How India's Economy Works

In this episode of How India's Economy Works, host Puja Mehra speaks with trade economist Dr. Nisha Taneja, Professor at Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER). They unpack what the latest export data really reveals. Why did some sectors thrive while others—diamonds, pharmaceuticals, petroleum products and jewellery—registered sharp declines? Why did exports t...

In this episode of How India's Economy Works , host Puja Mehra speaks with economist Renu Kohli, formerly at the Reserve Bank of India and the IMF and currently senior fellow at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP). They talk about the recent depreciation of the rupee and why this episode may be different from previous currency shocks. Despite India's large foreign exchange r...

In this episode of How India’s Economy Works, host Puja Mehra speaks with economist and Professor of Economics at SRM University, Dr. Parag Waknis to unpack one of the most important yet least understood documents in Indian policymaking, the RBI’s accounts. They explore how the RBI manages government debt, why it holds government securities on its balance sheet, and how these operations influence...

In this episode of How India's Economy Works, journalist and author Puja Mehra speaks with economist and former NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar about why India’s manufacturing sector continues to underperform despite decades of policy attention and repeated attempts to boost industrial growth. India has long aspired to become a global manufacturing hub, yet manufacturing’s share in GDP ha...

In this episode of How India’s Economy Works, journalist and author Puja Mehra speaks with economists Arjun Jayadev and Amit Basole, authors of the CSIE working paper India's Labour Productivity Puzzle , about a troubling trend beneath India’s headline growth numbers: a sharp slowdown in labour productivity since 2017. India remains one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies, employmen...

In this episode, journalist and author Puja Mehra speaks with Rosa Abraham, economist and one of the authors of the State of Working India 2026 report , about the growing stress in India’s labour market, highlighted by recent worker protests in Noida. They discuss why even formal sector jobs are no longer guaranteeing wage growth, with real earnings stagnating—and in some cases declining—over the...

In this episode, journalist and author Puja Mehra speaks with Rajeswari Sengupta, Economist and Associate Professor at Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), about the recent volatility in the rupee and the Reserve Bank of India’s response to it. They discuss how global shocks—from the West Asia conflict to sustained capital outflows—have exposed deeper structural vulnerabilities...

In this episode, journalist and author Puja Mehra speaks with Safi Rizvi, National Security Expert, Risk Analyst, Former top Intelligence Officer and Former IPS officer, about how the ongoing conflict involving Iran, the United States and its allies is reshaping the foundations of the global economic and geopolitical order. They discuss how the post-Cold War system—built on multilateral institutio...

In this episode, journalist and author Puja Mehra speaks with Hemant Mishr, Co-Founder and Group CIO of SCUBE Capital, and former Managing Director & Head- Financial Markets, South East Asia, SCCG at Standard Chartered Bank. They talk about how rising geopolitical tensions—from the Iran conflict to great-power rivalry—are beginning to reshape the foundations of the global financial system. The...

In this episode, journalist Puja Mehra speaks with economist Dr. Shekhar Aiyar about the recent US Supreme Court ruling that struck down the use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as the legal basis for President Trump’s sweeping tariffs. As Washington recalibrates its trade strategy, Aiyar argues that the judgment is more than a legal setback — it reshapes the balance of p...

In this episode, journalist Puja Mehra speaks with Economist Dr. Anoop Singh about the gap between India’s ambitious climate commitments and the institutional framework required to deliver them. As India moves closer to its 2030 targets, Singh argues that the real challenge lies not in announcing goals but in building the legal and fiscal architecture to implement them. Drawing on international ex...

In this episode, journalist Puja Mehra speaks with Subhomoy Bhattacharjee, Journalist and Contributing Editor at Business Standard, about the paradox at the heart of India’s coal economy—why the country is sitting on large coal stocks even as it continues to import coal for power generation. They discuss how India’s transition from coal shortages to apparent surplus masks deeper structural problem...

In this episode, journalist and author Puja Mehra speaks with economist Dr. Jahangir Aziz, Economist (Head Emerging Market Economics) at JPMorgan and a former finance ministry official, about what India’s upcoming Union Budget can realistically achieve amid slowing nominal growth and weak private investment. They discuss how the government’s commitment to fiscal consolidation shapes budget choices...

