ICRIER hosted a seminar by Rajeswari S., Associate Professor of Economics at IGIDR, Mumbai, on “Trade Policy Uncertainty and Export Dynamics in India.” Drawing on two new India-specific uncertainty indices, the research finds that trade policy uncertainty dampens India’s export intensity. It affects products where India lacks comparative advantage and has a stronger impact on smaller firms. #TradePolicy #IndianExports #TradeUncertainty #ICRIER #IGIDR

India produced 11% of the world’s tomatoes in 2022–24, but accounted for just 0.2% of processed tomato exports by volume. Across many crops, agricultural abundance has not translated into processing strength. What needs to change? 1/8

ICRIER, in collaboration with the Fairfax Centre for Free Enterprise (FCFE), is organising a stakeholder consultation on “𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲: 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮’𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘀” on 30 September 2026 in New Delhi. The consultation will review the implementation of recent trade facilitation reforms and deliberate on the next phase of India’s customs and trade facilitation agenda, with a focus on the proposed Customs Integrated System (CIS), interoperability and digital architecture. The discussion will also examine institutional, legal, technological and operational bottlenecks, challenges faced by exporters—particularly MSMEs—and remaining export and logistics bottlenecks affecting India’s trade competitiveness. The deliberations will contribute to an evidence-based policy brief and implementation roadmap for the next phase of reforms. 📅 30 September 2026 #TradeFacilitation #DigitalTrade #CustomsReforms #TradePolicy #MSMEs #ICRIER

Prof. @malikpayal and @AA_speaks, joins @WIONews's Big Tech, Real Cost panel on India's push for digital sovereignty — where India has built real technological capability, where it still depends on global players, and whether autonomy can coexist with openness to global markets. Watch here: piped.video/watch?v=2k1Q8mmQ… #DigitalSovereignty #DeepTech #TechPolicy #AI #ICRIER

Big Tech, Real Cost is a WION special series hosted by Meraj Shah. In this panel discussion, we examine India's push for digital sovereignty and what it means in an increasingly interconnected technology ecosystem. From data and cloud infrastructure to chips, compute, satellite networks and AI, the panel explores where India has built technological capabilities and where it remains dependent on global technology companies. The discussion explores the role of regulation, private capital and government investment in building India's deep-tech ecosystem, while asking whether greater technological capability can coexist with openness to global technology and markets. From India's AI ambitions and frugal models to the lessons of the semiconductor mission, what should India do to strengthen its strategic autonomy without cutting itself off from the world? The panel discussion features @malikpayal (Ex-CCI) and @AA_speaks (NASSCOM). #BigTechRealCost #WION #BigTech #AI #Algorithms #IndiaTech #TechPolicy #ArtificialIntelligence #techitout

Picture a farmer. You probably imagined a man. But increasingly likely, she's a woman. Women now make up nearly half of India's agricultural workforce, yet most remain invisible. Many work unpaid, go unrecognised, and are locked out of schemes because land records carry men's names. Data shows only 23% of PM-KISAN beneficiaries are women, and in some states the share is far lower. In the UN's International Year of the Woman Farmer, Maharashtra has changed the script. Its new Women Farmers' Empowerment Bill recognises women as farmers in their own right, irrespective of who owns the land. In their latest piece in @the_hindu, Sanchit Gupta and @_tanugoyal unpack what this means. Read the story here: thehindu.com/business/Econom…

In their recent op-ed, @pujamehra and Dr Arpita Mukherjee (@profarpita1) argue that a tailored skills strategy can make rural India more resilient by preparing workers for both export of labour and labour-intensive produce. This could lead to a structural expansion in India’s export capacity and creation of productive jobs. The authors highlight the need for market-linked training, better certification and skills aligned with evolving global demand. Read the full piece: livemint.com/opinion/online-… #RuralIndia #Skilling #Employment #SkillsDevelopment #Exports #RuralDevelopment #ICRIER

