What This Means

EP148: Crisis, Correction, Or Catalyst? The State Of India's Economy

Professor Prasanna Tantri, Associate Professor of Finance at ISB speaks with Swarajya on the following: —How serious is India's economic situation — and how to read Modi's appeal on fuel, gold, and work from home —Is this worse than COVID, or different in kind? —Why the rupee at 96 isn't the crisis it looks like —The real long-term threat: state government borrowing and money printing —Three things the Centre must do now — on taxes, fuel, and capex —Why this crisis could push India towards 8 per cent growth

EP147: Iran, Oil, LNG and America's Real Endgame

Venu Gopal Narayanan, independent upstream petroleum consultant, discusses energy wars, the Iran ceasefire, and shifting geopolitics in the latest episode of WTM: * Key takeaways * Why Washington's real motive is LNG market share, not Iranian nukes * America as Europe's primary energy supplier, replacing Russia * Iran pummelled but not defeated — and what that means militarily * Gulf states' vulnerability: bombed for hosting US bases * Saudi Arabia's Red Sea pipeline hedge against Persian Gulf disruption * Food security as the overlooked Gulf crisis * Europe's unsustainable energy costs and creeping deindustrialisation * What Beijing learns from the conflict for its Taiwan planning * Why a Russia-India-China summit may be on the cards this year * Pakistan's enduring utility value for US

EP146: India's New GDP Series: What The Numbers Really Tell Us

Kanika Pasricha, Chief Economic Advisor at Union Bank of India discusses the new GDP series in the latest episode of WTM with Diksha Yadav: * Key takeaways * Broad-basing of growth toward manufacturing * Nominal GDP shrinking, real GDP rising * How double deflation fixes the deflator problem * IMF's C grade and alignment with global standards * Was India's GDP growth overstated? * Better capture of informal sector and GST-era economy * Private capex higher than previously measured * Monetary policy outlook under new framework * Manufacturing vs public admin divergence puzzle

EP145: Decoding Economic Survey 2026 With Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran

The Chief Economic Adviser speaks to Swarajya on the thinking behind the Survey's 17 chapters, the risks that keep policymakers alert, why delayed gratification is an economic imperative, and the hard institutional choices India faces in a fractured world.

EP144: Union Budget 2026: The Good, The Bad & The Middle Class with Prof Prasanna Tantri

Prof. Prasanna Tantri speaks with Diksha Yadav on the Union Budget 2026 on the following: —Government Expenditure Falling to One of the Lowest Ratios in the World —Defence Budget Finally Crosses 2% of GDP —Why Major Schemes Missed Spending Targets —The Capex Ideology: Not All Capital Expenditure Is Good —Centre Cuts Deficit, States Adds—Net Debt Still Rising —The Dangers of the Freebie Cycle —RBI Printing Money to Keep Rates Down Is Bad Advice —F&O Regulation: The Problem Was Real, But STT Hike Is the Wrong Solution —Sovereign Gold Bond Tax Change Is a Plain Breach of Contract —FTAs & trade deal: The Real Benefit Is Competition From Imports, Not Exports —The Real Benefit to the Middle Class Is…