I got a WhatsApp forward that said that the rail density in India was more than that in China. Now, we all know about China’s world class infrastructure and its astonishing high-speed trains. The WhatsApp forward seemed to contradict my understanding of Chinese infrastructure. The seeming contradiction was resolved only…

China is the only country that you can compare with India, given the size, complexity and stage of development of the two countries. Over a series of articles, I will compare the two countries on different dimensions. …

Authors: Yogesh Upadhyaya and Manish Agarwal The one who sorts out India’s coal problems would deserve Bharat Ratna. Yes, we think that the country should confer the highest civilian honor for tackling this challenge! Coal is that important. What do we mean by ‘sorting out’ the country’s coal problems? We…

Authors: Manish Agarwal and Yogesh Upadhyaya “Market forces will resolve all issues in the electricity sector.” We hear this often. We believe that unless you work through the details, this is a lazily held view. Electricity supply is very different from products like ball bearings or ice cream — where…

Authors: Yogesh Upadhyaya and Anurag Gupta (this post is written in first person but is the product of thinking and discussion of both authors) When was the last time you were in a good political discussion? A good political discussion, by my definition, is one where the participants learn something…

Does your job require you to explain complex concepts? You could be a researcher, a manager or a student and chances are that you struggle with helping others understand your work. I can help. I have been explaining complex economic, technical and social issues for many years. …

Running a business is easier if costs are low. This is something I learnt as a cofounder in my company. The lesson was reinforced two years ago, when I met nearly fifty business leaders across the country and talked to them for hours about their businesses. It seems obvious that…

The election results in Punjab may have reminded the Aam Admi Party (AAP) of their sweeping victory in Delhi, but the challenge of running the government would be very different. …

I know I am going to get some dirty looks for saying this, but I read non-fiction books with a pen in hand. I underline the sentences that I like. I mark references for future. Worst of all, I make notes in the margins. I recently read the book —…