A dire diagnosis for India's health
Asia Times Online – May 30, 2008
Disquieting as it is, the WHO-WEF study isn't the first to underscore a direct link between India 's rapid economic growth and its people's health. In 2006, the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations had forewarned that India 's exponentially growing economy will trigger stress amongst its workers and contribute to lifestyle diseases which may adversely impact their earning capacity. Long working hours, night shifts and a sedentary lifestyle were making employees vulnerable to heart disease, diabetes and depression, the report said.

Retail trade is an employment spinner, too
Financial Express – May 30, 2008
Most significantly, even as the government is studying the implications of the report by the Indian Council for Research in International Economic Relations (ICRIER) on the ‘Impact of organised retail on the unorganised sector’ released this week, it would be pertinent to note that retail trade alone accounts for 41.83% job opportunities with 14.95 million employed in the sector, according to the Economic Census report.

Retailing in India Unshackling the chain stores
Economist – May 29, 2008
Stung by the protests, the government asked the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), an independent think-tank, to measure the impact of organised retail on the disorganised sort. It unveiled its findings this week. When an organised retailer opens nearby, small retailers typically lose about 23% of their sales in the first year, the report finds. But after five years they are more or less back to where they started.

Holistic policy needed for iron ore & steel
Economic Times – May 30, 2008
That the government is torn between its conflicting intentions to conserve the iron ore deposits for the domestic industry and to export them to international buyers should not be an alibi for adopting a faulty policy paradigm. Isn’t there a better, more comprehensive approach to address the vexed issue? A recent ICRIER working paper authored by A S Firoz tries to put things in perspective.

Q&A: 'Farmers will benefit from organised retail'
Times of India – May 30, 2008
The survey has found that the farmers are likely to have a 60 per cent increase in their profitability. The government's extension systems that we saw in the 60s and 70s have run out of steam. Therefore, private sector retail will emerge as the extension service providers. They can actually introduce new technology, seeds, and thus encourage farmers to improve their productivity.

Arvind Singhal: Liberating the retail sector
Business Standard – May 29, 2008
The much-awaited, and much-speculated ICRIER report on the impact of organised retailing on the traditional retail is finally out. In the making for almost 15 months, it is a fine empirical effort to objectively assess the impact of the emergence of modern-format, relatively large retail businesses on the small, traditional retailers, on the intermediaries such as the wholesalers and commission agents, on the farmers, and indirectly, on the consumers by way of retail price movements where modern retail businesses have come up next to the traditional ones.

`Retailers adopt unique models to differentiate`
Business Standard – May 29, 2008
Organised retail chains in the country have adopted unique business strategies to distinguish themselves from each other in a bid to grow in the fast growing modern retail market, said a report on the impact of big retail chains from the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (Icrier).

There will be retail pain
Livemint – May 29, 2008
The much-awaited report prepared by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (Icrier) on how big-box retailing will impact traditional mom-and-pop stores is out, nearly a year behind schedule.

Govt finances may not be as good as they appear
Hindustan Times – May 29, 2008
“He (Reddy) is pointing to the fact that the off-budget liabilities are growing over the past few months,” said Rajiv Kumar , chief executive, Indian Council of Research in International Economic Relations, a New Delhi based think tank. “This means that the fiscal deficit is larger than what we know.”

Asia.view How Asia shops
Economist – May 28, 2008
How long can they hold out? Organised retail is an “inexorable” force, according to Rajiv Kumar , director of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER). Which this week released a long-awaited study of the phenomenon. India 's small shops will be damaged, the report finds, especially in the first year or two, but they will survive.

Relax, Big Retail won't edge out kirana stores
Economic Times – May 27, 2008
The report also reveals that consumers have gained from organised retail on various counts. “While all the income groups saved through the entry of organised retail purchases, lower income consumers saved more,” the study conducted by ICRIER said.

Traders criticise ICRIER report on organised retail
Trading Markets - May 27, 2008
A traders body today lambasted the ICRIER report that stated that organised retail will not harm the interests of the mom-and-pop stores and the two can co-exist given the burgeoning Indian retail sector.

States’ view sought on retail report
NDTV.com – May 27, 2008
The Centre on Tuesday said it is consulting state governments on the ICRIER study, which recommended a uniform national licensing policy for big retail chains and support to small kirana shops.

Small retailers need govt help to survive: Study
Times of India – May 27, 2008
Major recommendations of the study done by thinktank Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (Icrier) to help unorganized retail survive against modern retail are: Ensure better credit availability from banks and micro-credit institutions; encourage formulation of ‘private codes of conduct amongst big retailers for dealing with small suppliers, and modernization of wetmarkets such as mandis through public-private partnerships. The study carried out in urban markets of 10 major cities says that both unorganized and modern retail can, not only co-exist, but also grow substantially in size.

