Growing pains

The data on India's economic performance in 2024-25, released on Friday, have something for everybody. Those with an optimistic outlook can rejoice at the seemingly robust growth in the fourth quarter. Pessimists can despair over the four-year low annual growth figure. The realist's assessment, however, is that there is cause for some restrained celebration, and more than a healthy dose of disappointment.

The Q4 growth of 7.4% was considerably higher than what was expected for the quarter, and the fastest seen in an otherwise dismal financial year. The main drivers were the construction sector re-turning to double-digit growth, and the agriculture sector posting a strong showing. These are also two major employment drivers. Services, too, continued their steady and strong growth. The manufacturing sector, on the other hand, grew at just 4.8%, down from 11.3% in Q4 of the previous year. There is a reality check hiding in the aggregate numbers, as well. The GDP growth rate of 7.4% was achieved in large part due to a 12.7% growth in net taxes. This bump in tax collections provided a statistical boost without which growth in actual economic activity would have come in at around 6.8%. The much-hyped 'Maha Kumbh effect' on consumption expenditure also does not seem to have materialised. Growth in Private Final Consumption Expenditure in Q4 - the Kumbh quarter came in at 6%, the slowest in five quarters. Capital formation, however, grew a robust 9.4% as the government finally sped up its sluggish capital investments. 

The university under attack, universities undermined

Universities are facing an unprecedented challenge. While in India the challenge has been growing over the last three decades, in the United States, it has erupted since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025. The challenge has been growing elsewhere too as society's expectations from universities are changing.

The Trump administration is freezing $3.2 billion of Harvard University's grants and contracts. There is a move to revoke Harvard's tax-exempt status which will cost it a few hundred million dollars. Harvard's President Alan M. Garber has said that political disagreements could pose an existential threat to educational institutions. Because a cut in funds is being used to coerce universities to change their policies regarding student admissions, protests on campus, faculty recruitment, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programmes.

In India, the control of institutions of higher learning has increasingly slipped out of the hands of academics to the bureaucracies in the Ministries of Education and the University Grants Commission over the last 40 years. Academics in India are facing growing challenges related to teaching and research. The institutions they work in do not come to their defence, as seen in a recent case of a prestigious private university. All this represents a shift in the fine balance in the societal role of institutions of higher learning. The U.S. system was a model to emulate and even that is being dismantled. 

Regulating India's virtual digital assets revolution

India continues to lead in grassroots crypto adoption, for the second consecutive year in the 'Geography of Crypto' report by Chainalysis (2024). A National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) report finds that Indian retail investors poured $6.6 billion into crypto assets and predicts the industry could create over eight lakh jobs by 2030. India also boasts one of the largest and fastest-growing web3 developer cohorts.

This vibrancy may seem surprising, given the rocky journey of crypto, known as 'Virtual Digital Assets' (VDA), in India, within the domestic regulatory and policy landscape. In May 2025, the Supreme Court of India questioned the absence of comprehensive and clear crypto regulation in India, with a remark, "Banning may be shutting your eyes to ground reality". This observation highlights the dissonance between VDA reality and VDA policy which has created significant challenges for regulators and market players.

Whose mountain is it, anyway?

On May 18, five people from the National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports (NIMAS) scaled Mt Khangchendzonga from the Nepal side, prompting expressions of concern and protest by civil society groups and Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang. Sikkim's native population holds the mountain sacred and the State government disallows attempts to climb it or scale its peak from the Indian side. One side of Mt Khangchendzonga faces Nepal, a country that hasn't instituted a similar ban and which the NIMAS team took advantage of. 

A sinking feeling for 'Brand Bengaluru

For long-time residents of Bengaluru, it is beginning to feel like there is too much happening all at once. There are talks of extending Namma Metro to neighbouring cities. Work has started for a suburban rail network. The State government is busy pushing for a contentious network of tunnel roads to connect traffic-choked ends. And the civic body, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), is being split into multiple corporations with the hope that they will manage the city better. 

India's rise to 4th largest economy belies per capita reality

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently projected that India will edge past Japan to become the world's fourth largest economy in 2025. While this marks a notable milestone, comparisons based solely on absolute Gross Domestic Product (GDP) offer limited insight into the lived realities of people.

Absolute GDP figures are useful for understanding the size of an economy, but they do not capture how wealth is distributed, how developed a country is, or how its citizens are faring. They mask dis-parities in population size, cost of living, and income inequality. A country may have a large economy overall, but that doesn't necessarily translate into prosperity or improved living standards for its people. 

Is India the world's fourth largest economy?

Over the past week, much media space was devoted to discussions around the size of India's economy relative to other economies of the world. These discussions were based on the new estimates of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of various countries for 2024 by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and its annual projections from 2025 till 2030. As per these projections, India's GDP in 2025 was likely to be $4,187.03 billion, which will be marginally higher than the GDP of Japan at $4,186.43 billion. Thus, in all probability, India will be the fourth largest economy of the world in 2025 after the U.S., China and Germany. 

These discussions have stirred the political pot as well. Government sources attributed the improved rank to the leadership capabilities of the Prime Minister. It was also argued that India could grow to be the third largest economy of the world in 2028, and a high-income, developed country (viksit bharat) by 2047. 

How the technology industry is trying to meet its climate goals

A team of researchers from Microsoft and WSP Global has published a groundbreaking study in Nature demonstrating that advanced cooling methods like cold plates and immersion cooling can cut data centre emissions by 15-21%, energy use by 15-20%, and water consumption by 31-52% compared to traditional air cooling.

The life cycle assessment, led by Husam Alissa of Microsoft, Mukunth Natarajan, and Praneet Arshi of WSP, among others, also provided actionable insights to help the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry meet its climate goals. "Our [life cycle assessment] has shown that reducing data centre energy use through advanced liquid-cooling technologies will lead to marked reductions in data centre environmental impacts," the authors wrote in their paper.  

In a first in 2 decades, EC revises voter list for June 19 bypolls

For the first time in nearly two decades, the Election Commission revised the voters' list of five constituencies for holding Assembly byelections in a bid to ensure a "spotless" electoral roll. 

GST collections remain above ₹2 trillion in May

Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections remained above the 2 trillion mark for the second month in a row, rising 16.4% in May to over ₹2.01 lakh crore. GST collections had touched a record high of ₹2.37 lakh crore in April. In May 2024, the mop-up was ₹1,72,739 crore. 

India and European Union set to conduct joint naval exercise

The Indian Navy and the European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) will hold a joint exercise at sea soon.

No need to fear COVID-19, thanks to acquired immunity through vaccines: Soumya Swaminathan

There is no need to fear COVID-19 due to the immunity people have acquired over the last few years, said Soumya Swaminathan, former chief scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO) and chairperson of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation.

How do you de-risk from outliving your savings?

In today's world a nagging question for many Indians is, Will I have enough money to last through retirement?

It's a valid worry. Life expectancy, already about 72.5 years, is expected to cross 85 by the end of this century. At the same time, healthcare costs are rising. And inflation? That's silently eroding the value of our money year after year. A recent survey showed nearly 4 out of 10 working Indians fear they might outlive their savings. So, what can you do?