UPSC Pathshala: current affairs & GS for UPSC/PSC: Indian Economy

Indian Economy-one-liners

· Father of Economics: Adam Smith

· Contribution of Agriculture Sector in Indian Economy: is decreasing

· Nation Development Council: was set up in 1952.

· Economic Survey is published by: Ministry of Finance.

· Shri V.T.Krishnamachari: was the 1^st Deputy Chairman Of Planning Commission of India.

· India had a “Plan holiday”: After the draught of 1966.

· Steel Plant at Durgapur, Bhilai & Rourkela were established during the period of: 2^nd Five Year Plan.

· Expenditure on Agriculture was maximum during: 4^th Five year Plan.

· Recommendations of this committee are followed for estimating the Poverty line in India: Lokdawala Committee.

· A serious efforts to tackle the problem of Poverty began with: 4^th Plan.

· The “Slack Season” in the Indian Economy is: January to June.

· Type of Unemployment which occurs when workers move from one job to another job is: Frictional unemployment.

· Type of Unemployment mostly found in India is: Disguised Unemployment.

· Cyclical Unemployment is: unemployment during the recessionary phase of a trade cycle.

· Minimum Calorie intake prescribed by Planning Commission for Rural & Urban areas: Rural Areas- 2400; Urban Areas-2100

· The cause of Inflation is: increase in money supply & fall in production.

· Debtors: are benefitted most from Inflation.

· Creditors: suffer most from Inflation.

· Stagflation: is the period of high inflation & low economic growth.

· Inflation can be contained by: Surplus Budget, Increase in Taxation & reduction in Public Expenditure.

· Increase in Indirect Taxation: leads to Cost-Push Inflation

· The Country Experiences Inflation at present: Cost-Push Inflation.

· Overvaluation: is lowering the value of one currency in comparison to some foreign Currency.

· Monetary Policy is regulated by: Central Bank.

· One Rupee Currency Notes bears the signature of: Finance Secretary Of India.

· The decimal System of Currency was introduced in: 1957.

· The bank press, Dewas: prints currency notes of denomination of 100.

· The special paper needed for printing currency notes by security press is manufactured at: Hoshangabad.

· Convertibility of the Rupee implies: freely permitting the conversion of Rupee into other major currencies & vice versa.

· Devaluation is resorted to: promote of import substitutions & Expansion of Export Trade.

· The 1^st bank established in India: Bank of Hindustan.

· A scheduled bank is one which is included in: II schedule of Banking Regulation Act.

· Panther: is the animal on the insignia of the RBI.

· Bank of the Banker is: RBI.

· RBI was taken over by Government in: 1948.

· RBI is responsible for the collection & Publication of Monetary & Financial Information.

· RBI issues: all the currency notes except the one Rupee note.

· Bank rate is the rate at which: RBI gives credit to commercial banks.

· EXIM Bank was set up in: 1980.

· Debenture holders of a company are: its creditors.

· Head Quarter of Unit Trust of India: Mumbai.

· Land Development Bank: gives long term loans to farmers.

· Mumbai Stock Exchange: is the oldest stock exchange of India.

· Direct tax: is a tax that is paid by the person on whom the tax is incident.

· The standard of living in a country is represented by its: Per Capita Income.

· GNP: is taken as the best measure of the economic growth of a country.

· Via Finance bill: The Government makes arrangements for the collection of revenue for the coming year.
Ad Valorem Duty: is a tax based on the prices of a commodity.

· The budget was 1^st presented during: Canning

· Surcharge: is a temporary tax levied to obtain additional revenue.

· Per Capita Income has been low in India: because of high Population Growth.

· Most Important Non-plan Expenditure is: Interest Payment.
Deficit financing -excess public expenditure loan funded by RBI through printing new currency

· Deficit Financing: Spending in excess of Revenue.

· National Income is compiled by: Central Statistical Organisation.

· Sales Tax: is the principal source of revenue to the State Government

· Value-Added tax is: an Ad Valorem Tax on Domestic final Consumption collected at the manufacturing level.

· ‘Gift-Edged’ market deals in: bullion

· Octroi is levied & collected by: Local Bodies.

· Tea Industry: was the 1^st industry started in India.

· Indian Railways earn maximum revenue from: Freight

· India earns maximum foreign Exchange from: Gems & Jewelry.

