strategy / Feature

What Money Can Buy in the Election Season

Votes, presumably. Every passing cycle, elections are becoming expensive affairs. And candidates need pots of money to campaign and win polls, spending caps notwithstanding

strategy / Feature

Chasing the Lakhpati Dream

Generations of rural Indian women have had their hopes and dreams crushed by the twin hammers of poverty and patriarchy. But now, the Lakhpati Didi scheme has come as an instrument that can help break the shackles. Outlook Money spoke to women across four states to understand how women in India’s hinterlands are starting on their entrepreneurial journeys 

strategy / Feature

Green Globetrotting

Amid growing awareness about sustainable tourism, more people are hoping to reduce their carbon footprint. Besides benefitting the planet, sustainable tourism also presents the industry with the opportunity to grow responsibly 

strategy / Feature

A. Balasubramanian: A Journey From Melattur to Mumbai

Work is worship and the office is like a temple, the Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund MD and CEO believes. He says he spends around 85% of his time on work and the rest on social engagements. Classical music plays in his office at the beginning of the workday to spread positive vibrations

strategy / Feature

Driven by Data

That is how Anil Bhatt, global CIO of Elevance Health, gets his way in the boardroom and brings about techquity—his coinage for combining technology and equity for the benefit of customers

strategy / Feature

AI’s New Porn Position

Deepfakes and artificial intelligence-generated images have breathed new life into the porn industry. Celebrities have become the latest victims and revenge porn is on the rise

strategy / Feature

Money Plant: The Business of Tree Plantation

Firms are popping up to help people and companies plant saplings. Reasons for this green consciousness range from earning carbon credits to a desire to fight deforestation 

strategy / Feature

That Tumbling Feeling for FMCG Companies

India’s FMCG giants are struggling with sluggish growth. Declining sales and tough competition from local brands have dampened the sentiments around many popular legacy brands. Can the marquee names rev up a new growth engine? 

strategy / Feature

Illusions of Growth

Powered by easy credit, a section of Indians is splurging on premium products; at the same time, agricultural wages have stagnated and the share of the self-employed has steadily gone up. Post-pandemic, the Indian economy is going through a lop-sided recovery 

strategy / Interview

The Rich Are Getting Richer, but the Poor Are Not Getting Poorer: T.V. Somanathan

Increasing consumption among the middle class and the poor in India is a valid policy challenge, the answer to which lies in creating more jobs, says T.V. Somanathan, finance secretary and secretary of expenditure in the Union Ministry of Finance. In an exclusive interview, he also discusses why the current income tax rates are reasonable and why he finds the 3% fiscal deficit target questionable among other issues. Edited excerpts:  

strategy / Interview

Awareness, Guidance Key to Retirement Planning: V. Vaidyanathan

IDFC First Bank has seen remarkable success in 2023, riding on impressive financial performance, with deposits growing at 40% thanks to customer-friendly banking initiatives and tools. In an exclusive interview, V. Vaidyanathan, managing director and chief executive officer of IDFC First Bank, speaks about the importance of retirement planning early in life, the emotions of those concerned and the tools for retirement planning which can provide financial security and peace of mind

strategy / Feature

How You End Up Paying for What Farmers are Demanding

Farmers are demanding a legal guarantee of MSP on crops. But MSP is not the silver bullet; over the past two decades, high food inflation has distorted not just the Indian economy but has also affected millions of poor, making India perform poorly on the global hunger index