Category Insights

Insights, a blog published by IMPRI.

RBI’s Gold Loan Directions (2025): Balancing Prudence and Rural Access

Policy Update, Center for the Study for Finance and Economics, Public Finances and Macroeconomics

The gold loan segment has historically been one of India's fastest-growing forms of secured retail credit, valued for its speed of disbursal, minimal documentation, and accessibility to borrowers who lack formal credit histories, particularly in rural and semi-urban India. Until 2025, however, gold loan regulation was fragmented, banks, cooperative banks, and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) operated under separate, inconsistent guidelines, creating scope for regulatory arbitrage.

IMPRI Desk
August 31, 2026

E-Waste (Management) Rules (2022): Assessing India’s Extended Producer Responsibility Framework

Policy Update, Center for ICT for Development, Economy and Infrastructure, Entrepreneurship, ICT and Innovation, Science and Technology

India's approach to e-waste has shifted over time, from simply regulating disposal to making producers themselves responsible for what happens to their products after use. The E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016, notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), built this Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework, requiring producers to ensure collection and environmentally sound management of e-waste from their products. It covered 21 categories of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE).

IMPRI Desk
August 31, 2026

Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), 2024 : A Sustainable Urban Governance Model

Policy Update, Center for Habitat, Urban and Regional Studies, Center for Work and Welfare, Economy and Infrastructure, Entrepreneurship, ICT and Innovation, Social Sector

Historically, Hyderabad was known as “City of lakes”, it was built with a cascade of interconnected lakes (Golusu Katuu), and storm-water drains (nalas) around the Musi river to store and redistribute monsoon runoff across the Deccan plateau. Following the Musi river floods of 1908, prompted engineer M. Visvesvaraya designed an integrated flood-defense system featuring Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar reservoirs, supported by thousands of catchment tanks (swarajya, 2016)

IMPRI Desk
August 31, 2026

PM-AJAY Digitalisation- can technology make welfare delivery more inclusive?

Policy Update, Center for ICT for Development, Entrepreneurship, ICT and Innovation, Science and Technology

The Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana (PM-AJAY) was introduced in 2021–22 by merging three Centrally Sponsored Schemes: the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY), Special Central Assistance to Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCA to SCSP), and Babu Jagjivan Ram Chhatrawas Yojana (BJRCY). The merger was intended to improve convergence and the utilisation of resources for the socio-economic development of Scheduled Caste communities.

IMPRI Desk
August 31, 2026

BIS Gold Hallmarking (2021): Certifying Purity and Building Consumer Trust in India

Policy Update, Center for the Study for Finance and Economics, Public Finances and Macroeconomics, Public Policies, Programs and Schemes

Gold hallmarking in India began as a voluntary certification scheme run by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in April 2000, allowing jewellers to have their gold articles tested and marked for purity by BIS-recognised centres since it was started by BIS in April 2000 to provide third-party assurance to consumers on the purity of gold jewellery.

IMPRI Desk
August 31, 2026

Measuring India’s Critical Mineral Supply Chain Progress 2024-2026

Policy Update, Center for Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Economy and Infrastructure, Environment, Energy, Climate Change and Sustainable Development

Critical minerals have emerged as a strategy priority for the World as we expand our energy transition, advanced manufacturing and defence capabilities. Minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite and rare earth elements (REEs) are essential inputs for electric vehicle batteries, renewable energy technologies, permanent magnets, electronics and semiconductors. Their importance, however, extends beyond their economic value. The concentration of mining, refining and processing capacity in a limited number of countries leaves downstream industries vulnerable to geopolitical disruptions, export restrictions and supply shocks.

IMPRI Desk
August 31, 2026

Connecting the Dots: Reading the Mission Vatsalya Integration of TrackChild and Khoya-Paya

Policy Update, Governance and Law, Public Policies, Programs and Schemes

Policy UpdateApala Background Mission Vatsalya was built around a single promise. The scheme commits the Government to strengthen the juvenile justice care and protection system with the motto “leave no child behind” (Ministry of Women and Child Development, 2022). For…

IMPRI Desk
August 31, 2026