· India earns the 2nd maximum Foreign Exchange from: Engineering Goods Industry.

· “Dumping” in the context of international trade refers to: Exporting goods at prices below the actual cost of production.

“ World Bank” consists of: 1) International Bank of Reconstruction & Development 2) International Finance Commission 3) International Development Association.

· Head-Quarter of IMF & World Bank: IMF: Washington DC, World Bank: Washington DC.

· “World Development Report” is an annual Publication of: International Bank of Reconstruction & Development.

· Human Development Index comprises of: Literacy Rates, Life Expectancy at Birth & Gross Domestic Product per head at real purchasing power.

The “Year of Great Divide” refers to: Rapid growth rate in population after 1921, so the year of 1921 is called "The Year Of Great divide”.
· Types of Unemployments: Some of the most important types of unemployment are: 1. Frictional Unemployment, 2. Seasonal Unemployment, 3. Cyclical Unemployment, 4. Structural Unemployment, 5. Technological Unemployment and 6. Disguised Unemployment!

Unemployment in India - disguised and structural, Structural unemployment

Structural Employment: occurs when there is a shifting of resources from one sector to another sector.

Details of Five Year Plans:

A. First Five Year Plan:

It was made for the duration of 1951 to 1956.

II. It was based on the Harrod-Domar model.

III. Its main focus was on the agricultural development of the country.

IV. This plan was successful and achieved a growth rate of 3.6% (more than its target)
B. Second Five Year Plan:

I. It was made for the duration of 1956 to 1961.

II. It was based on the P.C. Mahalanobis Model.

III. Its main focus was on the industrial development of the country.

IV. This plan was successful and achieved a growth rate of 4.1%
C. Third Five Year Plan:

I. It was made for the duration of 1961 to 1966.

I This plan is called ‘Gadgil Yojna’ also.

III. The main target of this plan was to make the economy independent and to reach the self-active position of take-off.

I  D.Due to china war, this plan could not achieve its growth target of 5.6%
  Plan Holiday:

****. The duration of the plan holiday was from 1966 to 1969.
I I. The main reason behind the plan holiday was the Indo-Pakistan war & failure of the third plan.

III. During this plan, annual plans were made and equal priority was given to agriculture its allied sectors, and the industry sector.
E. Fourth Five Year Plan:

I. Its duration was from 1969 to 1974.

II. There were two main objectives of this plan i.e. growth with stability and progressive achievement of self-reliance.

III. During this plan, the slogan of “Garibi Hatao” is given during the 1971 elections by Indira Gandhi.

IV. This plan failed and could achieve a growth rate of 3.3% only against the target of 5.7%.
F. Rolling Plan: This plan was started with an annual plan for 1978-79 and as a continuation of the terminated fifth-five year plan.

G . Sixth Five Year Plan:

I. Its duration was from 1980 to 1985.

II. The basic objective of this plan was poverty eradication and technological self-reliance.

III. It was based on investment Yojna, infrastructural changing and trend to the growth model.

IV. Its growth target was 5.2% but it achieved 5.7%.

H. Seventh Five Year Plan:

I. Its duration was from 1985 to 1990.
II. The objectives of this plan include the establishment of a self-sufficient economy, opportunities for productive employment.

III. For the first time, the private sector got priority over the public sector.

IV. Its growth target was 5.0% but it achieved 6.0%.

Annual Plans: Eighth five Plan could not take place due to the volatile political situation at the center. So two annual programs are formed in 1990-91& 1991-92.
  I. Eighth Five Year Plan:

I. Its duration was from 1992 to 1997.

II. In this plan, the top priority was given to the development of human resources i.e. employment, education, and public health.

III. During this plan, Narasimha Rao Govt. launched the New Economic Policy of India.

IV. This plan was successful and got an annual growth rate of 6.8% against the target of 5.6%.

J. Ninth Five Year Plan:

I. Its duration was from 1997 to 2002.

II. The main focus of this plan was “growth with justice and equity”.

III. It was launched in the 50th year of independence of India.

I IV. This plan failed to achieve the growth target of 7% and grow only at the rate of 5.6%.
K. Tenth Five Year Plan:
I. Its duration was from 2002 to 2007.

