Publications : Working Papers
Topic
A Medium-Term Strategy for Transitioning to Net Zero by 2070
This paper assesses the feasibility of India achieving its stated goal of net zero by 2070 and presents a medium-term strategy for what would be required over the next decade to achieve this objective.Beyond the Coastline: India’s Land Connectivity Options around the Bay...
This paper argues that India must prioritise the development of multimodal transportation infrastructure beyond coastal areas to bridge the current gap between maritime and land-based initiatives around the Bay of Bengal and spur the creation of sub regional, regional, and inter-regional economic corridors.Rethinking Franchisee Efficacy in India’s Power Sector: A Critique...
Considering experiences across various states, the paper advises caution in prescribing the IBDF model as a “standard” policy solution for loss reduction.Crossroads of Power: Strategic Aspects of India’s Economic Relations...
This study reviews the strategic aspects and related ramifications of existing and potential surface trading routes between India and the three South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries: Nepal, Bangladesh, and Bhutan, and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) member country Myanmar.Riding the Tracks of Time: Indian Railways – An Unfinished Revolution
In this paper, Jaimini Bhagwati and Shalini Chauhan trace the legacy of India's railway system, its expansive growth, and ongoing challenges.Structural Reforms to Improve Regulation of Indian Electricity...
Daljit Singh's working paper examines the regulatory framework of the Indian power sector, often criticised for contributing to the financial strain of electricity distribution companies.Interlinkages Between Economic Growth and Human Development in India: A...
India must significantly increase its public spending on health and education, and ensure its effective targeting. This would reduce people’s out-of-pocket expenses, allowing them to allocate funds to their other crucial needs and strengthen the interlinkages between human development and economic growth.Compensating for the Fiscal Loss in India’s Energy Transition
The study argues for the need to consider multiple factors, including efficiency, equity, sustainability, institutional considerations, and the possibility of reducing expenditures on non-essential goods.Assessing the Impact of CBAM on EITE Industries in India
This research specifically focuses on the uncertainties surrounding the potential impact of CBAM on trade-exposed sectors with high energy intensity, particularly in developing countries like India.A Report on Voluntary Health Insurance in India: A Bridge Towards...
Madhurima Nundy and Pankhuri Bhatt's paper presents a detailed review and analysis of India’s health insurance landscape, with a focus on voluntary health insurance (VHI).House Prices in India: How High, and for How Long?
Shishir Gupta, Nandini Agnihotri and Annie George shed light on the state and dynamics of house prices in India by leveraging a unique dataset that gives house prices over the past 30 years.On India’s Electricity Consumption
Laveesh Bhandari and Aasheerwad Dwivedi study growth in electricity consumption, the key factors affecting it, and its link with economic activity.CSEP Sustainable Mining Attractiveness Index (SMAI)
The paper highlights the economic importance of mining activities and the need to be environmentally responsible and safeguard the welfare and livelihoods of the local communities.Understanding Time-of-Day and Seasonal Variations in Supply and Demand for...
Rahul Tongia, Aarushi Dave and Utkarsh Dalal study the impacts of times-of-day and seasons on the different types of fuels for generation electricity, their output ramp (swing up or down) rates, daily swings between maximum and minimum output, and relative contributions of each fuel type.Viability of Jharkhand’s Electricity Distribution: Distorted by...
Nikhil Tyagi and Rahul Tongia's paper attempts to examine the structure and legacy of electricity distribution in the state with a lens to examine how that impacts the future viability of the distribution companies (DisComs)Harnessing Private Capital for Global Public Goods: Issues, Challenges and...
Gulzar Natarajan and V Anantha Nageswaran make the case that poverty alleviation, growth, and climate-related transition, which require both public and private funds, need to be pursued in parallel.Non-Price Policies for Addressing Climate Change: The Global Experience
Renu Kohli, Honey Karun and Saumya analyse the non-price policy measures that aim to lower carbon emissions across the G20 countries.Medical Education in India: A Study of Supply-Side Dynamics
The paper argues for a rethink of the existing regulatory and policy requirements pertaining to setting up and, more importantly, scaling up medical colleges, in order to ensure a greater number of seats per college, and for a more equitable distribution of seats.Properly Defining “Green Electricity” is Key to India’s Broader...
