Category: Article

We are excited to launch our flagship program — ‘Statecraft’ The program is designed to cultivate a vibrant community of young thinkers in Punjab, tackling the state’s critical gap in research and reflective dialogue. We believe that reading and research are the cornerstones of innovation, essential for uncovering solutions and bringing attention to urgent challenges. […]

Kinnow, also known as the ‘King fruit of Punjab’, comes in the ‘Mandarin’ group of citrus fruits and is grown on a wide scale in India and Pakistan. It is a hybrid between two citrus cultivars namely ‘King’ (Citrus nobilis) and ‘Willow Leaf’ mandarin (Citrus deliciosa).  Dr. H.B. Frost created the fruit variety in 1915 […]

Kriti Sharma The power industry in Punjab is at a crossroads where political, regulatory, and economic factors intersect. State power policies, such as free electricity programs and subsidies, have long been entwined with political dynamics, and have determined policy choices and election results. While the goal of these policies is to assist low-income households and […]

Originally published in Hindustan Times As a key component of the Green Revolution policy framework, groundwater irrigation played a crucial role in averting the food crises of the late 1960s and prevented the country sliding into a Malthusian trap. Groundwater in Punjab, once a common resource, now exemplifies the “tragedy of the commons”. As per […]

We are pleased to release our new discussion paper, ‘Empowering Small Farmers Through Water Conservation: A policy roadmap for Punjab and Haryana’. It explores policy solutions to tackle the growing water scarcity issues faced by farmers in Punjab and Haryana, offering both short-term and long-term strategies to ensure equitable access to water and promote sustainable […]

We are pleased to release the discussion paper from our latest colloquium on Land Acquisition in Punjab: Development and Livelihoods held at Panjab University on 17 January 2025. The paper summarises the points highlighted by our esteemed speakers during their addresses. Read the complete paper.

For a long time now, unemployment and underemployment have remained two of the key issues in Punjab’s development question. The India Employment Report 2024 by the International Labour Organisation and the Institute for Human Development created an employment condition index which showed that for Punjab, the index was 0.45 in 2005 which in 2022 stood […]

Originally published in Hindustan Times Land acquisition, a cornerstone of economic development, remains a contentious and inadequately addressed issue in Punjab. Despite its critical role in enabling infrastructure, housing, and industrial projects, the governance aspects and economic implications of land acquisition have often been overlooked. This neglect has resulted in significant policy gaps, exacerbating challenges […]

Originally published in The Tribune Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) have the potential to revolutionise infrastructure development, and services delivery by blending private sector capital and expertise with public sector oversight. For Punjab, which has over 147 PPP projects worth ₹59,358 crore in critical sectors like roads, bridges, healthcare, and education, this model could be the key […]

Inspired by the insights of economists like Böhm-Bawerk and von Mises on capital’s role at the intersection of economics and finance, a compelling framework for understanding fiscal challenges takes shape. This approach encourages synergies in economic decision-making and accounting practices, while also treating money as a social institution. When applied to Punjab’s fiscal crisis (a […]