How Sovereign Is India's Digital Future? This week on 'Big Tech, Real Cost' with Meraj Shah | A panel discussion on India's push for digital sovereignty and what it means in an increasingly interconnected technology ecosystem. From data, cloud infrastructure and AI models to chips, compute and global technology platforms, the discussion examines where India has built capabilities and where it remains dependent on foreign technology. We also look at the cost of building domestic alternatives, the role of government and private investment, whether regulation can strengthen India's strategic autonomy without stifling innovation, and why India may need to embrace both openness and greater technological capability. If digital sovereignty is a spectrum, how far should India go? The panel discussion features @malikpayal (Ex-CCI) and @AA_speaks (NASSCOM). Catch all the action on September 22 at 3:30 PM IST & September 26 at 1:30 PM IST. #BigTechRealCost #WION #BigTech #AI #Algorithms #IndiaTech #TechPolicy #ArtificialIntelligence #techitout

How Much Digital Sovereignty Does India Really Need? Hear @malikpayal's Take. Catch all the action on 'Big Tech, Real Cost' on September 22 at 3:30 PM IST & September 26 at 1:30 PM IST.

𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 | 𝐑𝐞𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚-𝐍𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝-𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 Dr. Rajan Sudesh Ratna (@RajanRatna), Coordinator, @DakshinNews, RIS chaired the session '𝑅𝑒𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑎-𝑁𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑙 𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠: 𝐵𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑-𝐿𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝' during @RIS_NewDelhi-@DelhiSchoolOfEC International Seminar. He emphasised the need to focus on how existing goodwill and commitments can be translated into outcomes that directly benefit people, businesses and communities of both countries. 🔹 Prof. Nisha Taneja (@NishaTaneja20), Professor, @ICRIER, highlighted the need to deepen economic engagement by moving beyond tariff arbitrage towards greater value addition and stronger production linkages. She identified opportunities in textiles, pharmaceuticals and information technology, alongside greater digital cooperation and skills development. 🔹 Dr. Constantino Xavier (@ConstantinoX), Senior Fellow, @CSEP_Org, emphasised that connectivity must be at the heart of India-Nepal economic cooperation. He highlighted the need for better roads, railways, integrated check posts, multimodal connectivity, aviation, waterways, pipelines and energy infrastructure. 🔹 Dr. Pankaj Vashisht (@PV_Chat), Associate Professor, RIS, emphasised the potential of shared production networks, supported by easier access to raw materials and intermediate goods. He identified hydropower, food processing and traditional medicine as areas for greater investment cooperation. The session underlined the importance of strengthening economic linkages, connectivity, production partnerships and skills to build a more forward-looking India-Nepal partnership. @MEAIndia | @SwarnimWagle | @IndiaInNepal | @EONIndia | @AmbMunu | @aparnaray_ifs | @SKSharma_World | @RamSinghEcon | @seshadrichari | @psbirthal | @Prabir_India | @Abhijit_trade | @gsachdevajnu | @ProfShahidAhma1 | @surjitbhalla | @tkarun | @horror06 | @TheAtulKaushik | @sujeetsamaddar | @sabya_saha | @pdash76 | @AmitK_PhD | @susheco | @GaurPankhuri | @monika_koc56097 | @SarinNS1 | @amitdasvaranasi | @AIC_aseanindia | @cmec_ris | @fitm14 | @fisd19 | @FIDC_NewDelhi #IndiaNepal #SouthAsia #GlobalSouth #EconomicDiplomacy #DevelopmentCooperation #Connectivity #DAKSHIN #RIS

