Best of BS Opinion: Startups get a boost, higher education needs a leg-up

Business Standard

23-06-2025

Hello and welcome to BS Views, our newsletter that sums up today's opinion page. From Sebi's bold moves to the crisis in higher education, and from sustainability issues with rice farming to Iran's nuclear ambitions, today's pieces touch upon key issues that policymakers must grapple with. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) board last week approved a co-investment vehicle (CIV) framework under the Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) regulations, amended rules governing Real Estate Investment Trusts (Reits) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs), and eased the delisting process for certain types of public-sector undertakings (PSUs). It also clarified norms on the issuance of employee stock ownership plans (Esops) in start-ups that plan to go public — a move that has brought relief to founders. These reforms, our first editorial argues, will make Indian markets more attractive for listings, improve the business environment for AIFs, and facilitate delisting for eligible PSUs.
The latest QS World University Rankings show that India's higher education sector has recorded its best-ever performance on the global stage. Notably, seven of the eight new entrants from India are private universities — a sign of shifting dynamics in the country's higher education architecture. However, our second editorial cautions that quality remains a concern, and centres of higher education continue to face challenges such as faculty shortages, inadequate infrastructure, and underfunding. It calls for fast-tracking the regulatory frameworks recommended under the National Education Policy (NEP), strengthening public institutions, and addressing gaps in industry-academia linkages.
Ajay Shah highlights a core principle of political science and international relations — the distinction between the principal and the agent, or the interests of the people versus those of the regime. In this context, he criticises the devastation caused by the Khamenei regime's pursuit of pride and nationalism in Iran. With no existential threats, Shah argues, Iran does not need nuclear weapons. Instead, the country must end state violence, focus on institution-building, and create conditions for peace and prosperity.
Surinder Sud welcomes India's rise as the world's largest producer and leading exporter of rice since 2012. While newer rice strains have contributed to this growth, he warns that rice farming severely strains water resources and harms environmental sustainability. He recommends practices such as direct seeding and alternate wetting and drying of paddy fields, which can reduce water use by 30–60 per cent, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and cut fertiliser, pesticide, and labour requirements — all without sacrificing yields. Scaling up such technologies is critical for sustaining long-term rice production.
Charles Finch reviews Leigh Claire La Berge's Fake Work: How I Began to Suspect Capitalism Is a Joke, calling it an early autopsy of a post-capitalist world. He observes that younger generations increasingly view capitalism as unsustainable. The book is a sustained meditation on the experience of corporate life — both its weakness and strength. Finch finds it earnest, repetitive, and at times wooden, but notes it is resolutely committed to its thesis. It offers a vision of a different life beyond the workplace — though the implication, he adds, is that only an apocalypse might make that fresh start possible.