II. This plan aims to double the Per Capita Income of India in the next 10 years.

III. It aims to reduce the poverty ratio of 15% by 2012.

IV. Its growth target was 8.0% but it achieved only 7.2%.
L. Eleventh Five Year Plan:

IIts duration was from 2007 to 2012.

II. It was prepared by the C. Rangarajan.

III. Its main theme was “faster and more inclusive growth”

IV. Its growth rate target was 8.1% but it achieved only 7.9%

M Twelfth Five Year Plan:

I. Its duration is from 2012 to 2017.

II. Its main theme is “Faster, More Inclusive and Sustainable Growth”.

III. Its growth rate target is 8%.

THAT WAS THE LAST FYP IN India.

· Planning In India:
First of all the idea of the planned economy was crystallized in the 1930s when our national leaders came under the influence of socialist

philosophy. India’s Five-year plans were very much impressed by the rapid strides achieved by the USSR through five years plans.

· Visvesvarya Plan

In 1934, Sir M. Visvesvaraya had published a book titled “Planned Economy in India”, in which he presented a constructive draft of the development of India in the next ten years. His core idea was to lay out a plan to shift labor from agriculture to industries and double up National income in ten years. This was the first concrete scholarly work toward planning. The economic perspective of India’s freedom movement was formulated during the thirties between 1931 Karachi session of Indian National Congress, 1936 Faizpur session of India National Congress.

· National Planning Committee:

The The first attempt to develop a national plan for India came up in 1938. In that year, Congress President Subhash Chandra Bose had set up a National Planning Committee with Jawaharlal Nehru as its president. However, the reports of the committee could not be prepared, and only for the first time in 1948 -49 some papers came out.

· Bombay Plan:-

In 1944 Eight Industrialists of Bombay viz. Mr. JRD Tata, GD Birla, Purshottamdas Thakurdas, Lala Shriram, Kasturbhai Lalbhai, AD Shroff, Ardeshir Dalal, & John Mathai working together prepared “A Brief Memorandum Outlining a Plan of Economic Development for India”. This is known as “Bombay Plan”. This plan envisaged doubling the per capita income in 15 years and tripling the national income during this period Nehru did not officially accept the plan, yet many of the ideas of the plan were inculcated in other plans

· People’s Plan:

People’s plan was drafted by MN Roy. This plan was for ten years period and gave the greatest priority to Agriculture. Nationalization of all agriculture and production was the main feature of this plan. This plan was based on Marxist socialism and drafted by M N Roy on behalf of the Indian federation of Lahore.

· Gandhian Plan:

This the plan was drafted by Sriman Nayaran, principal of Wardha Commercial College. It emphasized the economic decentralization with primacy to rural development by developing the cottage industries.

· Sarvodaya Plan:

Sarvodaya Plan (1950) was drafted by Jaiprakash Narayan. This plan itself was inspired by Gandhian Plan and Sarvodaya Idea of Vinoba Bhave. This plan emphasized agriculture and small & cottage industries. It also suggested the freedom from foreign technology and stressed upon land reforms and decentralized participatory planning.

· Planning and Development Department:

In August 1944, The British India government set up “Planning and Development Department” under the charge of Ardeshir Dalal. But this department was abolished in 1946.

· Planning Advisory Board:

In October 1946, a planning advisory board was set up by the Interim Government to review the plans and future projects and make recommendations upon them.

· Planning Commission:

Immediately after independence in 1947, the Economic Programme Committee (EPC) was formed by the All India Congress Committee with Nehru as its chairman. This committee was to make a plan to balance private and public partnerships and urban and rural economies. In 1948, this committee recommended the forming of a planning commission. In March 1950, in pursuance of declared objectives of the Government to promote a rapid rise in the standard of living of the people by efficient exploitation of the resources of the country, increasing production and offering opportunities to all for employment in the service of the community, the Planning Commission was set up by a Resolution of the Government of India as an advisory and specialized institution. Planning Commission was an extra-constitutional body, charged with the responsibility of making an assessment of all resources of the country,

augmenting deficient resources, formulating plans for the most effective and balanced utilization of resources, and determining priorities. Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Chairman of the Planning Commission.

· National Development Council:

The government of India could take the initiative to set up the planning commission only under a provision in the constitution which made Economic & Social planning an item in the Concurrent List. The Resolution to set up a planning commission was actually based upon the assumption that the roots of Centre- State cooperation should be deeper. Later, in 1952, the setting up of the National Development Council was, in fact, a consequence of this provision.