Rahul Tongia highlights the complexities of green supply and green consumption. More RE is inevitable and welcome. Better accounting and signalling (such as time-of-day and congestion pricing) can help grow RE at lower overall system costs.Commodity Prices and the Twin Balance Sheet Crisis
Abhishek Kumar and Divya Srinivasan use data from India (the second-largest steel producer in the world) to estimate the effect of large movements in metal prices during 2011-16.An Analysis of Off-Budget Borrowings by Indian Governments and their Legal...
Shruti Gupta and Kevin James examine the regulatory framework and institutional gaps surrounding off-budget borrowings in India.Economic Growth and Human Development in India: Are States Converging?
This Working Paper examines the key aspects of the relationship between economic growth (EG) and human development (HD) at the all-India and the state-levels.Do Mandatory Disclosures Squeeze the Lemons? The Case of Housing Markets...
The paper demonstrates that a mandatory disclosure law on housing projects can have important, pro-efficiency effects in a developing country, and suggests that such laws may be efficient in a regime of low-state capacity.Assessing the Criticality of Minerals for India 2023
An extension of an earlier study with a focus on 43 select critical minerals that emphasizes the need for a national strategy to ensure resilient critical minerals supply chains.India’s New Growth Recipe: Globally Competitive Large Firms
Shishir Gupta and Rishita Sachdeva analyse growth performance over a period of 26 years to understand the drivers behind India's economic growth.Post-Lease Clearances: Streamlining the Time-Cost
Karthik Bansal and Ishita Kapoor's paper discusses three case studies on Jharkhand, Odisha and Karnataka to highlight procedural problems with obtaining licenses and permits for mining.Climate Change, Weather Anomalies, and Agriculture: Impact on Output of...
The paper finds that the availability of greater data makes it possible to assess a large set of crops over a long period of time, and therefore, greater data points can yield highly robust results.Health System in the Kingdom of Thailand: Reforms, Achievements and...
Health systems in Thailand have been frequently researched since its reforms in early 2000s, especially in the context of health coverage (UHC).Health System in Brazil: Reforms, Transformation and Challenges
Sandhya Venkateswaran and Alok Kumar Singh traces the trajectory of health system reform in Brazil, from 1990 to 2019, and analyses the contextual factors that drove the reform process.Health System in the Republic of Indonesia: Reforms, Transformations, and...
Madhurima Nundy and Pankhuri Bhatt analyse systemic transformations and studies the achievements and challenges in reforming health services in Indonesia over the years to the present.Critical Challenges in Realising the Energy Transition: An Overview of...
Laveesh Bhandari and Aasheerwad Dwivedi's paper studies three of the many challenges that state governments will face as India transitions away from a fossil fuel–driven economy.The Political Journey of Healthcare in Select Indian States
This paper examines the political trajectory of health in five Indian states, in terms of the sociopolitical determinants of attention to health, to understand differences in health status and investments, as well as to gain insights into how health came to be prioritised in some of them, which might be instructive across ...Financing Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in Developing Countries
Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Utkarsh Patel's paper attempts to quantify the scale and possible composition of international financial assistance that might be required to help developing countries fulfil the commitments undertaken in COP26.Health Systems Reforms and Transformations: Insights from Country Studies
The Health System Reforms and Transformation: Insights from Country Studies is a series of six case studies from China, Turkey, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, and Thailand that trace the trajectory of health reforms and draw lessons in understanding key instruments that led to these shifts.Modelling the Impact of the Clean Environment Cess: A Hybrid Energy...
Rajat Verma and Ganesh Sivamani's paper seeks to measure the impact of this cess on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the gross domestic product (GDP) at both the sectoral and national levels.Commodity Price Shocks and Non-Performing Assets in the Indian Banking...
