TK Arun

T.K. Arun, ex-Economic Times editor, is a columnist known for incisive analysis of economic and policy matters.

Why India’s Fast Breeder Milestone is a Strategic Energy Shift

Going critical, PFBR advances India’s multi-stage nuclear roadmap, reducing reliance on uranium imports and bringing the thorium-based energy transition closer to reality.

TK Arun

April 13, 2026 at 11:07 AM IST

Petr Pavlicek-IAEA/Via WikiCommons

IBC Amendment Fixes Key Gap, Creates Some New Ones

Select Committee-backed reforms introduce voluntary, creditor-led resolution with management continuity, but restrictions and execution risks could dilute value outcomes.

TK Arun

April 7, 2026 at 4:28 AM IST

iStock.com

Induction Push Alone Cannot Solve India’s Cooking Energy Crisis

Lower prices are not enough. Certification, wiring upgrades, grid strength and gas allocation choices will determine whether India’s cooking transition reduces or shifts stress.

TK Arun

March 31, 2026 at 7:44 AM IST

iStock.com

World Bank’s Recantation of a Dogma

After decades of cautioning against state-led industrial policy, the World Bank now acknowledges its role in shaping growth, innovation, and economic transformation.

TK Arun

March 26, 2026 at 3:26 AM IST

iStock.com

How Many Faultlines Will the Iran War Leave Behind?

Opinion

The Iran war may conclude, but its aftermath could reshape power balances, energy systems and global alignments, creating faultlines that outlast the conflict itself

TK Arun

March 19, 2026 at 8:34 AM IST

iStock.com

Cognizant’s Whale of a boost for Indian IT Services Industry’s continued Salience

Cognizant’s WhaleAgent, an AI-based predictive tool to help minimise whale-ship collisions, shows that AI could enhance Indian IT services firms’ capabilities.

TK Arun

March 15, 2026 at 11:15 AM IST

WikiCommons

Coal Gasification Should be a Strategic Priority, Not Just Another Mission

The ongoing war in the Persian Gulf shows why India must leverage its most abundant fuel to substitute for imports of hydrocarbons

TK Arun

March 10, 2026 at 5:28 AM IST

iStock.com

Trump, Anthropic and the Lesson for India: Build an AI PSU

Anthropic’s clash with Washington shows that AI firms ultimately serve national interests. For India, relying on foreign AI for strategic uses may be a costly mistake.

TK Arun

March 6, 2026 at 12:07 PM IST

digitalindia.gov.in

Fuel Efficiency Norms Need Drastic Overhaul, Not Revised Coefficients

The CAFE norms controversy should draw in the public at large, and not just rival automobile makers

TK Arun

March 2, 2026 at 5:44 AM IST

iStock.com

Why India Must Stay the Course on US Trade Deal

Opinion

The US ruling trims presidential power, not trade risk. India’s answer lies in deeper competitiveness, not reclaiming lost protection.

TK Arun

February 21, 2026 at 8:27 AM IST

iStock.com/MAGNIFIER

Beyond the Summit: Why the Government Must Put Money Where Its Mouth Is

AI sovereignty is not about apps or agents. It rests on GPUs, high-bandwidth memory, chip fabrication, political will, and the capital to fund long-term risk.

TK Arun

February 17, 2026 at 11:39 AM IST

PIB

Is the AI Panic Artificial?

Opinion

Markets are pricing in mass job destruction, but history suggests AI will disrupt selectively, not obliterate whole sectors overnight.

TK Arun

February 13, 2026 at 9:54 AM IST

Damien VERRIER/iStock.com

We Don’t Need No Data-Centre Coddling

Budget 2026

Data-centre tax holidays represent oodles of government cash to favoured Indian businesses for little public benefit

TK Arun

February 10, 2026 at 6:28 AM IST

Istock.com

Grandfathered, Then Burned: Why the Government Must Lead the Tiger Appeal

Opinion

India promised tax certainty through grandfathering. The Supreme Court's Tiger Global verdict undermines that. It’s the government that must restore credibility.

TK Arun

February 5, 2026 at 4:54 AM IST

iStock.com/naveen0301

Accountability as Publishers, Not Bans, Is the Solution to Social Media Harm

Protecting young users and democratic discourse requires platform accountability, not age bans that are hard to enforce and easy to evade.

TK Arun

January 31, 2026 at 5:10 AM IST

iStock.com

Spotlight Back on Process Patents

Indian pharma companies, and the regulatory and judicial support system, must wake up to the challenges of personalised medicines and the changes this would necessitate in formulating and approving drug trials and patenting of drugs and production processes.

TK Arun

January 28, 2026 at 10:02 AM IST

iStock.com

How Federal Drift Is Starving Strategic Priorities

Budget 2026

As the Centre expands into state subjects, defence, R&D and strategic autonomy suffer. India’s budget problem is not size, but misplaced priorities.

TK Arun

January 21, 2026 at 8:15 AM IST

iStock.com

Say No to Trump’s Offer of a Seat at the Board of Peace

Opinion

It is a Board for Undermining the UN and the rest of the multilateral framework

TK Arun

January 19, 2026 at 10:44 AM IST

White House

Global Capability Centres: The Brain Drain Under Our Nose

It is welcome that millions of Indian graduates get decent jobs, but they toil to create intellectual property for foreign firms, rather than to strengthen India’s strategic muscle

TK Arun

January 12, 2026 at 9:54 AM IST

iStock.com

Aravallis: Making a Molehill out of a Mountain

Opinion

When mountains are measured by committees and metres, what’s under threat is not just geology but the idea of environmental protection itself.

TK Arun

January 5, 2026 at 10:38 AM IST

iStock.com

The Bureau

IMD Sees Below-Normal Monsoon Rains for 2026; Rainfall Likely at 92% of Average

Equities Fall as Oil Breaches $100, West Asia Tensions Weigh

March CPI Rises to 3.40%, Highest in 12 Months as Food Prices Firm Up

US Threatens Naval Blockade of Hormuz, Escalates Iran Standoff

India’s capital flows outlook brightens as FDI holds firm, RBI says

India Remittance Flows seen Steady Despite West Asia tensions

Malhotra says RBI’s FX Steps Tactical, Not Structural

RBI Holds Repo Rate at 5.25% Amid Global Uncertainty: Key Policy Takeaways

Iran War Shadow: Livelihood Under Pressure in Post-MGREGA Rural India?

Learning to Shoot: I Tried to Fly Before I Could Walk