-The Hindu Slowdown has widened across sectors; the new government must hit the ground running A welter of data collectively and individually point to one worrying conclusion: economic momentum across sectors is slowing in the widening absence of that key ingredient, demand. Domestic sales of cars, commercial vehicles and two wheelers all contracted in April, from a year earlier, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has reported. The decline of almost...

-The Hindu The government must put the MCA-21 data under scrutiny and bring transparency in calculating corporate output About a third of non-government non-financial companies in the services sector are not traceable is the finding of a National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) survey for 2016-17 that has just been released. Since such entities could be shell/fake/bogus companies included in the MCA-21 database of “active” companies used for estimating the gross domestic...

-Livemint.com A top economic adviser has flagged the risk of stagnation that lack of inclusive Growth could cause. We must reduce inequality and help everyone achieve upward mobility The warning by Rathin Roy, a member of an economic panel advising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that India could be headed for a “structural crisis" has sparked a debate on whether the economy’s days of high single-digit Growth rates are a thing of the...

-The Economic Times At a time when the shadow of a slowdown lengthens but the government steadfastly downplays any such concern, here comes a cracker of an observation from one of India's most celebrated economists who also happens to be a vital cog in Modi's policy team. In an interview to NDTV, Rathin Roy, member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) and Director of National Institute of Public Finance &...

-The Hindu Several interventions are needed on the demand and supply side to alleviate farm distress Loan waivers remain the preferred solution for governments to tackle farm distress. S. Mahendra Dev and M. Govinda Rao talk about the inability of governments to think of long-term solutions to tackle farm distress, in a discussion moderated by Vikas Dhoot. Edited excerpts: * Despite farm productivity rising, severe distress in the sector is a concern. How...