Investment promotion through infrastructure financing and incentives aims to unlock private capital and boost domestic manufacturing.
Union Budget 2021-22 prioritises investment-led growth by raising capital expenditure and expanding the National Infrastructure Pipeline, paired with institutional financing measures and creation of a Development Finance Institution. It advances private financing through Public Private Partnership projects and selected divestments, and promotes domestic manufacturing via Production Linked Incentive schemes and customs duty adjustments. The Budget also eases compliance thresholds for small companies and extends labour and social security measures, including a national portal for unorganised and migrant workers and coverage for gig and platform workers.

Agriculture Export Policy expands high-value and value-added agricultural exports and identifies product-district export clusters to boost farmers' incomes.
The Agriculture Export Policy establishes a strategic framework to diversify and boost high-value and value-added agricultural exports, address sanitary and phytosanitary barriers, pursue market access, integrate with global value chains, and enable farmers to benefit from overseas markets. The Policy operationalises these objectives by identifying indicative product-district clusters selected for export promotion based on production endowments, scalability, market share and export growth potential.

Export promotion measures extended and new incentive RoDTEP launched to boost exports and FTA utilisation.
India announced export support measures including extension of the Foreign Trade Policy and the Interest Equalization Scheme for export credit, launch of the RoDTEP incentive scheme, and a Common Digital Platform for Certificates of Origin, together with sectoral policies (Agriculture Export Policy, services action plans), district export hub promotion, enhanced diplomatic trade promotion, and MSME focused pandemic relief.

Trade Policy Review: WTO scrutiny raised tariff and agricultural support queries; India affirms policy rationale and WTO compliance.
WTO members raised queries about India's recent adjustments to applied import duties, MFN applied tariff levels, and agricultural support such as the MSP. India states that applied customs duties are calibrated to further domestic economic objectives and that import duties have been rationalized in certain sectors. India affirms that its agricultural support programmes, including MSP, comply with the Agreement on Agriculture and are being notified to the WTO; replies were provided during the Trade Policy Review.

Trade deficit focus: measures to facilitate exporters and promote domestic manufacturing to rebalance bilateral trade with trading partner.
The document reports trade deficit figures and describes government efforts to rebalance bilateral trade by addressing non tariff barriers, signing export enabling protocols for selected agricultural products, facilitating Buyers Seller Meets and trade fair participation, sensitizing Export Promotion Councils, and promoting domestic manufacturing through ease of doing business and infrastructure provision.

Export promotion measures expanded to include fiscal remission, credit support, digital trade facilitation and sectoral export initiatives.
A suite of policy measures has been deployed to stimulate export growth through trade facilitation, fiscal support and targeted sectoral initiatives. Key actions include the launch of the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme, extension of the Foreign Trade Policy and interest equalization on rupee export credit, a Common Digital Platform for Certificates of Origin, district export hub promotion, an Agriculture Export Policy, champion services sector plans, enhanced diplomatic trade promotion and pandemic relief measures for exporters and MSMEs.

Regulatory and policy measures bolster core industry recovery after pandemic disruptions, combining incentives, reforms and compliance relief.
Production in the Eight Core Industries fell sharply after the nationwide lockdown and began recovering from May 2020; declines are attributed to reduced consumption and investment and lockdown related supply disruptions. The Government responded with demand and supply side measures including Public Procurement support, National Infrastructure Pipeline acceleration, Production Linked Incentives, a comprehensive stimulus with structural reforms (agriculture deregulation, revised MSME definition, coal commercialization, higher FDI in select sectors, industrial land banks, and infrastructure scheme revamps), regulatory reliefs for compliance and tax deadlines, institutional project facilitation, and targeted trade protection measures.

Export hub development: district-level product identification and export promotion to scale local manufacturers and generate employment.
The One District One Product initiative aims to identify district-level products with export potential and convert districts into export hubs by addressing export bottlenecks, supporting local exporters and manufacturers to scale up, preparing Export Action Plans, and coordinating state and district institutional mechanisms to promote manufacturing, services, and employment.

Export Promotion Strategy to boost cereals, floriculture and seeds exports through a multi-year action plan and stakeholder coordination.
APEDA will develop a Perspective Action Plan for 2021-2026 to operationalise promotional measures, coordinate with trade stakeholders, and set time bound tasks for concerned parties; the plan targets cereals (including Non Basmati rice and millets), floriculture and seeds as priority sectors for increasing exports through focused interventions and stakeholder engagement.

Customs duty rationalization and ADD/CVD streamlining to improve raw material access and boost export oriented manufacturing.
Budget 2021-22 proposes infrastructure and regulatory measures to boost exports and manufacturing: creation of seven Mega Investment Textile Parks, investment in major fishing harbours and a seaweed park, expansion of Operation Green to 22 perishables, and enhanced support for Agriculture Export Policy and Transport and Marketing Assistance. It also rationalises customs duties to ease access to critical raw materials and reduces rates on certain items including gold and silver, while streamlining anti-dumping and countervailing duty provisions, mandating advance filing of bills of entry, and allocating welfare funding for tea workers.

