Growth, jobs & industry
GDP, employment, investment and industrial policy: whether subsidies and reforms build productive capacity and better work.
Growth & jobs
India’s mineral processing subsidy should buy supply that works in a disruption
India will subsidise four lithium and nickel processing plants. Their strategic value depends on feedstock diversification, commercial quality and delivery under stress.
Growth & jobs
India’s higher EPFO ceiling will expand coverage and change pay packets
The new ₹25,000 EPFO wage ceiling brings more workers into social insurance. Its benefits and costs depend on how firms adjust pay and how consistently workers stay covered.
Growth & jobs
India’s July jobs rebound needs a second measure of work
July’s employment figures improved, especially in rural India. Hours, pay and the type of work will determine whether the gain translates into stronger household incomes.
Growth & jobs
An all-India rail freight licence needs reliable access to tracks and terminals
India is simplifying licences for container trains. Lower logistics costs depend on whether operators can run reliable services and fill trains in both directions.
Growth & jobs
India’s chemical parks should compete on the cost of safe production
BHAVYA Rasayan can lower the fixed cost of making chemicals in India. Its value depends on useful common infrastructure and who bears the cost of pollution control.
Growth & jobs
India’s semiconductor subsidies should buy qualified suppliers and repeat orders
Semicon 2.0 widens support beyond fabs. Its payoff depends on whether Indian suppliers can qualify, win repeat orders and keep production running.
Growth & jobs
India’s airline loan guarantees need a route-level test
Emergency credit can keep airlines operating through a temporary cost shock. The public return depends on which services are preserved and whether carriers can repay once conditions normalise.
Growth & jobs
India’s capital goods surge is a reason to test the investment recovery
March factory data show strong capital goods and infrastructure output alongside weak non-durables. The evidence for a durable private investment cycle depends on where the goods went.
Growth & jobs
India’s March jobs data show why participation deserves equal billing
The unemployment rate rose only slightly in March. Falling rural employment and lower female participation show why policy has to look beyond people actively searching.
Growth & jobs
India’s GDP revision puts factory output and input costs on a better footing
The new GDP series makes a substantive change to the measurement of real value added. Better prices and data improve the diagnosis, and the revisions need a transparent bridge.
Growth & jobs
India’s AI compute subsidy should be judged by who gets to use it
The India AI Impact Summit put GPU capacity in the spotlight. Subsidised compute earns its cost when it gives researchers and smaller firms access they could not otherwise buy.
Growth & jobs
India’s labour codes will succeed if formal jobs become easier to offer and safer to take
Simpler hiring rules can encourage formal work. India should test the reforms against contract duration, realised wages and access to benefits, as well as payroll growth.
Growth & jobs
Investment falls as Indian economy slows
Investment growth slowed to about 1% as savings and capital formation fell together, dragging India’s GDP growth down with them.
Growth & jobs
A fall in private consumption is a warning sign for India
Private consumption, about 60% of GDP, grew more slowly than the economy itself, a sign of weak consumer confidence.