Regulatory governance reforms: non-legislative measures to boost consumer protection, transparency, and consultative rulemaking in finance.
Regulators implemented the non-legislative aspects of the FSLRC recommendations focusing on governance enhancements: strengthened consumer protection, greater transparency via clearer reporting and regulator-regulated interfaces, and more open rulemaking through mandatory public consultations and required cost-benefit analysis. The measures address market gaps by noting household exclusion from parts of the financial system and the need to develop a capable bond market for infrastructure financing.

Biometric identification enables targeted cash transfers to reduce subsidy leakage and preserve market price signals for efficiency.
Subsidy programmes distort market prices and resource allocation and often fail to reach the poor. Biometric identification paired with mobile payment delivery enables household-level targeting and direct cash transfers, reducing administrative overhead and leakage while preserving price signals. Replacing universal price subsidies with targeted biometric-authenticated cash payments restores incentives, improves fiscal efficiency, and better achieves poverty-reduction goals.

National Pension System expansion: statutory backing for PFRDA enables wider voluntary coverage and scheme extension.
The PFRDA Act grants statutory status to the regulator, enabling expansion of the National Pension System as an individual-account, defined-contribution scheme opened voluntarily to all citizens and already showing substantial enrollment and asset growth; separately, the Swavalamban Scheme for unorganized workers has been extended to continue co-contribution benefits for specified beneficiary cohorts through 2016-17.

Agriculture sector growth signals stronger domestic production and rising exports, with improved productivity and expanded cropped area.
Agriculture performance shows record production in foodgrains, oilseeds and pulses, notable crop productivity gains, expanded area under foodgrains and oilseeds, higher central pool stocks and increased net per capita availability. Exports and allied outputs, including marine products and milk, grew while credit to the sector exceeded targets. Concurrently, the sector's share of GDP declined and the number of cultivators fell, reflecting structural changes in employment and economic contribution.

Revival of corporate investment is needed to restore industrial growth by removing infrastructure bottlenecks and pushing reforms.
Industrial growth requires revival through increased private corporate sector investment, accelerated critical reforms, and removal of infrastructure bottlenecks. Contraction in mining and deceleration in manufacturing have driven poor performance, with declining capital goods production, underutilisation in steel and cement, and weakening corporate sales. Policy should prioritise near term stimulation of corporate investment and targeted reforms, focus on labour intensive and resource based manufacturing for the informal sector, and pursue a medium term shift toward higher tech, higher value added, and higher productivity manufacturing.

Freedom to trade across state lines enables a national agricultural market and can override restrictive state market laws.
Parliament can enact national market legislation to secure the freedom to buy and sell agricultural produce across state lines, overriding restrictive state APMC laws and trade barriers so that APMCs become one of many competitive trading venues. The national framework may also provide for a Commission to monitor anti-competitive practices and implement public-goods measures in knowledge, futures regulation, and warehousing to address market failures.

Human development consideration to guide social sector programme design and state fund devolution criteria across states.
The Economic Survey 2013-14 recommends incorporating human development metrics into design and implementation of social sector programmes and into criteria for devolution of funds to states, based on inter state comparisons showing divergent performance across demographic, growth, poverty and health indicators and uneven implementation of primary health facilities under NRHM.

Investment in social infrastructure to unlock the demographic dividend, paired with scheme convergence and delivery reform.
India must invest substantially in social infrastructure, skill development and women's empowerment to convert its demographic dividend into development; this requires time bound interventions in health, education and vocational training. Fiscal reform through a zero budgeting approach, scheme revamp and convergence is recommended to replace incremental budgeting. To close the gap between outlays and outcomes the document urges leveraging technology, simplifying governance, increasing beneficiary participation, improving public access to entitlement information, and real devolution of funds, functions and functionaries to Panchayati Raj Institutions for better planning, execution and social audit.

Structural shift to higher-tech manufacturing: prioritize investment in technology, R&D and skills to boost competitiveness and exports.
Promote a medium-term structural shift in manufacturing toward higher-tech, higher value-added, and higher-productivity sectors by increasing public and private investment in technology upgradation, research and development, innovation, and skill development; balance employment needs by strengthening labour-absorbing sectors while building capabilities in capital- and technology-intensive industries to capture global demand and support capital accumulation and the national knowledge base.

Credit deployment to industries moderated while agriculture, services and small enterprise lending gained momentum.
Bank credit deployment to industries moderated in 2013-14 with overall industrial credit growth lower than prior years, while credit to agriculture, services and personal loans increased. Medium and large industries saw comparatively lower gross bank credit, micro and small enterprises showed robust growth, mining credit was near stagnant, and the power sector registered a notable rise in lending. Several industrial subsectors including petroleum, chemicals, basic metals, transport and engineering experienced lower credit growth due to sectoral slowdowns.