Abhishek Kumar, Rakesh Mohan and Divya Srinivasan show that nonperforming assets in the banking sector and profit ratios in commodity-sensitive non-financial sectors are highly correlated with global commodity prices.Health System in Mexico: Reforms, Transformation and Challenges
Alok Kumar Singh and Sandhya Venkateswaran trace the trajectory of health system reforms, including and prior to Seguro Popular (SP), from 2003 until 2019, and analyses the contextual factors that were instrumental in the reform process.Health System in Turkey: Reforms, Transformation and Challenges
Sandhya Venkateswaran and Alok Kumar Singh trace the trajectory of health system reform in Turkey, from 2003 to 2019, and analyses the contextual factors that drove the reform process.Health System in People’s Republic of China (PRC): Reforms,...
Madhurima Nundy and Sandhya Venkateswaran's paper outlines the salient features of health reforms in China and their impact in terms of access, utilisation and equity through a systems framework.India’s Energy and Fiscal Transition
Laveesh Bhandari and Aasheerwad Dwivedi's paper looks at India’s expected energy transition towards a low-carbon future, and studies how government revenues from fossil fuels will be affected over the next two decades.Managing Climate Change: A Strategy for India
Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Utkarsh Patel's study shows that there is considerable scope for reducing the volume of emissions through a combination of actions aimed at increasing energy efficiency and shifting progressively to renewable energy to meet the electricity demand.Reforming the Public Financial Management System in India
Streamlining a scattered PFM framework in the country by drawing from other countries and proposing reforms in the existing system.Critical Minerals for India: Assessing their Criticality and Projecting...
The paper projects India’s mineral needs for green technologies, including renewable electricity generation and electric vehicle manufacturing, in line with the country’s various climate change mitigation objectives over the next two decades.A Study of the Fiscal Marksmanship of Capital Expenditure Among Indian...
This paper aims to comprehensively analyse and understand sub-national fiscal marksmanship, with a particular focus on capital expenditure in the social sector.Political Motivation as a Key Driver for Universal Health Coverage
Political motivation does not always arise by itself, but it is often driven by external factors and stakeholders who contribute to creating or strengthening incentives for political attention, writes Sandhya Venkateswaran, Shruti Slaria and Sampriti Mukherjee.A Granular Comparison of International Electricity Prices and Implications...
This paper highlights some of the specificities of other countries and their electricity prices in order to better direct regulatory attention to measures that could be relevant for India, and to gauge where India’s position is when it comes to global electricity prices.A Hybrid Energy Input-Output Table for India
Rajesh Chadha and Ganesh Sivamani's paper details the construction of India’s hybrid Energy Input-Output Table 2015-16, which has information on the monetary, energy, and emission flows of the economy.Property Laws and Property Practices in India
While the first amendments to the Indian Constitution were made to enable the State to redistribute land more equitably, this was followed by land acquisition for developmental projects that displaced Adivasis, Dalits and other vulnerable groups. Read the paper by Kaveri Thara and Ajey Sangai for deeper insights into land and property ...SVAMITVA: A socio-legal analysis
The paper highlights the gaps in the Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas (SVAMITVA) scheme and suggests ways to address them along with proposing an evaluation system to be set in place.Health Status in India: Challenges and Opportunities
India has experienced considerable progress in health, in outcomes as also infrastructure. However, the task of addressing the health of India’s citizens remains an unfinished task.What Drives Media Reporting?
