saithu, Executive Vice President at HCLTech, Siva Polimetla, Head ER&D, nasscom and Ashish Kushu, CTO, LTTS about India's growing prominence in the global semiconductor engineering research and development sector.   The...

In this episode of the State of the Economy Podcast, host Rishi Ranjan Kala discusses India's rising power demand with Anujesh Dwivedi, Partner, Deloitte India, an expert in the power utilities and renewables sector. Dwivedi highlights the rapid growth in India's power demand, which has been increasing by over 5 per cent annually and saw a 12-13 per cent rise last year. In May 2024, India recorded...