Indian agriculture employs nearly half of the nation’s workforce yet remains trapped in a vicious cycle of low incomes, high drudgery, climate volatility, gender invisibility, occupational hazards, weak market power, chronic indebtedness, and alarming levels of psychological distress culminating in farmer suicides. This paradox—where those who feed the nation remain among its most vulnerable—represents one of the gravest policy failures of post-independence India. This paper argues that Artificial Intelligence (AI), if ethically governed and inclusively deployed, can become a transformative public good capable of restoring dignity, resilience, and remunerative value to Indian agriculture.
Crop Waste, Air Pollution, and Sustainable Transitions in Indian Agriculture: A Policy Paper
Crop waste management has emerged as one of the most consequential yet persistently neglected challenges in Indian agriculture and global sustainability governance. India generates over half a billion tonnes of agricultural residues annually, a substantial portion of which continues to be disposed of through open-field burning—most visibly in the rice–wheat systems of Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. The resulting air pollution regularly engulfs Delhi and large parts of northern India, producing severe public health impacts, economic losses, ecological stress, and reputational costs for the country.
RECLAIMING CREDIBILITY:MODERNISING INDIA’S NATIONAL ACCOUNTSFOR A DYNAMIC AND TRUSTWORTHY ECONOMY(Policy Paper )
India stands today at a decisive inflection point. As one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, its national statistical architecture must be robust, contemporary, and globally credible. Yet the recent IMF downgrading of India’s National Accounts Statistics (NAS) to a ‘C’ grade—the second-lowest category—has exposed long-standing structural vulnerabilities.
The IMF observed that India continues to rely on an outdated base year (2011–12), incomplete datasets, inconsistent methodologies, and delayed revisions that undermine reliability. A dynamic economy requires dynamic measurement. National accounts shape policy-making—forming the backbone of GDP estimation, GVA analysis, fiscal strategy, sectoral prioritisation, inflation targeting, and monetary policy.
Mega Banks for a Mega Economy?
India is set to restructure its public sector banks (PSBs) into three mega entities anchored around SBI, PNB, and Canara Bank. This consolidation aims to strengthen scale, competitiveness, and operational efficiency.
If executed effectively, these institutions could rank among the world’s top 25 banks, with assets between USD 500 billion and USD 1 trillion.