Is media reporting linked to readers' interest? We revisit a paper by Shishir Gupta, Nandini Agnihotri and Sikim Chakraborty on what drives media reporting in India.The Roller Coaster Ride of Non-performing Assets in Indian Banking
While the pandemic and some of the associated policy measures could reverse the recent downward trends in NPAs temporarily, more durable policy initiatives like bankruptcy reforms are expected to make significant positive changes in the NPA situation of Indian banks.Climate Change Policy for Developing Countries
The paper attempts to take stock of what has been achieved in the COP-26 meetings held in Glasgow in November 2021 and suggest the course of action that developed countries should follow in subsequent negotiations.Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and Long-Term Bulk Lending in India
Jaimini Bhagwati examines the effectiveness of the 2016 Insolvency and Bankruptcy Act (IBC) as the most recent legislation to enable quicker resolution of disputes between borrowers and lenders thus encouraging higher volumes of long-term lending.Internal Drivers of China’s External Behaviour
Shivshankar Menon suggests crucial domestic factors which have driven China’s path and examines some implications of the role in shaping China’s policy choices.The Political Pathway to Health System Improvements in India
With a predominantly family health and infectious disease focus, India’s health system is not well geared to deal with the increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases.Long-Term Goal-Setting and Planning for Decarbonising the Indian Power...
It is important that the approach used in India for setting and implementation of targets pays attention to, not only environmental impacts, but also the affordability of electricity, and reliability of the power system.India’s Next Decade: Some Predictions, Some Speculations
India of 2030 will look very different from an institutional setting and that will perhaps be the core driver of all the surface changes that we will encounter.Can Property Rights Improve Access to Toilets for the Urban Poor? Evidence...
Shaonlee Patranabis and Sahil Gandhi analyse slum laws from three states, studying two approaches to improvement of slums—redevelopment, and provision of property rights.Getting to Net Zero: An Approach for India at CoP-26
The best short-term target India could offer would be a planned phasing out of coal based power generation.Flatten-the-curve: Why total carbon emissions matter much more than...
Becoming zero is important, but “date of net-zero” is incomplete, lacking any measure of what the date should be. “Sooner is better” remains a motherhood statement.Non-fuel Mineral Auctions: How Fair is the Game, and For Whom?
The 2015 MMDR amendment introduced the auctions regime, ending first come, first serve allocations, but the system needs a reviewFault Lines: Reflections on South Asian Frontiers
Is the experience of borders and boundaries in South Asia different from other regions of the world?Linking Land Borders: India’s Integrated Check Posts
How India’s Integrated Check Posts at its borders with Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Pakistan facilitate regional connectivityThe Response of the Reserve Bank of India to Covid-19: Do Whatever it...
Rakesh Mohan discusses the role of Reserve Bank of India in fighting the economic impact of Covid-19 and the ensuing lockdown.CSEP sustainable mining attractiveness index: District-level study of...
This paper introduces the concept of a Sustainable Mining Attractiveness Index to evaluate the mining sustainability in the districts of the Indian state of Jharkhand.Revisiting the role of funding: Lessons from expenditure and performance...
As large parts of Bengaluru remain under water, we revisit a paper by Shishir Gupta and Rishita Sachdeva on the role of funding in delivering better urban services. Using SWM as an example, the authors argue that service delivery levels can increase significantly without spending (much) more.Challenges for natural gas to become India’s bridge fuel: Economics,...
This paper examines the possibilities for natural gas in India’s energy mix, both through the lens of competitive economic viability as well as the impact its use might have, notably, on carbon emissions.A third-generation strategy for accelerated growth and development in...
The third generation of economic reforms must direct attention to improving the government’s own competence, at all levels.India’s Housing Vacancy Paradox: How rent control and weak contract...
How rent control and weak contract enforcement produce unoccupied units and a housing shortage at the same time.IMF Quota reforms and global economic governance: What does the future...
The world is on the cusp of an epochal change in global economic power, not seen since the start of the Industrial Revolution.Input-output transactions table: Odisha 2015-16
The Odisha Input-Output Transactions Table for 2015-16 depicts intersectoral intermediate transactions across 76 sectors of the state’s economy, the final demand for consumption and investment, and trade flows.Mining and Jurisprudence: Observations for India’s mining sector to...
Over the past decade, India's mining sector, including the non-fuel mineral sector, has been marred by countless controversies.Regulatory reform for non-fuel minerals: Improving the post-leasing...