· Ongoing Finance Commission: is the 14^th one. It is for 2015-2020. Its C.M. is V.Venugopal Das.

· Ginni Index: plots inequalities in Income

· Green Revolution: took place during 4^th Five year Plan.

· MSP( for 24 crops) is given by: commission for Agricultural Cost & Price [CACP].

· Tamilnadu: Has maximum no. of Enterprises & Small-Scale Industries.

· FERA: was led in 1973, was turned into FEMA in 1994.

· Golden Triangle: connects Bengaluru, Chennai & Trivandrum.

· Deccan Odyssey: a luxury Express, from Goa to Maharastra.

· North Railway Zone: has the largest Railway Route in India.

· Poverty line: is decided by NASSO

· “Garibi Hatao”: 1^st came in the 5^th Five-year plan.

· Five-year plan: India adopted from Russia.

· Calorie is used as a scale, Since: 6^th plan.

· 1^st Budget was presented during: Lord Canning

· 1^st Zero-based budget was led during : Rajiv Gandhi.

· Bank of Hindustan: 1770, Awadh Bank: 1831, Ahmedabad Bank: 1865

· Narsimha committee: recommended of Banks of the Private Sector.

· Inflation is measured on: WPI

· ISO9000: for quality standard. ISO14000: for Environment Conservation Management.

· SLR: the rate at which commercial banks provide credit to the Government.

· Participatory Notes: for FDI.

· Economy planning: is mentioned in 7^th Schedule & is in the Concurrent List.

· Five-year Plans & their Target:

Five Year Plan	Target	Five Year Plan	Target
1^st FYP	Community Development Program	3^rd FYP	Expansion of Basic Industries
2^nd FYP	Rapid Industrialization	4^th FYP	Self reliance & Growth for Stability

· Lorentz Curve: gives of Inequalities. It shows inequalities in the distribution of either wealth or income.

· Gini Coefficient: it is derived from the Lorentz Curve, measures the degree of equality across a given Population, Here, ‘O’ implies a perfect Equality as O % & ‘1’ shows perfect inequality as 100%.

· Eagel’s Law: Food expenditure starts declining as the Income starts rising.

· Loffer’s Curve: gives a relation between Tax Revenue & its Corresponding tax rates.
Few more points:

1). Unbalanced growth model -Mahalanobis model adopted during the second plan in India for development
2). Monterey policy now named as monetary and credit policy
3). Deficit financing is one of the major reasons for inflation in India.
4) the main source of savings - about 70% savings comes from the household sector
5) one word in stagflation- fall in employment with inflation
6) in India till now the only current account is fully convertible but in the capital account, there is controlled conversion of currency is allowed
7).FEMA - foreign exchange management act is related to currency conversion

· Poverty Line: 1^st time introduced in India in – 1971.

· Poverty Alleviation program, since: 5^th FYP.

· Inflation is measured from: WPI.

· GDP Deflector: = GDP (output)/GDP (Base Year)

· Consumer Price Index: measured on 1) Industrial Workers 2) Rural Workers & 3)Agricultural Labour.

· Base Years: for WPI- 2011-12 & for CPI- 2011-12.

· Headline Inflation: Headline inflation is the raw inflation figure reported through the Consumer Price Index (CPI) that is released monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Headline inflation is a measure of the total inflation within an economy, including commodities such as food and energy prices (e.g., oil and gas), which tend to be much more volatile and prone to inflationary spikes.

· Core Inflation: Core inflation is the change in the costs of goods and services but does not include those from the food and energy sectors. This measure of inflation excludes these items because their prices are much more volatile. It is most often calculated using the consumer price index, which is a measure of prices for goods and services.

· Inflation: Inflation is a quantitative measure of the rate at which the average price level of a basket of selected goods and services in an economy increases over some period of time. It is the rise in the general level of prices where a unit of currency effectively buys less than it did in prior periods. Often expressed as a percentage, inflation thus indicates a decrease in the purchasing power of a nation’s currency. Inflation can be contrasted with deflation, which occurs when prices instead of decline.

