India's aggressive climate goal of net zero by 2070 calls for rapid transformation of our primarily fossil-dependent economy to 100% renewable over the next five decades. Making this transformation while the economy is in a fast-growth mode is akin to changing the tyre while the car is running. But where's the choice?
If there is a policy driving national transformation, it rarely gets bigger than this. India — the world's fourth largest importer of LNG and 13th largest consumer of natural gas — is spending an astounding ₹3 lakh crore in nationwide pipelines, LNG terminals, city gas distribution and exploration to wean the nation away from coal to gas, a less-polluting fossil fuel. The energy transition also entails parallel ramping up of renewable power generation — solar, wind and hydro.
Mega infrastructure creation is in the works to take the share of natural gas in India's primary energy fuel mix from 6% in FY15 to 15% in 2030. Guess who's driving this change? Spearheaded by PSUs, Gail Ltd., oil marketing companies, Petronet LNG, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Oil India, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board, private and public sector CGD players, among others. Read P.B. Jayakumar's account of how India is making this dramatic transition while the fast-growing economy's daily gas demand is set to rise from 178 mmscmd (million metric standard cubic metres per day) in FY22 to 380 mmscmd by FY30.
Meanwhile, at the heart of the heated national debate on the 'freebies' culture is the issue of deteriorating state finances. Particularly since Covid when states bridged their revenue shortfall with break-neck borrowings. According to estimates, states' outstanding debt is going to rise from 19.1% of GDP in FY19 to 25.1% in FY22. "States' fiscal position deteriorated sharply in 2020 with… dip in revenue, rise in spending and sharp rise in debt to GSDP ratios," says RBI's June bulletin, naming Punjab, Rajasthan, Kerala, West Bengal, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana as states with highest debt burden. So what's the solution? Read Ashutosh Kumar's story.
The Special Package this issue is Fortune India's newest addition — 'India's Best B-Schools' with the most modern survey of the country's business schools and a unique methodology introducing the concept of 'Distance To Frontier' for the first time in the country.
The Fortune India B-Schools Survey 2022 finds that the interest in management education is back after years of declining trend. As against 3.72 lakh students enrolling in 3,037 B-Schools in 2019-20, fiscal '22 has seen an uptrend with 4.03 lakh students in 3,107 institutes, signalling several shut institutes have re-opened after a bleak phase. Starting salaries, too, are on the rise. Average annual salaries among top 12 business schools shot up 30% in 2022.
Among other stories in the package read: How consultancy is emerging as a significant revenue stream for top B-Schools as both public and private sector as well as the government rely on their unique capability of ear-to-the-ground research; how prominent B-Schools are spreading their wings to cater to rising demand with new campuses and new courses; what does global accreditation mean for domestic schools; and why entrepreneurship has taken a backseat among B-School grads, at least in 2022.