In March 2020, the Government of India passed the Mineral Laws Amendment Bill 2020, which amends the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act), alongside the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 (CMSP Act). For the non-coal mining sector, a key reason for this move is to ensure ‘ease ...Mobility and tenure choice in urban India
This paper considers the impact that the shrinking rental sector has had on the opportunities for Indians to migrate.Early life exposure to outdoor air pollution: Effect on child health in...
Pollution in any form, whether it be air or water, poses an environmental risk to the health of the exposed population. Literature from both developing and developed nations indicates the adverse health effects that air (Soo and Pattnayak, 2019 & Chay and Greenstone, 2003) and water pollution (Brainerd and Menon, 2014) have ...Too slow for the urban march: Litigations and real estate market in...
India is urbanising and putting increasing pressure on urban land and there is growing impetus to convert land from agriculture to non-agriculture use. According to the United Nations (2015), India will see the largest increase of all countries in urban population by 2050. Efficient functioning of urban land markets will be critical ...Transitioning Towards a Sustainable Energy Future: Challenges and...
India sits at the nub of the crisis of the current high carbon model of development. It is not responsible for this crisis and it can legitimately argue that it must not bear the costs of adapting and mitigating its consequences. However, it cannot escape the reality that it is amongst the ...Missing Female Patients: An Analysis of Gender Ratios from a Tertiary Care...
Abstract The issue of missing women, which is excess mortality of females as seen in low population ratio of women to men, in developing countries was first highlighted in a landmark mark paper by Sen in 1990 and again in 2003. Anderson and Ray estimate suggests that among the stock of women alive ...TPP and India: Lessons for Future Gains
Until 2015, the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) was seen as a game-changer in the evolving international trade regulatory regime. It was evident, as expressed by India’s Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020, that it would not be possible for the country to accept the emerging agreement. The future of TPP is now uncertain, with ...The impact of Electronic Voting Machines on electoral frauds, democracy,...
Free and fair elections are cornerstones of democracy. In India, electronic voting machines (EVMs) were introduced with the objective of reducing electoral fraud. We exploit the phased roll-out of the EVMs in state assembly elections to study its impact on electoral fraud, democracy, and development. Our main findings are: Introductions of EVMs ...Working Paper: Trade Policy Reform in India Since 1991
SUMMARY: This paper discusses India’s trade policy reform since 1991, providing quantitative information and qualitative insights regarding the evolution of trade policy in the past 25 years. The Finance Minister in his 1991 Union Budget speech explicitly stated that trade policy reform was an important part of the economic reform initiated by ...Indian Financial Sector: Structure, Trends and Turns
This paper traces the story of Indian financial sector over the period 1950-2015. In identifying the trends and turns of Indian financial sector, the paper adopts a three period classification viz., the 1950s and 1960s, which exhibited some elements of instability associated with laissez faire but underdeveloped banking; the 1970s and 1980s ...Emerging Powers and Global Governance: Whither the IMF?
Although the role of the emerging economic powers is increasing, their soft power is not rising at the same pace, explores Brookings India Distinguished Fellow Dr Rakesh Mohan in this policy brief. KEY POLICY HIGHLIGHTS: The centre of gravity of the global economy is shifting back towards Asia from the North Atlantic. This ...Report | Priorities for India’s National health policy
One of India’s fundamental failings as a modern nation has been our inability to get successive governments to prioritize and deal with public goods. Public goods (as against private goods) have non-rival and non-excludable consumption which makes pricing difficult. This in turn makes their provision through the market mechanism tricky and hence ...Do rural residential electricity consumers cross-subside their urban...
Santosh Harish and Rahul Tongia examine inequities in supply of household electricity in India, using minute-level data for every feeder across a major utility. Their model and results indicate disparities in load-shedding equate to a welfare transfer, from the rural areas to metropolitan areas or big cities, in the order of thousands ...Working Paper: Women in Party Politics
Introduction: The Women’s Reservation Bill – which proposes to reserve 33 per cent of seats in Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies for women – has been doing the rounds of the Indian Parliament in various forms since it was first introduced by the Deve Gowda government in 1996, failing each time, to ...