-Hindustan Times Traditionally, Union budgets have mattered for people at large because of two reasons: prices of goods and income tax rates.There is some merit in the argument that inflation is a bigger dampener on economic sentiment in India than low growth rates There is some merit in the argument that inflation is a bigger dampener on economic sentiment in India than low growth rates. Traditionally, Union budgets have mattered for people...

-Business Standard The share of GST collections in GDP has stagnated, even as IGST revenues from imports have gone up sharply The Modi government is elated over the steady improvement in the collection of goods and services tax (GST) in recent months. Along with the sharp growth in collections of other Union taxes, GST collections have also crossed the Rs 1-trillion mark for each of the last six months beginning July 2021. Please...

-TheWire.in A claim of an 8.4% real GDP growth rate has little relevance even as rural India battles plummeting wage levels, depleted incomes and widespread unemployment. With the release of the GDP figures for the quarter ending September, the government machinery has been in full swing advancing the narrative that economic growth is indeed back on track. However, sorely missing from these narratives is the inconvenient factoid on the currently dismal state of...

-TheIndiaForum.in The Periodic Labour Force Survey for 2019-20 has thrown up some unusual and contradictory patterns in employment and unemployment. However, the trends in the labour market over three years of the PLFS from 2017-18 onwards are clear and cause for worry. The pandemic has had a disastrous impact on lives and livelihoods. The national lockdown of March–May 2020 will be remembered for its devastating neglect of migrant workers and the unprecedented,...

-Newsclick.in Modi government has been mercilessly hiking up taxes on petrol and diesel to take money from the people and boost its resources. Since the prices of petroleum products were deregulated some years back and supposedly “linked” to markets, the central government has weaponised this to simply impose an indirect tax burden on the people. Take the four big metros: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. On an average, petrol prices have increased from...