On 1 July 2017 India rolled out the Goods and Services Tax (GST). It collapsed 36 tax jurisdictions and consequently for the first time India was economically unified. Further it all but eliminated the cascading effect of taxes that prevailed in the earlier regime of indirect taxes. Indeed, it was the biggest tax reform ever. Nearly, a decade later, the country has few regrets. Yes, GST is still a work in progress. Yet it has more than matched expectations. https://youtu.be/2QuaboxijT0 Now, a new academic paper has empirically proved the long-held belief that GST is accelerating formalization of the Indian economy.…
Author: Anil Padmanabhan
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For nearly 60 years, the writ of Left-Wing Extremism held sway over 182 districts—spreading across 10 states of India. After sustained action, which accelerated in the last decade, India has broken the back of Naxalism, which was birthed in 1967 in Naxalbari in West Bengal. https://youtu.be/AXY0WHrEAkM As on 1 April, as Home Minister Amit Shah informed Parliament, presence of Naxalites had shrunk to a few districts of Chhattisgarh. How was this battle won? More importantly, does this signal a new dawn for this large swathe of India, which is also mineral rich? To answer all this and more, StratNewsGlobal.Tech spoke…
India’s Census 2027, which kicked-off on 1 April, is not just a headcount—it is a national X-ray. After more than a decade, India is finally counting itself again. But this time, the stakes are far higher. Since the last Census in 2011, India has undergone massive changes: digital transformation, rapid urbanisation, migration shifts, falling fertility, and expanding welfare systems. https://youtu.be/TG7F3og1fWY In this episode of Capital Calculus, StratNewsGlobal.Tech spoke with Himanshu, Associate Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, to understand why Census 2027 could redefine India’s economy, inequality, and polity. We discussed: Why India is “flying blind” without an updated Census data…
Is energy sovereignty the new oil? As tensions escalate between the United States, Israel and Iran, the world could be heading toward a global energy shock not seen since the 1970s. With the Strait of Hormuz—through which nearly 20% of global oil and gas flows—under threat, energy is once again becoming a tool of geopolitical power. https://youtu.be/D6jOcB3BLXs StratNewsGlobal.Tech spoke with Mannat Jaspal of ORF Middle East to unpack how energy is being re-weaponised, what it means for global supply chains, and why the future of economic resilience may lie in energy sovereignty. We also examine what this means for India—and…
In the last one year, India–Canada relations have dramatically pivoted from diplomatic rupture to strategic reset. What changed—and what does the future hold for this important partnership? In this episode, StratNewsGlobal.Tech, spoke with Ajay Bisaria, former Ambassador of India to Canada, to unpack the dramatic turnaround in the relations between the two countries and the geopolitical forces driving it. https://youtu.be/W2t9Fjbgoz0 The conversation explores how the relationship shifted from a diplomatic crisis to renewed cooperation after Prime Minister Mark Carney took charge, and why economic pragmatism is now driving engagement between the two countries. Topics covered: The rupture in ties The…
Deep tech startups in India raised $1.6 billion in 2025. In the first two months of 2026 fund raising has already topped $700 million. Is this then the beginning of India’s deep tech boom? In this conversation with StratNewsGlobal.Tech, Rajeev Mantri Founder and MD of Navam Capital, we explore the rise of deep tech funding, the role of venture capital, and whether India can build globally competitive companies in AI, space, robotics and frontier technology. https://youtu.be/uTkv5DcFMEI Topics Covered Why deep tech funding in India surged in 2025 The difference between deep tech startups and software startups Whether venture capital can…
India, recently updated its Consumer Price Index to a new base year of 2024. On paper, this is a routine statistical revision. But in reality, it may reveal something much bigger about the Indian economy. Food’s weight in inflation has fallen sharply. Services now dominate growth. Formalisation, digitalisation and rising consumption are reshaping the structure of India’s new economy. https://youtu.be/WrpFNbLjtTk So the real question is this: Is the rebasing of the CPI series a simple technical update? Or does it capture a fundamental makeover of the Indian economy as it transitions to a new growth trajectory? To unpack what the…
India has signed eight Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with developed economies—including the European Union, United Kingdom, Australia, EFTA, and is on the threshold of a trade deal with the United States. All of them are developed economies. After decades of caution and defensive trade policy, is India now embracing global competition? https://youtu.be/U92ol2qhGLY StratNewsGlobal.Tech spoke to Pritam Banerjee, Head of WTO Studies at IIFT, to unpack: Why India exited RCEP but signed FTAs with advanced economies? Whether India now negotiates from economic strength? What these trade deals mean for domestic industry and MSMEs? Will FTAs force reforms in logistics, regulation and…
India looks comfortable right now. Growth is strong. Inflation is under control. The fiscal deficit is narrowing. Banks are healthier than they have been in years. Indeed, it feels like a Goldilocks moment. But here’s the real question: Is this stability structural or is it cyclical? Further, at this very moment of comfort, India has chosen to adopt unprecedented boldness in economic policy. It is signing free trade agreements with developed economies, pening itself up to global competition and exposing domestic industry to international discipline. https://youtu.be/0FRSmH86HIM The Economic Survey argues that export capability is a disciplining force—that competitiveness, not protection,…
Budget 2026 may not have excited markets—but it could shape India’s economy till 2047. In this in-depth conversation on StratNewsGlobal.Tech, Haseeb Drabu, economist and former finance minister of Jammu and Kashmir, decoded India’s Union Budget 2026, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman–who has now completed a record-breaking ninth consecutive Budget. https://youtu.be/UGiQ9gsCzhI This episode goes beyond tax rates and routine announcements to examine why Budget 2026 marks a structural shift in India’s economic strategy—from short-term populism to long-term performance. This is not a Budget explainer for headlines. Instead it is a conversation about the plan to invest in creating state capacity,…