Policy, People & Politics

Insightful reporting on the mechanics of governance and public policy. Read how political decisions, legislative battles and accountability shape the democratic landscape of India.

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Mass migration, archaic database: The demographic reality behind 13 crore voters ‘deleted’ in SIR

A detailed analysis of the ECI's Special Intensive Revision (SIR), explaining how unrecorded internal migrations and outdated data silos led to a massive administrative cleanup of India's electoral rolls.

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Grid-scale shock absorber: Inside India’s multi-gigawatt battery storage boom

As India marches toward 900 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2035, generation is no longer the sole metric of grid resilience. This final instalment of our energy storage series dissects the utility-scale Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) revolution. From the mechanics of LFP enclosures to the historic ₹1.86 lakh crore Green Energy Corridor Phase-III mandate, we map the 92 GWh national pipeline turning midday solar surges into dispatchable evening power.

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Pumped Storage Hydropower: India’s water batteries to store grid-scale renewable energy

To absorb massive solar energy surges and prevent evening blackouts, India is fundamentally re-engineering its topography. This second instalment of our energy storage series dives into Pumped Hydroelectric Storage—exploring the mechanical genius of reversible pump-turbines, the strategic pivot to off-river closed-loop systems, and the 15 GW pipeline of mountain-sized “water batteries” currently under construction across the subcontinent.

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Beyond Generation: Inside India’s gigawatt-scale renewable energy storage revolution

As India charges toward 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030, solar surges and nighttime wind variations present a critical operational test for the national grid. Beyond generation capacity, the real crucible of the clean energy transition lies in storage. This first instalment of a three-part series examines the five technical storage vectors identified by the Union government—from closed-loop mechanical systems to chemical vectors—and the pan-Indian transmission network engineering 24×7 dispatchable power.

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How India’s Strategic Fertiliser Diplomacy and Domestic Resilience Shielded 1.4 Billion Citizens from a Global Supply Chain Crisis

How India’s ‘Fertiliser Diplomacy’ safeguarded food security amid global crisis

When major global agricultural supply centres across Eastern Europe and the Middle East faced severe disruption, India confronted potential supply chain vulnerabilities reminiscent of earlier decades. Disruptions to fertiliser imports could have reduced domestic crop yields, driven up food inflation, and strained national economic stability. Instead, strategic supply management mitigated these risks through deliberate policy execution:

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Inside India’s massive railway overhaul to end the mixed-traffic nightmare

For decades, India’s economic potential was bottlenecked by a railway network that forced heavy freight and premium passenger expresses to share the same congested tracks. Today, a monumental paradigm shift is underway. Through the operationalisation of Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC), the multitracking of high-density routes, and the deployment of 12,000 HP locomotives, Indian Railways is physically segregating its traffic. This deep dive explores the engineering and economic overhaul—from double-decker freight to the Kavach safety shield—that is fundamentally rewriting the nation’s supply chain geometry.

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Selected issues, clear explanations and thoughtful perspectives—delivered when we publish.