Air pollution response: coordinated emergency plans and incentives to curb agricultural burning and vehicle emissions.
The Survey attributes Delhi's worsening air quality to agricultural residue burning, biomass and vehicular emissions, industrial sources and adverse meteorology, and urges coordination between agencies and Central and State governments. It prescribes a short-term emergency plan triggered by high 24 hour PM2.5 levels with penalties for agricultural burning, satellite fire detection and farmer incentives, plus medium- and long-term measures such as congestion pricing, public transport modernization, phasing out old vehicles, adoption of cleaner vehicle standards, and incentivised technological solutions for agricultural-waste management implemented via cooperatives and local bodies.

Services export incentives under SEIS increased to boost sectors such as tourism and healthcare, supporting trade balance improvements.
The Government's mid-term review of the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 raised rates under the Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) by two percentage points, providing additional annual incentives to support sectors including hotel and restaurant, healthcare and education services. In H1 2017-18 services exports and imports grew strongly, net services receipts rose, and the services surplus financed about half of India's merchandise deficit, though global uncertainty and protectionism may affect future export performance.

Services sector dominance: majority of GSVA in many states; wide variation in state-level share and growth.
Services Sector dominance is evident in 15 of 32 States and Union Territories, each recording more than half of Gross State Value Added (GSVA) from services. The principal service components are trade, hotels and restaurants, real estate, ownership of dwellings and business services. Significant interstate variation exists in both services' share of GSVA and their growth rates in the latest available year.

FDI equity inflows to services rose after liberalising reforms, expanding automatic route access and digitalised FDI processing.
FDI equity inflows to the services sector rose 15.0 percent in 2017-18 (April-October) following policy reforms including an IPR policy, GST implementation, ease of doing business measures, and e filing/online processing of FDI applications; over 90 percent of inflows currently use the automatic route, with recent liberalisation measures such as 100 percent automatic FDI for single brand retail and foreign airlines permitted up to 49 percent in Air India. Using a defined set of top service sectors, services comprised 65.8 percent of FDI equity inflows in April-October 2017-18 (56.6 percent cumulatively), rising when related sectors are included.

Services sector growth supported by policy initiatives to boost exports, digitalisation, housing and sectoral competitiveness.
The Services sector was the principal driver of GVA growth, and the Government has deployed a range of policy initiatives-digitization, e visa expansion, logistics infrastructure classification, start up support and housing schemes-to boost services performance and exports. Targeted sectoral measures include tourism promotion via e visa and media campaigns, IT BPM support through BPO promotion and digital skills programmes, real estate reforms for affordable housing and regulatory transparency, R&D investment and schemes to spur scientific and technical services, and expanded commercial satellite launch services to increase export earnings.

Sanitation coverage in rural India rose to 76% and ODF areas show positive health and household economic benefits.
The Economic Survey 2017-18 records that rural sanitation coverage rose from 39% to 76% following the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), reducing rural open defecation from 550 million to 250 million; 296 districts and 307,349 villages are declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) and surveys report over 90% toilet usage among those with access. The Survey links these sanitation gains to positive health outcomes and household-level economic benefits, citing UNICEF's estimate that an ODF household may save about Rs. 50,000 annually from avoided medical costs, time savings, property value increases, and the value of saved lives.

Fiscal federalism must be strengthened by devolving and utilising local taxation powers and accountability to avoid a low equilibrium trap.
The Survey finds rural and many state governments heavily dependent on devolved transfers and generating minimal own-source and direct-tax revenue due to constrained or underutilised local taxation powers, low property valuation and tax rates, and uneven devolution; it warns that an expanding GST could strengthen centralised revenue reliance and calls for better data, empirical evaluation of constitutional devolution reforms, and policy measures to enhance local taxation utilisation and accountability to avoid a persistent low equilibrium trap.

Education: Economic Survey highlights progress on universal primary education, PTR/SCR compliance and improved gender parity.
The Economic Survey 2017-18 reports the Government's commitment to achieving SDG-4, noting significant improvements in primary and elementary enrolment and completion rates, and an increased share of schools meeting Student Classroom Ratio (SCR) and Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) norms, while recording inter state variations in adherence to those norms and improvements in Gender Parity Index (GPI) aided by programmes like Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao.

Tech-enabled labour compliance enhances transparency and accountability in enforcement while streamlining statutory obligations.
Tech-enabled platforms are identified as tools to reduce compliance complexity and enhance transparency and accountability in labour law enforcement. Specific initiatives named include Shram Suvidha Portal, Ease of Compliance for statutory registers, Universal Account Number and the National Career Service portal, all aimed at streamlining compliance, improving monitoring, and strengthening enforcement of labour standards. These digital reforms are presented alongside programmatic employment support to promote livelihoods in the informal sector.

