Over the past decade, India has executed one of the world's most ambitious financial inclusion programmes. With over 55 crore bank accounts opened, rapid expansion of digital payments, and deeper access to formal credit and insurance, the financial system has extended its reach across geographies and income segments. This transformation has been widely recognised as a foundational achievement for inclusive growth.

Tamil Nadu and Kerala are among India’s most socially advanced states, with new governments ready to take charge. These states are faced with a more sophisticated problem than many parts of the world, still grappling with basic developmental deficits. How do they maintain prosperity, create more economic resilience and generate the next generation of opportunity?

The political dust may have settled as West Bengal gears up for a new government, but the more profound questions are still to be settled. Elections offer the promise of renewal; governance must deliver it. For a state with such an intellectual legacy and political significance, the challenge is not winning elections, but turning stability into enduring gains in the well-being of its people.

India’s development narrative increasingly places women at the centre of an economic transformation. As Parliament prepares to operationalize the Women’s Reservation Act ahead of the 2029 elections, the focus on women’s participation in public life is intensifying. Over the past decade, policy efforts have expanded women’s access to bank accounts, jobs and...

In our earlier analyses of state finances (refer our earlier two pieces in ET; December 3, 2025 and January 15, 2026; as you find appropriate), drawing on the Comptroller and Auditor General of India reports over the past decade, we highlighted a troubling shift. India’s most populous states, accounting for nearly three fourths of the population, were gradually...