Industrial upturn depends on policy environment and investment revival, with early indicators pointing to manufacturing and infrastructure recovery.
Industrial upturn is conditional on an improved policy environment and a swift return to higher investment rates; recent data show marginally higher manufacturing PMI, stronger domestic and export orders, improvements in power generation and production in key commodity sectors, rising rail freight earnings and exports, and growth in core infrastructural industries and overall industrial production, supporting an expectation of gradual industrial revival over the next two years.

Responsible fiscal policy framework should adapt to cyclical risks, mandate enforceable penalties, and protect households.
Revision of the fiscal policy framework is required because past inflation episodes reduced the real value of central government debt while harming household welfare. The article recommends that a redesigned FRBM Act incorporate business cycle adjustments, recognise inflation's asymmetric effects, and provide sufficiently strong, enforceable penalties so fiscal rules cannot be ignored.

National Dairy Plan strengthens milk productivity, infrastructure and market access under targeted dairy development and breeding measures.
India achieved record milk production in 2012-13 at 132.43 mt, underpinning rural household incomes and female workforce participation; horticulture productivity rose to exceed foodgrains and oilseeds, while fisheries and aquaculture continued to contribute materially to agricultural output.

Regulatory reform for small businesses: streamlined rules, online compliance, self certification and remedial periods to ease compliance.
The document advocates a programme to improve the small business environment by centralising regulatory information, repealing obsolete rules, strengthening inspection grievance mechanisms, moving compliance to online reporting, delegating inspection decisions to senior officers, and instituting self certification and third party certification. It proposes remedial windows before penalties, use it or lose it land policies, and an Apprenticeship Act amendment; mid term sharing of best practices and a model regulatory framework for industrial zones; and a long term committee to overhaul laws on taxation, labour, environment and safety.

Minimum Support Price increases and targeted oilseeds missions drove higher foodgrain and oilseed production in 2013 14.
Record foodgrain and oilseed production in 2013-14 was achieved mainly through expanded acreage and policy measures rather than widespread yield improvement; notable crop yield shifts included a large increase for Groundnut and a decline for Gram. Policy measures referenced include the ISOPOM scheme and the Twelfth Plan Technology Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm, together with increases in Minimum Support Prices for select crops that influenced production incentives.

National investment and manufacturing zones drive manufacturing growth via corridor development, master plans, and feasibility studies.
Government policy advances National Investment and Manufacturing Zones as instruments to increase manufacturing's GDP share and employment under the National Manufacturing Policy. Sixteen NIMZs are being established, some along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor; additional sites have received in-principle approval. Implementation rests on completed master plans, ongoing land acquisition, early-bird project identification, investment decisions by implementing corporations, and parallel feasibility studies and institutional arrangements for complementary industrial corridors.

Carbon space and development space must be allocated to developing countries to ensure fair burden sharing in climate deals.
Global climate agreements must secure equitable allocation of carbon space and development space for developing countries, recognising differentiated responsibilities and capabilities in post 2020 pledges. The text stresses rising human induced greenhouse gas emissions, India's comparatively low per capita emissions alongside national low carbon measures, and the large estimated costs of low carbon strategies that heighten the need for additional international finance and credible capitalization of climate funds.

Industrial policy focus on manufacturing revival through investment zones, private investment revival, and infrastructure reform.
Industrial activity was weak with slowing growth and moderated bank credit expansion; FDI remained an important financing source. The government announced establishment of national investment and manufacturing zones, including locations along a major industrial corridor, to bolster manufacturing. Policy priorities set out include revival of private corporate investment, prompt implementation of critical reforms, and removal of infrastructure bottlenecks. The industrial outlook is conditional on policy improvements and a return to higher investment rates to support gradual recovery.

Trade deficit reduction signals improved external position as exports rise and imports decline following policy measures.
The trade deficit narrowed substantially with further quarterly decline, reflecting an improved external position. Exports returned to positive growth including double digit expansion in May, while imports contracted markedly, continuing a prior slowdown. Government intervention significantly reduced gold and silver imports, materially lowering overall import values and affecting the balance of trade.

Fiscal consolidation: containment of deficit through higher tax to GDP ratio favoured over expenditure cuts, with inflation moderating.
Fiscal consolidation is framed as the principal policy objective, with the Economic Survey reporting containment of the 2013-14 fiscal deficit and urging consolidation through a higher tax to GDP ratio rather than chiefly by cutting expenditure. The Survey attributes consolidation to proactive policy action and records a decline in central and state governments' outstanding liabilities as a share of GDP. It also highlights moderating Wholesale and Consumer Price Inflation, expected to continue downward.