Newsletter March 2026

Dear friends, 

Greetings from the Centre for Regulatory Governance.

Each month of 2026 seems to be competing in offering a thicker mix of peril to the world polity. The US-Israel war on Iran has so much peril written over it, that it seems impossible that April will offer anything worse. The year began with the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. February was the month when an annexation of Greenland by the USA seemed just hours away. 

This geopolitical turmoil makes it very difficult for a country like India to focus just on economic reforms and the development of the concomitant regulatory aspects. Like most other G20 nations, the Indian political leadership has its attention span stretched to accommodate these turmoils. So, decision-making on key development issues could take a back seat. 

It is also the year when India concluded the “mother of all trade deals” with the EU. The year began with another two trade deals concluded with New Zealand and the UK. Each of these has drawn immense global attention for the ramifications for competing nations and the trade order.

The concatenation of the turmoil and the trade deals mean global headlines are moving at warp speed. So, decisions on economic issues within the country could get a short shrift. Fortunately, till now, there is no evidence of this happening. 

The attention is most important as the numbers for the Indian economy are moving really fast. The latest GDP data for the financial year FY26 shows that real GDP has grown by 7.6 percent making India the fastest-growing major economy by a long shot. Nominal GDP has risen 8.6 per cent. This is heartening as the database has been revised to 2022–23 as the base year, replacing the earlier series that used 2011–12 as the reference year. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation released the second estimate of the GDP data for the year this week. 

In the circumstances of a deeply fractured world, where policy making has to be most nimble to keep up, regulators have to also keep pace. For a business to find India attractive, it is the sine qua non. Domestic regulations must be adroit to keep pace with the changes but also consistent to assure investors that India means business. 

The environment for regulators to sharply improve their delivery capacity got a fillip with the successful conclusion of the India AI Summit. The Indian state has been pushing for the adoption of AI in a big way for quite some time. As the chairman of the Competition Commission of India, Ms Ravneet Kaur noted stressed upon "transparency, accountability and competition safeguards to prevent unfair conduct in digital markets". She harped on the fact that "access to data, skill sets and infrastructure is a crucial factor for the future”.

Making a somewhat different pitch, Mr Dhiraj Nayyar, chief economist Vedanta Group noted in an article in The Economic Times that while India has realized the importance of AI and taken steps to catch up with them, it will be most important that the nation understands the importance of being a creator economy “which has even more advantages”.

It does seem that some of the regulators have begun to note the twin challenges of these highly disturbed geopolitics, the challenges of AI and the need for sharp decision making. For instance, the Draft National Electricity Policy released to make the Indian Power sector more reliable, green and cheap for Industry comes just at the right time. The main aim is to increase per capita electricity use from 1,460 units (kWh) today to 2,000 units by 2030 and 4,000 units by 2047 and aligning with India's target of Net-Zero emissions by 2070. One of our authors has already noted that demand for electricity has begun to shoot up in Southern India the region where energy intense Global Capability Centres relocating to India are all setting up bases. 

In this context the plans by CERC to ramp up renewable targets by bringing in virtual PPA norms is also most welcome. 

The last word in this context has to belong to the Sebi chairman Mr Tuhin Pandey. He said the Sebi regulations are aiming to hit the Goldilocks moment, that of "optimal regulation"—meaning the rules should be "not too much, not too little, but just right." He stressed upon creating a market that is safe for retail investors while encouraging innovation and business growth. When markets are swinging hugely in a violent maelstrom, this is the ideal role the regulators should play. 

The statements on Regulators made in the Union Budget and the Economic Survey, along with the Trade deals that India had with the EU and US, and the recent AI summit in India, seem to have the major impact on Regulatory space as we saw its impact on 2 fronts in last 1 month. 

•  Some more reforms were noted - After the introduction of the Shanti Bill (for unshackling the nuclear energy sector a few weeks back), the Draft National Electricity Policy was released by the Government to make the Indian Power sector more reliable, green and cheap for Industry.  The main aim is to increase per capita electricity use from 1,460 units (kWh) today to 2,000 units by 2030 and 4,000 units by 2047 and aligning with India's target of Net-Zero emissions by 2070.
•  IRDAI Chairman Ajay Seth Announces 6 Major Reforms over next 4-6 months.
•  CERC sets too sight on renewable targets by bringing in virtual PPA norms. 
•  Statements from CCI, NFRA showed that they are pushing for using AI technology for improved results.

FSSAI once again came to the focus as the Honourable Supreme Court of India pushed the food regulator to start putting clear warning labels on the front of food packets. The active participation of the Regulators (in ensuring compliance in say, Food standards) is now, even more necessary, to ensure smooth functioning of trades as the Indo-EU and Indo-US trade deals come into effect.

SEBI and TRAI too pushed for Stricter Compliance and Expanded Legal Powers - the reports extensively discussed here. Continuing with SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) in a step that is seen as a major step that allows stock brokers to become one-stop shops for financial services, SEBI now allows them to offer services regulated by other authorities, such as Banking/Forex services, Insurance products and Pension funds.

The details of the News and their analysis can be obtained in our website: https://crg.jgu.edu.in/.