- Deepanshu Mohan, Soumya Marri, Bilquis Calcuttawala, Malhaar Kasodekar, Aniruddh Bhaskaran and Hemang Sharma A pre-budget deep dive by the Centre for New Economic Studies (CNES) Infosphere team has come up with some interesting takeaways. The analysis has looked at past macroeconomic and budget trends to set the tone for Budget 2023-24. They do this by looking at capital and revenue expenditure, sectoral analysis of budget expenditure and a scheme-wise allocation...

There is some respite expected for India in terms of prices of imported commodities. This may ease the depletion of its foreign exchange reserves. The country has faced a widening of its merchandise trade deficit from US$ -17.91 billion to US$ -26.91 billion between October 2021 and October 2022. The commodity price data provided by the World Bank in December 2022 (termed as The Pink Sheet) shows that energy prices plummeted by...

There is euphoria abound about India's growth performance during the first quarter of the current fiscal. As compared to the corresponding period last year, the year-on-year (y-o-y) GDP growth in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022-23 is down. However, one should take into account the fact that the high growth performance of the real GDP in Q1 of 2021-22 was due to the low base in the corresponding period of...

-The Telegraph Jail and racetrack on beach bully list New Delhi: An audit has identified dozens of public and private projects that have breached India’s coastal regulations — beach resorts, ports, roads, a racetrack, and even a jail near an Olive Ridley turtle nesting site. The exercise by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has flagged deficiencies in the Union environment ministry’s project approval mechanisms and lapses by state coastal regulatory authorities that...

-The Telegraph Customs accused of blocking grain’s movement on premise of export bar Malda/ Cooch Behar: Hundreds of trucks laden with around four lakh tonnes of wheat meant for export to Bangladesh have been stuck at land ports in Bengal for at least three weeks as customs authorities are allegedly refusing their onward journey. The exporters are worried that delay in the transportation of the wheat will cause them losses of crores of...