Category: India

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India: Getting ready for global macro resets

Second wave of Covid-19 is now behind us. Localized lockdowns are opening, economic activity is coming back to pre-pandemic levels, and vaccinations are now proceeding apace with large, assured supply over the next few months. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has eased monetary conditions for the stressed sectors and Government has extended its program for support to the vulnerable. With fiscal space available as … Read More India: Getting ready for global macro resets

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Vaccine tracker – taking it down

Last month when the CoWIN APIs had just been released, a few of us got together and created a portal to track availability of vaccines. The portal (http://vaccineavailability.atilotia.com/) saw around 400,000 hits with around 40,000 unique people visiting it over the course of the last few weeks. When we had started, we did not know what to expect: it turned out to a very … Read More Vaccine tracker – taking it down

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Attracting Large Pools of Capital for a Green Transition

Financial Express India is a signatory and strong advocate for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the only large country on track for emissions reduction as agreed under the Paris convention. These transitions are expected to be net positive for the economy from cleaning up the emissions, creating new jobs, and fostering economic growth. International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that … Read More Attracting Large Pools of Capital for a Green Transition

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Infra investment plans: India and the USA

Financial Express Two of the largest democracies have embarked on a massive capital investment planover the next few years US President Biden recently announced a two-part plan to invest in the USA: first part of the plan details a USD 2.2 trillion investment in “hard” infrastructure and second part, the families plan, puts in USD 1.8 trillion in “soft” infrastructure. The combined plan, at … Read More Infra investment plans: India and the USA

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Modelling the vaccine market in India

A new chapter has opened up in India’s fight against Covid-19 with three big changes in April. Starting May, vaccines are now available for all adults in India. The central government is no longer the only purchaser – the vaccine manufacturers are now free to sell to the state governments and also to private sector (hospitals, companies, etc.). Also, many new vaccines are entering … Read More Modelling the vaccine market in India

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Know when vaccine slots become available

Click here to check availability for slots for those in the 18-44 age range. The full link is this: http://vaccineavailability.atilotia.com/ Use filters to check whether COVID-19 vaccination slots are available in your city or pin code. This is applicable for both Covishield and Covaxin shots. Do note that this is not an official portal. The data is sourced from Co-WIN APIs. It’s being done … Read More Know when vaccine slots become available

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‘Moving epicenters’ – preparing India for future waves of Covid

India faced a severe second wave of Covid-19 – actionable public policy recommendations to prepare ourselves better An unexpected, unprecedented 16X surge Around end March 2021, with rapidly reducing active cases, India was getting back to its pre-Covid days in its economic and mobility indicators. Record-high Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection of Rs 1.24 trillion in that month underscored the return of the … Read More ‘Moving epicenters’ – preparing India for future waves of Covid

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India’s USD 550 bn stimulus

Relaxation in fiscal deficit targets creates enhanced fiscal space for India: this offers an opportunity to build India Financial Express Last month was abuzz with many commentaries on the Union Budget 2021-22 – the document was dissected for its numbers and narrative. Many new and bold ideas such as privatization of public sector undertakings (as the Government confines itself largely to the strategic sectors), … Read More India’s USD 550 bn stimulus

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Financing urban infrastructure

Empowering Urban Local Bodies to leverage the markets. India’s rapid urbanization is a well-documented story. Depending on how one counts urbanization, India has between a-third and a-half of its population already live in high-density areas. The trend towards urbanization will continue as the economy moves to being more connected with global ecosystems in manufacturing and services. According to various estimates, urban India contributes to … Read More Financing urban infrastructure

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Hedging INR for the long-term

Foreign investors with long-term commitments to Indian infrastructure need the ability to hedge their currency exposure in India. The exposure can typically last for multiple decades, especially in the context of infrastructure. The recently concluded Virtual Global Investor Conference saw large global investors recommitting to their interest in investing in India for the long-term. For investors, the return they seek is dependent on the … Read More Hedging INR for the long-term

A day in the life of an Indian

 What the numbers say—how men and women spend their day differently; and how much bijli, sadak, paani can improve productivity Here’s a question that has been of interest to me: in a country of 1.4 billion people, if only approximately 400 million are in the workforce, what is it that the remaining billion people do?   We now have some answers. Time Use Survey … Read More A day in the life of an Indian

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Defining the frontier sector

The new normal after Covid-19 requires a re-imagining of macroeconomics: we need to start defining the contours of, and measuring, the fourth sector. (First of a two-part article) “There are three estates in Parliament but in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder there sits a Fourth Estate more important far than they all. It is not a figure of speech or witty saying, it is a … Read More Defining the frontier sector