RajivSpeak

India’s once-explosive app economy is entering a difficult transition phase marked by slowing growth, rising fraud, declining advertising efficiency, and mounting pressure on app companies to prove profitability rather than simply chase downloads.

India’s economic growth prospects continue to lead the global stage, but escalating geopolitical tensions are mounting severe inflationary and currency pressures on the nation, according to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Chief Economists’ Outlook published in May 2026.  

  India's residential real estate market recorded near-flat growth in the January–March quarter of 2026, with sales volumes dipping slightly year-on-year even as property prices hit a historic milestone — crossing ₹10,000 per square foot for the first time.

Global sales of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have shifted dramatically toward the developing world as growth stagnates in wealthy nations, raising urgent questions about fairness, food sovereignty, and public health across the Global South — with India, Brazil, and Mexico at the centre of the debate.

A major new policy research report published by the World Bank Group has raised pointed questions about India's current industrial strategy, warning that the country's flagship Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme may be working against its own economic strengths — and that deeper structural reforms are urgently needed.

  The U.S. Justice Department is planning to drop criminal fraud charges against  Gautam Adani , India's richest man, following an unusual private meeting in Washington in which his lawyers offered to invest $10 billion in the American economy if prosecutors closed the case, the  New York Times reported  on May 14.

  A recent academic study has highlighted how caste and social identity continue to shape employment opportunities, wages and access to secure livelihoods in India, even as the country projects itself as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. The findings, published in the 2026 Springer volume  Unequal Opportunities: An Analysis of Inequalities in Employment Opportunities Among Different Social Groups in Labor Markets of India , argue that structural discrimination remains embedded in both formal and informal labour markets. 

In its April 2026 South Asia Economic Update , the World Bank identifies India as the primary engine of regional growth, with the economy estimated to have accelerated to 7.6% in fiscal year 2025/26.  This macroeconomic surge, however, exists alongside a highly fragmented labor market where the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deep-seated inter-state wage disparities—specifically between states like Kerala, Gujarat, and Chhattisgarh—create a complex landscape for the workforce.

A new working paper by University of Cambridge economist Kaivan Munsh  has revealed how centuries-old social structures both boost and constrain business activity. Focusing on a growing body of economic research, the paper suggests that India's caste system—a network of endogamous communities dating back nearly two to four thousand years—plays a powerful and often overlooked role in shaping the country's economy. 

A sweeping policy report released by the Foundation for Economic Development (FED) argues that India’s minimum wage regime has become counterproductive, pricing millions of workers out of formal employment and costing the economy an estimated $60 billion in unrealised low-skill exports annually.

A new  National Sample Survey  (NSS) report on  household health consumption  reveals that  private healthcare facilities  account for the majority of  hospitalisations in Gujarat , placing a significant financial burden on families. 

Marking  International Workers’ Memorial Day , fresh data from  Gujarat  has highlighted a troubling pattern of fatalities and injuries in the construction sector, with activists pointing to weak enforcement of safety norms and rising  climate-related risks .

India's textile sector, valued at approximately USD 225 billion and projected to reach USD 350 billion by 2030, is sitting on a USD 9.4 billion opportunity buried in its own waste. Yet fragmented systems, absent infrastructure, and a near-total reliance on virgin materials are destroying that value annually, according to a major new report released by FICCI under the Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy Industry Coalition (RECEIC). 

Following my recent blog on former IAS bureaucrat Atanu Chakraborty’s sudden exit as non-executive chairman of HDFC Bank, a few colleagues from the Gujarat cadre — mostly those I interacted with during my Gandhinagar stint (1997–2012) as the Times of India representative — reacted rather sharply. Most of them sent their responses directly on WhatsApp, touching upon on the merits and demerits of Chakraborty’s controversial move. One former IAS officer, a Dalit, however, went further, raising a broader question: why do some officials like Chakraborty secure plum post-retirement assignments, while others are overlooked?

 A new report,  Toxic Finance , has sought to expose the critical role of the global financial sector in driving a massive and controversial expansion of the  petrochemical industry  across the United States. The analysis, compiled by a coalition of environmental and human rights organizations including the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and  Break Free From Plastic , claims that banks and investors have provided the vast sums of capital necessary to build over 100 new facilities or expansions, despite significant risks to human health, the climate, and the financial system itself.

  Civil society organisations and stakeholders from across India have presented stark evidence before the  Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj , alleging systemic violations of the  Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, 2013 , particularly in  Scheduled Areas  and tribal regions.

A new report published in March 2026 by the  Centre for Financial Accountability  and the Tax The Top campaign paints a stark picture of deepening economic disparity in India, documenting a concentration of wealth that it argues is “comparable to colonial times.” Titled  Wealth Tracker India | Tax the Top. Close the Gap , the compilation presents data from the  World Inequality Database  and the  Hurun Rich List  to illustrate the meteoric rise of the ultra-wealthy alongside the stagnation and debt burdens of the majority.

  A comprehensive new study by environmental research and advocacy organisation Toxics Link has painted a worrying picture of India's fading repair culture, warning that the trend towards replacement over repair is accelerating the country's already critical e-waste crisis.

  India’s residential real estate market witnessed a continued slowdown in the first quarter of 2026, with housing sales across the top nine cities falling below the one lakh unit mark for the first time in over four years, according to data released by P.E. Analytics Ltd (PropEquity).

  A recent opinion piece published in  The Quint  by  Subhash Chandra Garg  has raised questions over the circumstances surrounding the resignation of  Atanu Chakraborty  from  HDFC Bank , with Garg stating that the exit “raises doubts about his own ‘ethics’.” Garg, currently Chief Policy Advisor at Subhanjali and former Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India, writes that the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI ) appears to find no substance in Chakraborty’s claims, noting, “It is clear the RBI sees no merit in Atanu Chakraborty’s wild and vague assertions.”