This study examines the growth patterns, employment potential, and inclusivity aspects of India’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) during the Udyam phase (formalisation), with a specific focus on women-owned businesses. It underscores the importance of inclusivity in development. While many studies have analysed MSME growth and women’s entrepreneurship separately, very few address these topics during the Udyam phase, particularly with respect to inclusivity. Additionally, this study forecasts MSME growth and employment generation using exponential smoothing, thereby filling a gap in the existing literature. Secondary data is obtained from the annual reports of the Ministry of MSME and the Udyam Portal, covering the period from 2020-21 to 2024-25. The study adopts a descriptive-analytical approach. The Exponential Smoothing Model is used to forecast growth trends and employment potential, while Pearson’s correlation analysis evaluates the relationship between enterprise growth and job creation. Further, a composite North-South Women MSME Inclusivity Index (NS-WMII) is constructed to assess inclusivity across various dimensions. The findings show that formalising businesses has significantly increased the number of registered MSMEs. Many previously unregistered firms have become registered, strengthening the sector’s role in job creation. Forecasts indicate that the total number of MSMEs could exceed 93 million by 2029-30, with cumulative employment generation potentially surpassing 640 million jobs. Our analysis demonstrates a strong positive correlation between enterprise growth and job creation, highlighting the crucial role of MSMEs in promoting inclusive economic development in India. In addition to analysing overall trends, a regional comparison of women-owned micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in selected Northern and Southern states is done, resulting in the development of the NS-WMII. This index accounts for various factors, including intra-state participation, national contributions, and growth momentum, to assess inclusivity in women’s entrepreneurship. Our findings reveal a significant regional imbalance: Southern states demonstrate higher levels of inclusivity and more stable entrepreneurial ecosystems, while Northern states are experiencing rapid growth but have comparatively weaker levels of inclusion. This study integrates a clear time-series forecasting method with a newly developed inclusivity index to deliver analytical insights relevant to policymaking. Our findings emphasise the significant impact of formalisation reforms and underscore the necessity for regionally tailored, gender-sensitive strategies to enhance the quality of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

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By analysing the distinct ways in which blue-chip and growth stocks respond to systematic macroeconomic factors, this study addresses a significant gap in Indian financial research. Previous Indian studies often compared total stock returns but frequently blurred firm-specific characteristics with broader economic influences. Here, we use a multi-factor OLS regression on monthly returns data for the Nifty 50 (as a blue-chip benchmark) and the Nifty Midcap 150 Total Return Index (as a growth stock benchmark), covering the period 2014 to 2024. The analysis examines explicitly how these stock categories (through their betas) respond to changes in GDP growth (G), CPI-based inflation (u), and shifts in the RBI policy rate (∆I). The findings show that, with statistically significant negative coefficients, growth stocks are about twice as sensitive to high inflation and rising interest rates as blue-chip stocks. In contrast, growth stocks demonstrate stronger positive sensitivity to phases of GDP growth. These results indicate that systematic risk in the Indian equity market is complex and varies across investment types, providing valuable insights for studies on the transmission of central bank policy and dynamic asset allocation strategies.

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The Bhartiya Model of Inclusive Governance is highly significant for the socioeconomic development of the people. Irrespective of the goals, governance is about actors’ capacity to work toward aspirations and aims resulting from the dynamic interactions and power struggles between the state and society’s players. Ensuring that no one is left behind, particularly women, youth, and persons with disabilities, inclusive governance promotes an integrated approach to peacebuilding, the rule of law, access to justice, and economic recovery. The objectives of this paper are to study the factors or barriers responsible for the non-implementation of the welfare schemes and rural development programs for the socioeconomic development of the people in the selected districts for inclusive governance, to study the factors or barriers responsible for the nonparticipation, to find the relation between socioeconomic development and inclusive governance and to suggest measures for effective implementation of Bhartiya Model of inclusive governance for inclusive governance. The research question for this study is: Is there a relationship between economic development and inclusive governance? What factors affect the implementation of the Bhartiya model of inclusive governance? How has the Bhartiya inclusive governance model improved people’s living standards and economic growth? Do the schemes and policies available under the institution provide ample scope for people to participate in governance? Is the current status of inclusive governance giving enough opportunities to people? How do governance factors manifest themselves in and shape the processes and outcomes of delivering selected services? Inclusive governance facilitates the identification of innovative solutions to complex problems, thus leading to more effective and sustainable policies.

