India's 2021 policy maze

The decline in new Covid-19 cases and developments on the vaccine front have raised hopes. Hopefully, the new strain of coronavirus discovered in the UK will not alter things significantly. While 2021 is likely to be better than 2020, policy management would remain fairly complicated. Policy decisions during the course of the year will determine the strength and durability of recovery in the Indian economy.

The first big policy event of the year, of course, would be the Union Budget, which will set the broad direction. The economy is recovering from Covid-related disruptions, and most forecasters have revised their growth projection