Akshay Deshmane

Photo by Leah Newhouse on Pexels

Recent Work

New Delhi Post - Global News, U.S. News, Sports, B •

MPLADS Reform Freeze: How Modi govt resisted attempts to fix flaws - New Delhi Post

Despite frequent news reports of several loopholes in the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), a New Delhi Post investigation, based on previously undisclosed official documents, reveals how the Union government repeatedly resisted, diluted or legally challenged multiple attempts to reform the scheme over the past decade, even as parliamentarians across party lines continued to complain about poor implementation, lack of transparency and inadequate funding. Three reform b...
New Delhi Post - Global News, U.S. News, Sports, B •

Opaque Oversight, Idle Funds — MPLADS in Disarray - New Delhi Post

In late March this year, Rajya Sabha MP from Odisha, Dr Sasmit Patra, asked the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) four interrelated questions about the utilisation of funds under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS).


Launched in 1993, MPLADS, funded by the Government of India, enables MPs to recommend projects to create assets such as roads, school buildings, water facilities and more, for public use.


Among Patra’s questions was one seek...
Frontline •

NGT Puts Adani, Birla and Tata Firms Under Scrutiny for Illegal Limestone Sourcing

Published : Apr 14, 2026 19:59 IST - 10 MINS READ
A dusty quarry with piles of gravel, a conveyor belt transporting materials, and heavy machinery in operation under soft daylight conditions. A tribunal-appointed committee examined limestone mines across five districts of Gujarat and assessed environmental compensation for mining activities without clearance.
| Photo Credit: Sanjeri/Getty Images...
New Delhi Post - Global News, U.S. News, Sports, B •

Hindalco’s Troubled Coal Exit - New Delhi Post

Why the Corporate Giant Faces Allegations of Ecological Damage over Mine Closure


India’s second-largest coal-producing state, Jharkhand, has long been mired in coal-related controversies. While coal mining generates substantial revenues for both the state and the Centre, it has also left a trail of environmental damage and social disruption, ranging from pollution and land grabs to theft and organised crime. These darker externalities of the coal economy have also seeped into popular culture,...
New Delhi Post - Global News, U.S. News, Sports, B •

Modi Govt Joins Adani’s Coal War - New Delhi Post

The Adanis have found a powerful ally in their fight with the National Green Tribunal (NGT): the Modi government itself. In a courtroom alliance that blurs the line between regulator and regulated, the Union environment ministry has joined forces with Adani Power and NTPC to challenge the NGT. Their common cause: defending a 2020 coal policy struck down for favouring business over clean air. Now, the government and India’s biggest power producers are fighting side by side to bring it back.


An...
The Core •

How An Explosion In Beirut Upended India’s Coal Supply Chain

On August 4, 2020, the world watched in shock as a stockpile of poorly stored ammonium nitrate exploded in the port city of Beirut. The blast — described as one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions in human history — killed over 200 people and displaced thousands, leaving Lebanon’s capital shattered. Thousands of kilometres away, in India, it triggered a chain of events that continues to complicate India’s coal supply chain five years later.The disaster in Beirut triggered the phasing out of a...
Mongabay Environmental News •

Tata Steel, CREDAI & Others Have Been Trying To Revive Modi Govt's Dubious Amnesty For Violators Of Green Law

In early April, the Supreme Court of India concluded hearings in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that challenges a government-issued procedure for handling environmental violations. Experts say the case could significantly impact the country’s environmental rule of law.

“Submissions are heard. Judgment is reserved,” said the order, passed on April 2 by Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan. This order brought a more than year-long legal battle closer to the finishing line.

It began...
Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels

Investigations

OCCRP •

Inside Indian Energy and Mining Giant Vedanta's Campaign to Weaken Key Environmental Regulations

It was 2021 and the COVID-19 pandemic was ripping through India, crippling the country’s health system and bringing the economy to a standstill. But for Anil Agarwal, chairman of the energy and mining giant Vedanta Resources Ltd, the crisis presented an opportunity.The government could add “impetus” to India’s “rapid” economic recovery by allowing mining companies to boost production by up to 50 percent without having to secure new environmental clearances, he wrote in a letter to the then envir...
Climate Home News •

Indian coal giants pushed for lax pollution rules while ramping up production

The Indian government weakened rules to curb pollution caused by its expanding coal industry after lobbying by top producers, even as it agreed internationally to phase down the use of coal, an investigation by Climate Home has found. 
India’s coal giants pushed back hard against environmental regulation meant to tighten up the disposal of fly ash – a byproduct of coal-fired power plants known to harm both humans and the environment if not managed properly.  
Letters sent by coal companies to th...
BBC •

How a just transition can make India's coal history

IIn the dusty coal town of Jharia in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, the ground has been on fire for more than 100 years. Fires that began accidentally early in the 20th Century are still steadily burning their way through the town's underground coal reserves, releasing toxic fumes and destroying homes. Efforts to put out the fires have so far failed.
Jharia is perhaps the worst casualty of coal in Jharkhand, which has the largest known coal reserves in India. Despite its coal resources,...
The Morning Context •

How one official helped Tata Steel and Vedanta get away with flouting green law

We rarely make our stories free to read. This one is, so make the most of it.We publish over 500 original, detailed stories every year on startups, corporates, stock markets and economic current affairs.Limited time offer $125 $99 for 1 year

We rarely make our stories free to read. This one is, so make the most of it.

We publish over 500 original, detailed stories every year on startups, corporates, stock markets and economic current affairs.

Limited time offer $125 $99 for 1 year
The Morning Context •

Letter from industrialist prompts minister to scrap environment policy

We rarely make our stories free to read. This one is, so make the most of it.We publish over 500 original, detailed stories every year on startups, corporates, stock markets and economic current affairs.Limited time offer $125 $99 for 1 year

We rarely make our stories free to read. This one is, so make the most of it.

We publish over 500 original, detailed stories every year on startups, corporates, stock markets and economic current affairs.

Limited time offer $125 $99 for 1 year
HuffPost •

Documents Show How Modi, Jaitley Gamed World Bank's Doing Business Rankings

On 3 November, for instance, Modi said, the rankings are an "indicator of India's strengthening economy and quick progress". He said this while answering a question posed by a BJP volunteer from Korba, Chattisgarh, who wanted to know the relevance of the rankings in the life of the 'common man'. Modi further said that the improvement in rankings over four years by almost half —going from 142 in 2014 to 77 in 2018—shows the Indian economy had improved twice over ever since his government was swor...
Frontline •

Under close watch

ON December 22, the office of the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi, Najeeb Jung, issued a statement that he had “submitted his resignation to the Government of India”. Political circles in the national capital were taken by surprise and speculation peaked about the possible causes for the unexpected decision, as the statement did not mention any reason for his resignation. Curiously, according to senior officials, Jung had not sent his resignation letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) or...