Through the Looking Glass

Financial Express A house is not merely a place to live and build a life, it is also one of the most significant assets of the family. An investment in a house roots a family to a location, giving them a significant stake in the development of the local area. Housing is a fundamental requirement of human existence. The requirement of shelter is so basic that in common parlance in India, it is clubbed together with food and clothing as the troika of basic human needs of roti, kapda, and makaan. It is no wonder that housing is a key social demand, and a priority area for governments, both at the Centre and the states. Housing as a socio-economic construct The development of housing is a function of the economic reality of a location and its era. India has seen, and will continue to see, significant urbanisation. Where people choose to live is a complex optimisation of how close houses are to their places of economic activity (work, business catchment area, etc), how conveniently...

Business Standard The economic multiplier effect of airport construction is estimated to be around six times the capital invested in an airport Jayant Sinha & Akhilesh Tilotia In the previous century, Jawaharlal Nehru proclaimed dams and factories as the ‘temples of modern India’. As the Indian economy becomes more service intensive and rapidly globalises to become a major player in goods and services, trade and foreign investments, connectivity is of paramount importance. In this century airports can be said to be the ‘temples of New India’ welcoming trade, ideas and investments. India is expanding the reach of its Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) scheme which brings airline services closer to many cities. Air travel is becoming cheaper as fuel prices remain low and operating costs are brought down through industry-friendly policies, airlines are significantly expanding capacity bringing many new passengers to the aviation network. A sophisticated analysis done by Google (u...

The Financial Express A revised estimate of the labour market in 2022 finds 500 million Indians could still be dependent on agriculture India’s consumption story is predicated upon the millennial and post-millennial demographic performing productive, paying jobs. A revised forecast of India’s labour market by 2022E is sobering: half-a-billion people are expected to be dependent on agriculture, contributing to only a ninth of the GDP. The pace of transition is not encouraging—we examine the implications of this on urbanisation, inequality and women empowerment, among other factors. A review of 24 industry reports commissioned by the National Skills Development Council (NSDC) and their comparison with similar reports that NSDC had put together around the end of the last decade shows a sharp fall in overall expected job creation. The earlier forecast expected to see 654 million working Indians by 2022E, this number is now lower at 575 million. The earlier estimate pegged Indians em...