Dr Ashok Gulati, Distinguished Professor, ICRIER, recently joined the @bsindia Dialogue webinar "The Sugar Storm" discussing what lies behind the sharp rise in sugar prices. On the 2025-26 sugar season, Dr Gulati noted that it opened with stocks of 5 million tonnes against 8 million a year earlier. Production has fallen well short of the initial 34 million tonne estimate, and about 3 million tonnes of sugar has gone to ethanol, against domestic demand of 28-29 million tonnes. With stocks scraping the bottom, he argued, the 1 million tonne duty-free raw sugar window is too small, and India needs 3-4 million tonnes in the system, refined sugar included, at 5-10% duty. He also commented on the issue of price setting. Sugarcane, rice and wheat remain among the few crops where prices are administered, and cane is the starkest case: the Centre announces a Fair and Remunerative Price, states add their own advised prices on top, and in an election year those are pushed unduly high. Mills are then unable to pay, farmers are left with arrears, and growers eventually move away from cane — resulting in a cycle of surplus, arrears and shortage. "The solution is switching away from price policy to income policy." Full webinar: piped.video/watch?v=yBxxvVrY… #SugarPolicy #AgriPolicy #Ethanol #FoodInflation #ICRIER

A recent article in @livemint on how India's sugar crisis could ripple into maize, eggs and beyond draws on ICRIER's recent policy brief Food vs Fuel: Recalibrating India's Ethanol Blending Strategy. The authors find that ethanol demand for blending in petrol grew at 38% CAGR, a year since 2019-20, far outpacing feedstock crops and driving a food-versus-fuel trade-off, now visible in sugar's 44% price spike and liable to spread to maize, eggs and rice next. Read more: livemint.com/economy/sugar-t… #Ethanol #E20 #FoodVsFuel #FoodSecurity #ICRIER

BRICS has put women’s leadership on the agenda. The next step is to deepen that ambition in practice. The 2026 New Delhi BRICS Declaration makes some important commitments on women. It recognises women as leaders, decision-makers and drivers of economic growth and social transformation, and links women’s participation to governance, financial and digital inclusion, entrepreneurship, skills, climate action, food security and peacebuilding. It also recognises the importance of care policies in enabling women’s full participation in economic life. There is a strong foundation here. The opportunity now is to translate these commitments into greater representation and leadership across BRICS institutions and economies. The World Bank data offers benchmarks for the BRICS to achieve and exceed: → 17% of ministerial positions in BRICS are held by women, compared with 38% in the G7 → 26% of parliamentary seats in BRICS are held by women, compared with 31% in the G7 → 15% of firms in BRICS have a female top manager, compared with 17% in the G7 These numbers point to an opportunity for the Global South to build a development model that learns from what has worked elsewhere, while consciously avoiding the inequalities that have persisted elsewhere. Moreover, create its own good practice, for the Global North to follow. And BRICS is already creating some of the building blocks with the Women’s Ministerial Meeting, Women’s Business Alliance, Women’s Digital Capacity Building Guidelines, and platforms for women parliamentarians and entrepreneurs. The ambition now should be to move beyond women’s representation in the BRICS agenda towards their meaningful participation in shaping its priorities and outcomes and make women-led development a visible part of the new Global South story.

In her recent op-ed, published in Financial Express (India), Dr Arpita Mukherjee (@profarpita1) examines how the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) framework can shape the next phase of UPI’s growth. She highlights the need for a cost-based and transparent MDR-sharing mechanism that supports merchant acquisition, fintech investment, fraud prevention and the expansion of India’s digital payments infrastructure. Read the full piece here: LIVE - financialexpress.com/opinion…

A recent article on @CNBCTV18Live draws on the ICRIER working paper, “𝗘𝗨 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮’𝘀 𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀” to explain why India's rice exports keep hitting regulatory cracks in the EU market with 92% of its basmati-heavy EU trade at stake. Of the rice India shipped to the EU, 52 consignments were flagged in 2025, and about one rejection for every 9,100 tonnes. The ICRIER study traces the problem to an accountability gap, with oversight split between APEDA and the Export Inspection Council and no clear division of responsibility. Most rejections stem from pesticide residues banned in the EU but still used in India. Its recommendation: consolidate export oversight under a single nodal agency with end-to-end traceability. Access the working paper:icrier.org/pdf/Working_Paper… Read more: cnbctv18.com/business/indias… #Trade #Agriculture #RiceExports #FoodSafety #ICRIER