A rare social media dispute erupted between two of India’s major financial institutions when a member of the RBI’s monetary policy team accused SBI economists of plagiarism. The controversy began after RBI’s Sarthak Gulati alleged on LinkedIn that SBI’s Ecowrap reports had copied key data, charts, and findings from RBI’s Monetary Policy Reports without proper attribution. Gulati emphasized that originality, attribution, and integrity are central to economic research and that replicating work without acknowledgment undermines institutional research and ethical standards. Using hashtags like #ResearchIntegrity and #OriginalWorkMatters, he called for transparency and proper referencing in financial analysis.
SBI’s Ecowrap, led by Chief Economic Advisor Soumya Kanti Ghosh, responded through Dr. Parida, clarifying that the similarities were due to the use of publicly available MOSPI data and that all tables now cite the RBI as the source. He insisted that the report maintains originality and promotes ethical research while encouraging healthy debate. Quoting Rumi, Parida emphasized that sharing ideas enhances understanding rather than constituting plagiarism. Economist Ajit Ranade noted that while borrowing ideas can seem flattering, failing to cite sources breaches academic norms, urging SBI to clarify the matter.