Growth-led debt sustainability: active, counter-cyclical fiscal policy and public investment to support recovery and resilience.
The Survey advocates a calibrated policy mix of early containment, staged fiscal and monetary support, and medium-term structural reforms to secure a V-shaped recovery while protecting productive capacity. It emphasises active, counter-cyclical fiscal policy and public investment under the National Infrastructure Pipeline to promote growth and thereby support debt sustainability, warns against prolonged regulatory forbearance with a recommended immediate Asset Quality Review after its withdrawal, and prioritises scaling up healthcare spending, private-sector innovation, agricultural resilience, export promotion and targeted social protection as core components of recovery.

Agricultural reform market freedom expands farmer access to private markets, credit and risk mitigation support.
The Survey describes government promotion of market freedom through three agricultural reform statutes to benefit small and marginal farmers by liberalising APMC constraints, alongside reforms in the Essential Commodities framework and agricultural marketing. It highlights the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, credit expansion and inclusion of livestock and fishers in the Kisan Credit Card scheme, and outlines risk mitigation and transfer programmes including crop insurance, PM KISAN and expanded foodgrain distribution under PM GKAY.

Sovereign credit ratings underestimated India's fundamentals; Survey urges transparent, objective methodology and resistance to pro cyclical pressures.
The Survey finds sovereign credit ratings systematically underrate India relative to fundamentals-across growth, fiscal, external and institutional indicators-and urges that sovereign credit rating methodology be made more transparent and objective to reflect willingness and ability to pay, noting India's zero default history, low external sovereign debt and substantial reserve adequacy that mitigate default risk.

Food inflation easing signals likely moderation in overall inflation as supply interventions and measurement reforms take effect.
Overall inflation is expected to moderate as food inflation eases and supply side restrictions unwind. The Survey links elevated headline CPI combined inflation to supply disruptions and higher food prices while WPI remained benign. It endorses short term measures-PSF interventions, buffer stocks, export and import adjustments-and medium term investments in cold storage and post harvest technology. For policy and measurement, it recommends focusing on core inflation, revising the CPI base year to reflect changed consumption patterns, and incorporating e commerce price data into price indices.

Current account surplus driven by import contraction and export-support measures reshapes external sector stability and policy focus.
India's merchandise trade deficit narrowed as imports fell more sharply than exports, driven by a decline in POL imports and later recovery in non-POL exports; services receipts and remittances supported external receipts, producing a current account surplus in the first half. Robust FDI and FPI inflows bolstered reserves and improved debt vulnerability indicators even as debt service costs rose. Central bank interventions moderated exchange-rate volatility while policy measures-PLI, export duty remission, logistics and digital initiatives-are presented as structural complements to macroeconomic management.

V-shaped recovery confirmed as industrial output rebounds, supported by stimulus, MSME relief and manufacturing incentives.
Rising IIP and eight-core indices confirm a broad-based V-shaped recovery in industrial activity, driven by increased weights of items recording growth and progressive unlocking. The government's remedial and reform package under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, targeted MSME credit support, and the Production Linked Incentive Scheme are operative policy measures bolstering manufacturing, exports and demand. Strengthening FDI inflows, regulatory simplification, and planned fiscal and capital expenditure are identified as complementary factors to consolidate recovery and expand industrial capacity.

Sustainable Development integration: policy and finance measures to mainstream SDGs and mobilise climate finance for national action.
Sustainable development is central to India's strategy, with SDG mainstreaming through the Voluntary National Review, state and district localisation, and private sector participation; climate action requires integrated domestic and international finance with global consensus on climate finance definitions and mechanisms; and sustainable finance measures include responsible financing guidelines, priority sector lending for renewables, a prospective Social Stock Exchange, and expansion of the green bond market.

Illicit heroin importation intercepted at an international airport, triggering NDPS and Customs prosecution and investigation.
Air customs officers intercepted two foreign passengers and recovered multiple pouches of a white powder that diagnostic testing indicated was prima facie heroin of commercial quantity. The seizure is treated as contravention of the prohibition on possession and transportation of narcotic drugs and as an offence attracting prosecution under the narcotics penal provisions read with customs law, and further investigation is ongoing.

Direct agri-export facilitation enables Varanasi airport to clear perishables for international shipment, improving market access for farmers.
An APEDA initiative created direct air export capability at Varanasi airport, enabling perishable consignments to be shipped internationally. Operational measures include cold room storage, customs clearance on-site, clearing agents and AD code registration support, plant quarantine/phyto-sanitary clearance, and airline-bonded trans-shipment facilities, reducing transit time and spoilage risk for Farmer Producer Organisations and regional exporters.

Trade balance shows overall surplus for April-December despite wider merchandise deficit and modest services contraction.
Merchandise exports were flat in December 2020 but fell cumulatively for April-December 2020-21; specific commodity groups showed varied month on month performance. Imports rose in December yet contracted sharply cumulatively, with oil imports down both monthly and cumulatively and non oil imports rising monthly but declining over April-December. Services registered a modest contraction in the latest month with an estimated December value pending RBI revision. Combined merchandise and services trade produced an overall surplus for April-December 2020-21, reversing the prior year deficit.