So, organised retail is good for one and all
Financial Express – May 27, 2008
Organised retail is good for consumers, producers and also the intermediaries. This is official now with the government-mandated economic think tank Icrier formally announcing the same through its study. The Icrier study report on the impact of organised retail on the unorganised sector, which was commissioned when the atmosphere in the country was explosive with the advent of big, organised retail chains being unveiled by corporate biggies like Reliance Retail and Aditya Birla group, has clearly made a case for growth in favour of organised retail, as unorganised retail will not be able to keep pace with the demand requirements.

Icrier backs more organized retail
Livemint – May 27, 2008
Overall, across both the “treatment sample”, or stores in areas where there is head-to-head competition with organized retail outlets, and the control sample, sales of small stores were down 8% and profits 9%. The study also found that while around 4.2% of the total number of small stores in the country down their shutters every year, less than half this, or around 1.7% of them go out of business on account of competition from big retail.

Revenue gains can refurbish small stores
Business Standard – May 27, 2008
As the share of organised players in overall retail trade grows, the government is likely to gain in terms of tax revenues as "it would be much easier to collect sales taxes from organised retailers than from traditional retailers", says the Icrier (Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations) study on the impact of big retail on small traders. These revenues can be used to upgrade traditional retailers, it says.

Report on impact of organised retail released
Business Standard – May 27, 2008
According to the report on the 'impact of big retail on neighbourhood stores' released by, the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations(ICRIER) today, unorganised retailers in the vicinity of organised retailers experienced decline in sales and profit in the initial years of the entry of organised retailers.

Farmers gain from big retail, no loss to kirana stores: ICRIER
Headlines India – May 26, 2008
The report by think tank, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations ( ICRIER) said, “There is no evidence of a decline in overall employment in the unorganised sector as a result of the entry of organised retailers."

Kirana stores safe from big retail: ICRIER
NDTV.com – May 26, 2008
"This study has nothing to do with the impact of FDI on retail," ICRIER CEO and Director Rajiv Kumar said releasing the findings.

Organised retail vital to avert supply crunch, says Icrier
Financial Express – May 24, 2008
Strongly favouring the entry of organised retail, the economic think-tank, Icrier, said an absence of organised players would lead to a supply crunch in the retail market. The premier research body mandated to study the impact of organised retail said direct sales to retailers raise farm income by more than 50%. Icrier also suggested framing of competition rules to prevent collusion and predatory pricing.

Absenteeism among health workers highest in India: Report
Economic Times – May 17, 2008
Agrees Shrawan Nigam , Senior consultant, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), who feels that the problem is more severe in rural India . “There is a concept of passing on the responsibility to the panchayati raj, whereas the work is not happening at that level as well and there is a need for monitoring,” asserts Nigam. According to Nigam, absenteeism is high among teachers in India too.

There are lot of myths about China, says Jahangir Aziz
Financial Express – May 16, 2008
But Icrier’s Kumar says that despite working abroad for nearly two decades, Aziz maintains deep interest in the Indian Economy.

Hoarding forex drags GDP down by 2%
Financial Express – May 7, 2008
The Economy is losing as much as 2% of the gross domestic product (GDP) by accumulating foreign exchange reserves instead of using them in more profitable assets than the US treasuries, a report by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) has pointed out.

Forex ‘reserve hoarding’ costs 2% of GDP
The Indian Express – May 5, 2008
A study by Abhijit Sen Gupta for economic think tank Indian Council of Research in International Economic Relations (ICRIER) says the country is losing more than 2 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) by accumulating reserves instead of employing resources to increase the physical capital of the economy. By diverting resources from physical investment and employing them for reserve accumulation, India lost nearly $13 billion, or 2.34 per cent, of its GDP in 2003-04.

No sovereign wealth fund for now, says government
Business Standard – May 8, 2008
Recently, economic think-tank ICRIER said India could boost economic growth by as much as 2 per cent by investing the country's massive foreign exchange reserves in more profitable assets than in low-yielding US treasuries.

In India, Infrastructure Falls Short as Economy Moves Forward
Voice of America – May 1, 2008
Lack of adequate power is perhaps the most severe problem. Most industries and offices rely on massive power generators because electricity is often shut off for hours at a stretch, even in prime business and industrial areas.
The head of the Indian Council of International Economic Relations, Rajiv Kumar , says lack of adequate infrastructure holds back growth and discourages investors -- both domestic and foreign.