· Poverty Gap Index: The poverty gap index is a measure of the intensity of poverty. It is defined as the average poverty gap in the population as a proportion of the poverty line. The poverty gap index is an improvement over the poverty measure headcount ratio which simply counts all the people below a poverty line, in a given population, and considers them equally poor. The poverty gap index estimates the depth of poverty by considering how far, on average, the poor are from that poverty line.

· The Planning Commission: gives an estimate of Poors on NSSO, since 1991.

· Rangarajan Committee was on: Financial Inclusion.

· The committee was on Poverty: Lakdawala Committee, Prof. Suresh Tendulkar Committee, N.C. Saxena Committee, S.R. Hasim Committee.

· Meera Seth Committee: Recommended of Development of Handlooms.

· Backwash Effect: given by Gunnar Myrdal. Backwash occurs if the adverse effects dominate and the level of economic activity in the peripheral communities declines. The idea of backwash originated in international-trade theory in a book by Gunner Myrdal (1957). Backwash occurs if the adverse effects dominate and the level of economic activity in the peripheral communities declines.

· Gresham’s Law: Gresham's law is a monetary principle stating that "bad money drives out good." It is primarily used for consideration and application in Currency Markets.

=>Agriculture Pattern in India:

· Agriculture Income is calculated by: Expenditure Method.

· Paper Gold: Special Drawing Rights.

· The base year for National Income: 2011-12.

· Secretary of Planning commission is: Ex-officio Secretary of NDC, too.

· Break-Even Point: when the firm starts getting a normal profit.

· Head Quarter of SIDBI: Lucknow,

· Bhandari Committee: recommended of Regional Rural Banks.

· Tobin Tax: the flow of capital across the globe.

· Phillips Curve: gives the relation between Inflation & Unemployment.

· Bretton Woodschild: IMF & World Bank.
NABARD was set up on the recommendation of: Sivaraman Committee.
World Bank Head Quarter: Washington.

FDI in India: Mauritius has the highest FDI inflow (31% of the total Indian FDI) in India From April 2000 To December 2019. The Indian economy is composed of the three major sectors like i.e., Services sector, Industry sector, and Agriculture sector. The contribution of the Services sector in the Indian economy is around 54.30%.

The Value of India's Export stood at US$ 356.96 billion in between April-November 2019.

Status of Indian Economy In the world: India's economy has become the 5th largest economy (in terms of nominal GDP) in the world.

The size of major economies of the world is as follows; (in terms of Nominal GDP-IMF Estimates 2019)

1. U.S.A - $21.43 trillion. 2. China - $14.14 trillion.

3. Japan - $5.15 trillion. 4. Germany - $3.86 trillion.

Countrywise FDI in India

Country	FDI inflow (Rs crore)	% Share
1. Mauritius	790,280.98	31.07
2.Singapore	587,820.17	20.72
3.Japan	193,069.72	7.24
4.Netherland	186,963.20	6.76
5.U.S.A	165,967.16	6.21
6.United Kingdom	148,437.69	6.12
7.Germany	68,050.40	2.64
8.Cyprus	53,230.40	2.21
9.France	40,038.02	1.55
10.UAE	41,168.87	1.51