Sustainable development health targets reaffirmed; commitment to strengthen delivery systems and reduce out of pocket health expenses.
Reaffirms commitment to achieve Sustainable Development Goal health targets and alignments with the National Health Policy. Notes a shift to non communicable diseases, identifies key risk factors including maternal and child malnutrition and environmental and lifestyle risks, and endorses the Disability Adjusted Life Years framework to analyse burden. Calls for strengthening health delivery systems to pursue universal health coverage, increasing State health spending, assessing public spending efficiency against DALY outcomes, and standardising diagnostic pricing to reduce out of pocket expenses.

Trade policy: FTP mid-term measures and a leather sector package aim to boost exports; WTO talks ended without consensus.
The mid-term review of the Foreign Trade Policy introduced measures to support trade and was followed by a special employment package for the leather and footwear sector to boost exports. The WTO Eleventh Ministerial Conference ended without a declaration; India affirmed core WTO principles including multilateralism, rule-based decision making, independent dispute resolution, Doha's development focus, and special and differential treatment for developing countries. India's foreign exchange reserves increased to about US$409.4 billion by end-December 2017, rising further to US$413.8 billion by January 2018, with import cover around eleven months.

Patent system reform: expedited filings and increased examiners to strengthen domestic innovation incentives and patent grants.
Patent activity shows a gap between international and domestic performance: resident filings and grants in India have lagged despite growth abroad. Administrative measures - increased numbers of patent examiners and an expedited filing system for domestic applicants - aim to address examination bottlenecks and strengthen the domestic patent regime, while further attention to patent litigation is identified as necessary to ensure the system rewards innovation.

India's external sector stayed resilient despite a widening trade deficit and mixed export performance in 2017-18.
India's external sector remained resilient in 2017-18 with a comfortable balance of payments despite quarterly CAD variation. The trade deficit widened markedly on a customs basis due to increases in both POL and non-POL deficits, while exports showed mixed sectoral performance - strong in engineering and petroleum products, moderate in chemicals and textiles, and negative in gems and jewellery. Prospects are supported by stronger world trade, improving demand, rising remittances and domestic measures including goods and services tax and trade facilitation, with higher oil prices the main downside risk.

Knowledge production urged to shift India from consumer to producer to underpin science-driven development and security.
The Economic Survey urges India to shift from being a net consumer to a net producer of knowledge by expanding research capacity, attracting youth to scientific careers, and increasing investment in science and R&D to support development, human security, climate resilience, and protection against emerging technological threats.

Atal Pension Yojana expansion through small finance and payment banks to widen subscriber outreach and enrollment.
Atal Pension Yojana (APY) will be offered through newly licensed Small Finance Banks and Payment Banks to strengthen distribution channels and expand subscriber outreach; participation is expected to support social security goals while providing sustainable fee income to banks via advertised incentives. The pension regulator conducted an orientation for these banks to discuss implementation and enrolment processes, and the newly operational banks have responded positively to the initiative.

Official development loan to finance Bengaluru water and sewerage infrastructure, improving services and local investment environment.
Japan has extended an Official Development Assistance loan to finance the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Project (Phase 3), with exchange of notes between Indian and Japanese officials. The loan will fund construction of a water treatment plant and sewage treatment plants in the BBMP area to provide safe, stable water supply and sewerage services for about 110 villages, aiming to improve residents' living conditions and the local investment environment.

Retrospective tax demand challenged under investment treaty, seeking withdrawal or compensation for seized shares and dividends.
A multinational oil company initiated investor-state arbitration under the UK-India Bilateral Investment Treaty challenging a retrospective tax assessment and related enforcement measures, alleging unlawful expropriation, denial of fair and equitable treatment, and restrictions on transfer of funds through attachment of its minority shareholding and seizure of dividends, and seeking withdrawal of the tax demand or compensation for the asserted losses; the tribunal scheduled a final hearing with expedited award drafting.

Tax compliance drive showcased at a national parade, promoting a fair, transparent and non-intrusive tax administration for public awareness.
Income Tax Department will present a tableau on the Operation Clean Money initiative at the Republic Day parade to publicize a tax-compliance agenda promoting a fair, transparent and non-intrusive tax administration, and officers and staff are invited to watch the parade or telecast and to cheer the tableau.

Income tax exemption increase proposed to broaden taxpayer relief and encourage savings ahead of the national budget.
Proposal to raise the income tax exemption threshold to broaden taxpayer relief and reflect higher disposable incomes, increase the deductible limit for housing loan interest for existing borrowers, raise the withholding threshold on bank deposit interest, shorten lock in on tax saving term deposits to three years and include them under an EEE tax regime, alongside budget priorities for agriculture price support, capital subsidy or concessional funding for delayed projects, and formal sector payroll transparency to support inclusive growth.

Loan agreement for peri-urban water supply increases access and mandates metered connections, volumetric tariffs, and O&M cost recovery.
Loan agreement establishes financing and policy measures to expand peri-urban water supply in Uttarakhand by developing a service-oriented policy, funding master-plans, strengthening monitoring and evaluation, increasing piped-network coverage and metered connections, and improving operation and management to ensure reliable, quality-assured service delivery with volumetric tariffs and O&M cost recovery through user charges and transparent subsidies where applicable.