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.

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…

Political commentator from UP, Amit Yadav, explains:

• Why Pankaj Chaudhary? The Strategy Behind BJP's New UP Chief

• The Kurmi Factor: Can BJP Win Back Lost Ground?

• Voter List Fiasco: 4 Crore Names Deleted, 80% BJP Supporters, Cadre Remains Inactive on the Ground

• Inactive Cadre Crisis: How Ground-Level Apathy Cost BJP in 2024

• The Need for Cabinet Reshuffle and Organisational Overhaul

• 2027 Battle Begins: What SP Is Doing Right & What It Is Doing Wrong

Recorded on 1 December 2025 with Prof Prasanna Tantri, Associate Professor of Finance and Executive Director at the Centre for Analytical Finance at the Indian School of Business.

In this episode:

-Q2 GDP key takeaways and beyond the number hype

-RBI Rate Cut Strategy: Should the central bank go for repo rate cuts?

-India's Innovation Crisis: The talent drain problem and why we're stuck at low-end work and more!

Read Dr Shamika Ravi's paper on Female Labour Force Participation Rate: https://eacpm.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/EACPM-WP-Female-LFPR-India.pdf

Read Dr Shamika Ravi's paper on Time Spent on Employment-Related Activities in India: https://eacpm.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Working-Hours_SRavi2025.pdfTopics:

- The Bihar Paradox: Growth Without Revenue

- The Migration Question

- The Youth Unemployment

- Female Labour Force Participation, TFR Decline, And Working Women's Hustle

- Girl Education & Women In Leadership

- The Culture of Growth: Why Innovation Happens Elsewhere

- The Compliance Paradox

- How Many Hours Is Too Many Working Hours

- The Need for More (Good) Government And Competitive Federalism

- Reading Recommendations

"Zohran Mamdani has claimed every identity, whatever little bit he could claim – African, South Asian, Muslim – but he has not claimed what his genetic makeup of 50% actually is, which is Hindu."

Political commentator and columnist Sunanda Vashisht joins us to discuss:

-Why everyone's discussing Zohran Mamdani

-What's behind his hate for the BJP & PM Modi

-The centre void: With far-right and far-left winning elections

-How important a person does Mamdani become if he is elected the mayor of NYC

-Zohran's campaign and his policy proposals and more

The good and the bad of RBI's recent banking and capital reforms with Dr Prasanna Tantri.

Prof Tantri is an Associate Professor of Finance and Executive Director at the Centre for Analytical Finance at the Indian School of Business.

"In 18 years I couldn’t manage to do it, but Dr Bhyrappa did in one — he got four of my books translated into Kannada within a year.”

Dr Vikram Sampath joins us to discuss the life and works of legendary author Dr Santeshivara Lingannaiah Bhyrappa, who departed the mortal realm on 24 September 2025. This episode was recorded on 25 September 2025.