In this episode, journalist and author Puja Mehra speaks with economist Partha Chatterjee and Dean of Academics at Shiv Nadar University. They talk about how the Indian economy is really performing beneath the headline numbers and what recent data signals about growth prospects through 2026. Drawing on the latest GDP estimates, inflation readings, labour market indicators, and credit trends, Chatt...

In this episode, journalist and author Puja Mehra speaks with trade policy expert Ajay Srivastava, founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), about the impact of steep US tariffs on India’s exports and what the latest data reveals about the state of India–US trade negotiations. Drawing on sector-wise export trends, Srivastava explains the puzzling two-step trajectory in India’s export...

In this episode, journalist and author Puja Mehra speaks with economist N. R. Bhanumurthy about the rise of women-focused cash transfer schemes and what they reveal about India’s social policy priorities. Drawing on his evaluations of early pilots in Madhya Pradesh that shaped the Ladli Behna programme, Bhanumurthy explains why cash outperforms kind transfers, how implementation improved with bett...

In this episode, journalist and author Puja Mehra speaks with economist Arjun Jayadev, Director at the Centre for the Study of the Indian Economy (CSIE) at Azim Premji University and co-author of a major new study on how India’s demographic dividend has actually contributed to economic growth across states. Jayadev explains why India’s per-capita growth has diverged sharply across regions, how GDP...

In this episode, journalist and author Puja Mehra speaks with economist Prachi Mishra, Professor at the Department of Economics, and Director and Head of Isaac Center for Public Policy at Ashoka University and lead author of a forthcoming report on how the Bihar can accelerate its path to Viksit Bihar. Mishra explains why Bihar must aim for sustained double-digit growth to close its large per-capi...

In this episode, journalist and author Puja Mehra speaks with economist Dr. Nisha Taneja, Professor at ICRIER and author of a comprehensive study on India–China trade, about how India can recalibrate its economic relationship with China. Taneja explains why India’s imports from China continue to rise despite policy tightening and geopolitical tensions, and why efforts to restrict trade have not re...

In this episode, Puja Mehra speaks with economist Dr. Anoop Singh, author of Managing Public Finances in a New Global Era: India’s Experiences and Challenges , about how India can strengthen fiscal discipline in an age of slowing trade and rising public debt. Singh explains why the world is shifting from trade-driven to fiscal-driven growth and how India must confront the challenges of opaque acco...

In this episode, Puja Mehra speaks with economist Dr. Rajat Kathuria about the evolving landscape of India-US trade relations and the broader challenges of global economic engagement. Kathuria explains how India must balance political sensitivities in sectors like agriculture while ensuring competitive access to the US market. He highlights the importance of tariff reductions, strategic concession...

In this episode, economic journalist and author Puja Mehra speaks to Aurélien Kruse, Lead Economist of the Economic Policy team in India at the World Bank and lead author of its recent report on India. The conversation unpacks how India can break out of the middle-income trap, why small firms struggle to scale up, and what stalled reforms on land, labour, and credit mean for the country’s competit...

In this episode, economic journalist and author Puja Mehra speaks to Arbind Modi, retired IRS officer and Senior Economist at the IMF and one of the chief architects of India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST), about what India’s broken tax system means for its growth ambitions. The conversation explores how GST’s design flaws have hurt competitiveness, why exempting large sections of income undermine...

In this episode, journalist Puja Mehra speaks to Suhasini Haidar, Diplomatic Affairs Editor of The Hindu, about what India’s failed trade deal with Donald Trump reveals about the country’s foreign policy. The discussion unpacks how India balances principles with pragmatism in global negotiations, the costs of missed opportunities in its own neighbourhood, and the deeper shifts from globalisation t...

In this episode, author and journalist Puja Mehra speaks to Neelkanth Mishra, Chief Economist at Axis Bank, about the lessons India can draw from past currency wars to navigate the turbulent years ahead. They discuss how, in the decade after the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, countries devalued their currencies to gain trade advantages—and how similar pressures are resurfacing today as majo...