Here are my picks for the best Reuters India stories of the year:
Sahara – massive, splashy … and mysterious
By Tony Munroe and Devidutta Tripathy
KHALILABAD, Uttar Pradesh - Like millions of Indians, Jag Ram Chaudhary invested with the Sahara conglomerate – 1,300 rupees a month in his case – to put away money for a rainy day. Read more here.
ANALYSIS – India’s deficit-cutting plan faltering as clock ticks
By Ross Colvin and Rajesh Kumar Singh
NEW DELHI - Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has banned government officials from holding conferences at five-star hotels, restricted travel and ordered a freeze on hiring to fill vacant posts. Read more here
INSIGHT – Punchups, kidnappings mar India’s efforts to privatise power
By Sanjeev Choudhary and Ross Colvin
NEW DELHI - It is rough being an employee of Torrent Power Ltd in Agra. Furious residents regularly take staff of the power distributor hostage or beat them up, stone-throwing mobs besiege the firm’s high-walled compound, and one official recently had to be hospitalised after he was hit on the head with a brick. Read more here
ANALYSIS – What slowdown? For some firms, India’s economy still humming
By Tony Munroe and Matthias Williams
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI - India’s economic growth may have slowed to a near-decade low, but you wouldn’t know it from the pace at which Britain’s Costa Coffee and many other consumer-focused companies are expanding. Read more here
INSIGHT – How Sonia Gandhi was persuaded to back India reforms
By Satarupa Bhattacharjya and John Chalmers
NEW DELHI - It had been a brutal August for the Congress party: economic growth was wilting, the monsoon rains were failing and the opposition had it cornered on yet another corruption scandal. Read more here
