Minhaz Merchant

Minhaz Merchant is the biographer of Rajiv Gandhi and Aditya Birla and author of The New Clash of Civilizations (Rupa, 2014). He is founder of Sterling Newspapers Pvt. Ltd. which was acquired by the Indian Express group

Latest Articles By Minhaz Merchant

Economy’s Inflection Point

Minhaz Merchant

Economy India

India has lost a year’s growth due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But with reforms like the Gati Shakti masterplan to coalesce and boost projects under the $1.5 trillion National Infrastructure Pipeline and a turbocharged PLI scheme to make India an export hub, the country could make up for lost time faster than anyone could have rationally expected a year go.

Tata’s Air India Challenge

Minhaz Merchant

Opinion

So, 68 years later, has Air India finally come back home? And what are the challenges that lie ahead?

Cash, Not Credit, Is The Key

Minhaz Merchant

Opinion Columns

The government must generate demand by putting money into people’s hands. There is pent-up demand among middle-class professionals. Used car sales, for example, are likely to spike by 50 per cent as safety-conscious consumers opt for private transport over Uber/Ola cabs

China Vs USA: How They Stack Up

Minhaz Merchant

Opinion Columns

The post-COVID battle between America and China will be fought on technology, trade and diplomacy. The outcome of the contest will determine the balance of geopolitical power well into the next decade.

Life After COVID-19

Minhaz Merchant

Opinion Columns

India must, as the lockdown is gradually lifted, quickly establish export-oriented manufacturing capabilities. A once-in-a-century pandemic can create a rare opportunity. It is India’s to seize.

Overcoming Economic Tsunami

Minhaz Merchant

Opinion Columns

When the crisis is over and India limps back to a semblance of normalcy, the Prime Minister has no option but to treat this adversity as an opportunity.

Off-Budget Reforms Needed

Minhaz Merchant

Opinion Columns

Future Union Budgets should deal with the year’s key accounts. While brevity is the soul of wit, clarity surely is the soul of a good Budget.

Telecom’s Tangled Wires

Minhaz Merchant

Opinion Columns

With higher ARPUs, that may well suit Vodafone-Idea’s long-term plan to focus on high-end, high-ARPU, post-paid subscribers, positioning itself as a premium service and working its way back to profit.

Banish Regulation Raj

Minhaz Merchant

Opinion Columns

Regulations are necessary to ensure a level playing field across sectors and monitor fair business practice. But over-regulation is counter-productive. It damages the very industries regulators are mandated to protect, nurture and grow with commonsensical – not arbitrary – rules.

India’s 2020 Agenda

Minhaz Merchant

Opinion Columns

The Modi government should ensure that its social and political agenda over Jammu & Kashmir, the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act does not divert its attention from competent economic governance. 2020 could be the tipping year for the Indian economy – for better or for worse.