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In today’s era, every country is aligning itself with a regional bloc to increase its trade. India, with 1.4 billion people, offers a lucrative market for other countries. Everyone wants to make trade ties with India. Recently, in January 2026, a mother of all trade deals wassigned between India and the EU. In light of all these developments, this paper sought to explore the interlinkages between the Indian and EU stock markets. Here, we tried to identify the interlinkages in front of the return generated by these two blocs of the stock market over the period. The present study examines the interdependence between the NIFTY 50 and the EURO STOXX 50 using daily data from January 2000 to December 2025. To ascertain the basic characteristics of the data, descriptive statistics and graphical analysis have been conducted. These tests serve as a torchlight for further analysis. The study employs the Augmented Dickey–Fuller and Phillips–Perron unit root tests to check the stationarity of the data. The unit root tests reveal that the logarithmic price series for both indices are nonstationary in level but stationary after dif erencing, indicating that the variables are integrated of order one. This is completely in line with the descriptive statistics and graphical analysis. Johansen cointegration analysis and Granger causality testing is performed to understand the long-run and short-run behaviour of the two indices. The Johansen cointegration test found that the two markets do not move together. At the same time, Granger causality indicated unidirectional causality from India to the EU. We found that only the EU has a significant influence on the Indian stock market.

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This study explores the progress of financial inclusion in India during the post-reform period from 1991 to 2025. The study is based on secondary data collected from Reserve Bank of India reports and other official sources. The research highlights major indicators, including the development of bank branches, progress in deposits and credit, and the expanding use of digital payment systems. The findings show that financial inclusion has significantly improved, especially since the 2000s and during the post-pandemic period, driven by banking reforms, government programs, and technological developments. Even though financial transactions remain higher in urban and metropolitan areas, contributions from semi-urban regions have gradually increased, indicating broad access to financial services. The rapid advancement of digital payments shows the increasing importance of technology in improving financial inclusion. Though regional differences remain, they underscore the need for sustained policy support to achieve stable, sustainable financial development in India.

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India collects taxes at scale. What it does not do— reliably, visibly, or convincingly—is return value to the people who pay them. This paper asks why that gap persists and why it has produced a specific folk label—”tax mafia”—that circulates among salaried professionals and small traders, with a conviction that goes well beyond routine fiscal complaints. The research draws on published state budget data, compliance cost studies of Indian microenterprises, fiscal federalism literature, and a documented episode from late 2025 in which the Income Tax Department’s automated systems dispatched bulk notices implying fraudulent filing to largely compliant taxpayers. No new primary data are collected; the paper’s contribution is analytical, reading existing evidence against the specific question of why formal-sector taxpayers feel structurally penalised rather than served. Three findings emerge. First, India’s welfare architecture has grown in ways that make staying poor the financially rational choice for many households: free utilities, untargeted ration entitlements, and farm loan waivers are structured in ways that impose steep benefit cliffs on households that cross income or mobility thresholds. States have allocated 20–37% of receipts to subsidies and transfers—Chhattisgarh at 37.6%, Punjab carrying debt at 73.1% of revenue—leaving chronic shortfalls in capital expenditure. Second, tax compliance is not free. A sole proprietor in Bhiwandi or Pimpri who registers under GST, files GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B monthly, reconciles TDS certificates, and responds to AIS mismatches is bearing a compliance cost that her unregistered roadside competitor does not. This is not a minor administrative friction; it is a recurring tax on honesty. Third, the state communicates with its taxpayers as though they are suspects. The December 2025 notice episode—”false claims” — dispatched to tens of thousands of filers days before deadlines is the latest example of a long pattern in which the default register of official communication is accusatory rather than helpful. These findings matter because the standard response to taxpayer grievances—public education campaigns and awareness of where taxes go— addresses the wrong problem. The grievance is not ignorance; it is experience. Fixing it requires changing the experiences: portable welfare benefits that do not penalise mobility, GST return frequencies that do not penalise small-scale formalisation, and notice language that does not penalise honesty. The paper closes with a set of specific, technically feasible reforms oriented to each of these.

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Annual Foreign Direct Investment data on equity inflows are analysed for the period from 2000-01 to 2024-25. We also examine the sectoral and geographical (state- and countrywise) composition of inflows. The Make in India initiative is evaluated by comparing the performance of the targeted sectors. The estimates indicate clear and positive policy effects, most noticeable after 2014-15. State-wise and country-wise analyses reveal concentration. The pace of diversification remains slow. This emphasizes the need for broader, innovation-driven FDI for India.

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