External Debt on India: USD 557.4 billion (March 2020)
Gold Reserves in India: 618.16 Tonnes Q4 quarter of 2019
Per Capita GDP in India: US$ 2171 International Monetary Fund (2019)
Census in India is being held regularly after every 10 years.
Maastricht Treaty provided for a common currency for the member countries of the European Community.
In 1972 and 1973 years the cooking coals and non-cocking coal mines in India are nationalized.
The term NSDL stands for National Securities Depository Limited.
The Mumbai Stock Exchange was set up in the year 1875.
State Financial Corporations give assistance mainly to develop small and medium scale industries.
TRYSEM took a launch with the objective of helping the poor in rural areas to become self-employed.
The mining of coal started in the year 1774 in Raniganj.
The Chota Nagpur Plateau is famous for its mineral deposits in Jharkhand.
Maharashtra has the largest number of cotton textile mills·
Population-Increase: 1,326,093,247 (2020 est.)
GDP- Increase: $3.202 trillion (nominal; 2020 est.) an Increase $11.321 trillion (PPP; 2020 est.)
GDP rank: 5th (nominal; 2019), 3rd (PPP; 2020)
GDP growth: 6.1% (2018) 4.2% (2019); 1.9% (2020e) 7.4% (2021e)
GDP per capita: Increase $2,338 (nominal; 2020 est.); Increase $9,027 (PPP; 2020 est.)
GDP per capita rank: 139th (nominal; 2019); 118th (PPP; 2019)
GDP by sector: Agriculture: 15.4%; Industry: 23%; Services: 61.5% (2017 est.)
GDP by component: Household consumption: 59.1%; Government consumption: 11.5%; Investment in fixed capital: 28.5%; Investment in inventories: 3.9%;
Exports of goods and services: 19.1%; Imports of goods and services: −22% (2017 est.).
Inflation (CPI): - Negative increase 6.58% (February 2020); 3.3% (2020 est.);
Base borrowing rate: Steady 6.0% (as on 12 July 2019);
Population below poverty line: Positive decrease 6.3% on poverty (2017-18); Positive decrease 3% in extreme poverty (December 2018);(World Poverty Clock esti.)
Gini coefficient: 33.9 medium (2013)
Human Development Index: Increase 0.647 medium (2018) (129th); 0.477 low IHDI (2018);
Labour force: Increase 519,469,299 (2019); 45.4% employment rate (2018);
Labour force by occupation: Agriculture: 44%; Industry: 25%; Services: 31% (FY 2018)
Unemployment : Negative increase 6.1% (FY 2018); 22.5% youth unemployment (2018)
Main industries: Textiles, chemicals, food processing, agribusiness, handicrafts, petroleum, petrochemicals, gems and jewelry, leather, iron, ore, steel, aluminum, cement, mining, metals, retail, machinery, information technology, construction, financial services, electric power, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, automotive, telecommunications, real estate, paper, transportation, equipment.
Ease-of-doing-business rank: Increase 63rd (easy, 2020)·
Some of the recent initiatives and developments undertaken by the government are listed below:
India is expected to attract investment of around US$ 100 billion in developing the oil and gas infrastructure over the next five years.
With the help of the new agriculture export policy, the Agri exports from India is likely to reach the export target of US$ 60 billion by the year 2022.
In India, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), the flagship initiative of NITI Aayog, launched the Atal Community Innovation Centre (ACIC) program in NITI Aayog which aims at spurring community Innovation in underserved and unserved areas of the country.
National Institute for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog released a strategic document titled 'Strategy for New India @75' to help India become a US$ 4 trillion economy by FY23.
The Government of India is going to increase public health spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2025.
For the implementation of Agriculture Export Policy, the government has approved an outlay Rs 206.8 crore (US$ 29.59 million) for 2019, aimed at doubling farmer's income by 2022.
Government is planning to launch Bharatcraft portal, an e-commerce marketing platform to market and sell the products.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), the government has sanctioned more than 96.50 Lakh houses under PMAY(U) and approved 606 proposals for the construction of 3,31,075 houses with an overall investment of Rs 15,125 crore (US$ 2.16 billion).
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved to increase the authorized capital of Food Corporation of India (FCI) from existing Rs 3,500 crore (US$ 500.79 million) to Rs 10,000 crore (US$ 1.43 billion).
India has registered a 26.9 percent reduction in Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) since 2013: Sample Registration System Bulletin-2016.
Around 26.02 million households have been electrified as on 31^st March 2019 under the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA).
Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) will be continued with an outlay of Rs 5,500 crore (US$ 755.36 million) for three years from 2017-18 to 2019-20, according to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
As per the Union Budget 2019-20, public sector banks (PSBs) will be provided with a capital infusion of Rs 70,000 crore (US$ 10.02 billion), allowing NBFCs to raise foreign debt.
The mid-term review of India's Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20 has been released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, under which annual incentives for labor intensive MSME sectors have been increased by 2 percent.
Under the scheme Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY-III), the government plans to spend Rs 50,250 crore (US$ 7.19 billion) to build roads to boost rural connectivity.

Indian Forex reserve: India's foreign exchange reserves rose by over $8.223 billion during the week ended June 5 to cross the $500 billion mark. According to the RBI's weekly statistical supplement, the overall forex reserves increased to $501.703 billion from $493.480 billion reported for the week ended May 29. India's forex reserves comprise foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold reserves, special drawing rights (SDRs) and India's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

=Food Security: Its implementation=>