Columns

It is a bespoke framework, and if it is not designed with clarity and intention, it can create as many issues as it seeks to solve.

Updated : Apr 29, 2026

Designing trusts that last: Why trust structures need more thought than templates

Instead of building a structure tailored to their specific needs, families tend to rely on “what works in the market”—adopting templated models or replicating structures they have seen others use.

India has emerged as a primary destination for global institutional capital in real assets (Pic: AI generated)

Updated : Apr 23, 2026

From hedge to conviction: Why global capital is doubling down on India's real assets

Indian real estate attracted $10.4 billion in institutional investment across 77 transactions in 2025

The ECTA is not just a trade deal; it is an invitation to own the infrastructure of the future

Updated : Apr 16, 2026

The new Indo-Pacific powerhouse: Why Australia is the strategic frontier for Indian investment

Australia’s ACCU (Australian Carbon Credit Unit) scheme is one of the most transparent and robust in the world. Indian investors in reforestation, soil carbon, or renewable-led green hydrogen can generate high-integrity carbon credits.

IBC Bill 2025: India, currently positioned to pass its most ambitious creditor rights legislation since 2016, is an important test case

Updated : Apr 9, 2026

When giving banks more power may backfire

When a bank has enhanced powers to seize assets, initiate proceedings, and push a firm into liquidation, the expected cost of bankruptcy rises — not just in practice, but in the minds of the people who run companies.

India now must treat energy as sovereignty rather than a sector

Updated : Apr 2, 2026

Viksit Bharat will need energy sovereignty, not just energy security

The geopolitical window will not remain open indefinitely. Every year of delay is a year the US and China consolidate and India’s options narrow.

Sustained oil shock combined with knock-on effects on trade and domestic spending could shave a full percentage point off India's FY27 GDP growth forecast

Updated : Mar 18, 2026

When oil catches fire: The US-Israel-Iran war poses a real and present challenge to India's growth

With Brent crude approaching $100 a barrel amid the US-Iran conflict, India faces a multi-front challenge — a wider trade gap, higher inflation, a strained government budget, and corporate earnings under siege.

A new breed of companies from small and big towns is rising and fueling the next wave of economic growth, says Prashant Singhal

Updated : Mar 16, 2026

The rise of modern Bharat and ‘Kohinoors’ of entrepreneurs

A large number of domestic champions have emerged who have built size, scale, profitability and global competitiveness while staying away from the limelight.

AI is improving how revenue is earned before it dramatically changes how much revenue is earned.

Updated : Mar 5, 2026

AI’s structural shift: From efficiency lever to outcome-driven growth engine

Industry leaders say AI’s direct revenue share remains modest today, but its deeper integration into workflows, pricing models and talent structures could redefine IT services economics over the next five years.

A simple clarification in the DAP 2026, such as an explicit safe harbour for IOCC-routed investment in Make-I procurements, would remove a significant barrier to capital participation

Updated : Feb 25, 2026

Fixing defence's FDI blind spot: Why the 'make' category needs a clearer rulebook

The Government’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat targets – ₹3 lakh crore in defence production and ₹50,000 crore in exports by 2029 – demand private and foreign capital participation

The ruling should prompt India to re-examine its trade deal with the United States. Here's why

Updated : Feb 21, 2026

India must reassess US trade deal after tariff ruling

By ruling that President Donald Trump lacked authority to impose sweeping “reciprocal tariffs” under the IEEPA, the Court closed the fastest route for economy-wide tariffs and reasserted Congress’s control over trade policy.

Beyond M&As, trade unions and farmers have risen up to what they call the anti-worker and anti-farmer attitude of the government.

Updated : Feb 13, 2026

Rethinking negotiations to achieve better outcomes

Apart from the above, negotiations at the corporate level are equally important. They find resonance in mergers and acquisitions (M&As), hiring of CEOs and other senior management leaders, performance appraisals between employees and the Human Resources Departments and within family businesses to arrive at amicable partitions.

The shift may drive these entities to revisit pricing, contracts, and delivery models to align with India’s revised GST framework. (Image generated by AI)

Updated : Feb 16, 2026

Budget 2026-27 changes the tax landscape for intermediary services

The changes create a more level playing field between domestic and foreign service providers, while reinforcing India’s position as a reliable hub for cross-border services.

Higher STT can make equity derivative trading more expensive, pushing some trading activity away from these markets while commodity markets remain tax-neutral.

Updated : Feb 10, 2026

STT hike without CTT reform: A missed chance for true market parity

With STT on futures jumping to 0.05 per cent from 0.02 per cent and STT on options premium now 0.15 per cent, the change aims to introduce a “reasonable course correction” in the F&O segment and generate additional revenue.

The startup IPOs of the recent past offer some lessons about how India’s markets are evolving

Updated : Feb 10, 2026

Inside India’s IPO rush: Why startups are ringing the bell sooner than ever

For years, late-stage private funding served as a substitute for IPOs. Companies could raise large rounds at rising valuations, often without diligent governance or profitability standards expected of listed firms. That model seem to have weakened.

The more persistent and less visible consequence was behavioural displacement: users began migrating to unregulated, offshore platforms operating beyond India’s legal jurisdiction

Updated : Feb 7, 2026

Banning gaming, promoting AVGC: India’s policy contradiction in the digital economy

When the ban on real money games (RMG) came into effect, several leading gaming platforms ceased operations almost overnight, leaving as many as 100 million gamers in a quandary.

The future belongs to CFOs who can see beyond the ledger to envision new business models

Updated : Feb 9, 2026

Beyond the ledger: The rise of the AI-powered strategic CFO

Agentic AI is revolutionizing this dynamic, enabling a strategic shift in how finance teams allocate their time. By automating routine tasks, AI agents are freeing up finance professionals to focus on high-value strategic analysis.

For India’s energy PSUs, the last decade was a period of reinvention, redefinition and positive momentum.

Updated : Feb 2, 2026

Engines of Growth and Transformation: How India’s Energy PSUs Rewired Themselves

India’s public sector energy companies, once seen as slow-moving bureaucratic giants, have quietly reinvented themselves over the past decade. From expanding clean cooking and lighting access to scaling renewables and digital systems, energy PSUs have emerged as central players in India’s energy transition rather than relics of its past.

Several recent events of corporate oversight, noncompliance, and wilful disregard of the law suggest an organisational culture marked by a casual, often reckless, approach to the regulatory environment

Updated : Jan 30, 2026