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Almost more than 60% of India’s population is directly or indirectly dependent upon agriculture and allied activities, but contributes only about 17% to the GDP. For a country like India which has a vast population to feed and maximum workforce is dependent on agriculture, it becomes imperative to increase productivity in this sector. Food processing sector is one of the sectors which can increase the quality of the produce as well as its value. For it, Government of India has launched numerous initiatives.  Initiatives taken by government to develop food processing sector in India  • Mega Food Parks: Under this scheme, government provides capital grants of 50% for all states and 75% to special status states. Since its inception, 42 mega food parks were given in-principle approval. However, only five projects have started operations, including the North East Mega Food Park in Assam. Hence, it can’t be called a proper success. Whereas, its predecess or Food park scheme was qui...

India’s GDP is estimated to have increased 7.2 per cent in 2017-18 and 7 per cent in 2018-19. Its performance has been quite stable in last 6-7 years after recovery from impact of global financial recession. Similarly, the Indian economy has witnessed a gradual transition from a period of high and variable inflation to a more stable and low level of inflation in the past five years, according to the Economic Survey. The current phase of low inflation is marked by a reduction in both urban and rural inflation. Based on this the survey argued that amidst the gloomy landscape of unusual volatility in the international economic environment, India stands as a haven of stability and an outpost of opportunity.  Importance of Macro-economic stability  •Investors like macro-economic stability. If the economy is not well-managed, financial markets react negatively, at times even disproportionately, making economic management a lot more difficult, which can lead to a full-blown crisis....

The project aims to fulfil the watershed component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMSKY) to reduce surface runoff of rainwater, increase groundwater levels and ensure better water availability in rain fed areas. This will contribute to higher agricultural production even in water-stressed areas.  Impact of National Watershed Project in increasing agricultural production in water-stressed areas.  •It was launched for achieving the major objectives of the watershed component of the PMKSY and for ensuring access to irrigation to every farm (Har Khet Ko Pani) and efficient use of water (Per Drop More Crop)  •It will bring about institutional changes in watershed and rain-fed agricultural management practices in India.  •It will help to build systems that ensure watershed programmes and rain-fed irrigation management practices are better focused, and more coordinated, and have quantifiable results.  •It will devise strategies for the sustainability of i...

GST is an indirect tax which has replaced many extant indirect taxes in India. The Goods and Service Tax Act was passed in the Parliament on 29th March, 2017. The Act came into effect on 1st July, 2017; Goods & Services Tax Law in India is a comprehensive, multistage, destination-based tax that is levied on every value addition.  Under the GST regime, the tax is levied at every point of sale. In the case of intrastate sales, Central GST and State GST are charged. Inter-state sales are chargeable to Integrated GST. In the earlier indirect tax regime, there were many indirect taxes levied by both state and centre. States mainly collected taxes in the form of Value Added Tax (VAT). Every state had a different set of rules and regulations. Inter-state sale of goods was taxed by the Centre. CST (Central State Tax) was applicable in case of inter-state sale of goods. Other than above, there were many indirect taxes like entertainment tax, octroi and local tax that was levied by state...

Farmers’ organisations refer to group of farmers who are organised to protect their own interests related to issues like minimum support price, subsidies, welfare schemes for farmers, etc.  Ex: Bharatiya Kisan Sabha, Sehkari Sangatan, Karnataka Raitha Sangha, etc..  Farmer’s organisations, being a pressure group, follows different types of protests to influence policy-makers:  (a) Lobbying: here they influence policy-makers by providing information about their demands and grievances. For example: Due to protests by Dairy Farmers, KMF increased the rate of milk by Rs. 2 per litre.  (b) Protests and rallies: here they mobilise huge number of farmers and conduct rallies on a large scale to let the people understand their demands.  For example: protests by farmers in Maharashtra last year to increase MSP rates, pension schemes for farmers, implementation of Swaminathan committee recommendations, etc.  (c) Satyagrahas and fast unto death protests: farmers norm...

Creating an efficient transport infrastructure in the country is one of the chief factors responsible for the takeoff of accelerated growth in the country. On account of poor quality of transport infrastructure, progress made in efficient and affordable urban mass transport would have a key role on taking India to double digit growth.  Need of efficient and affordable urban mass transport  • Nearly 31% of India’s current population lives in urban areas contributing to 63% of India’s GDP (Census 2011) and with increasing urbanization, urban areas are expected to house 40% of India’s population and contribute to 75% of India’s GDP by 2030.  • India’s urban growth is largely concentrated in large cities which increased from 35% in 2001 to 53% in 2011, accounting for 43% of India’s urban population, and is expected to be 87% by 2030.  Efficient and affordable urban mass transport key to the rapid economic development of India  • Efficient urban mass transport system...

Food processing is a large sector that covers activities such as agriculture, horticulture, plantation, animal husbandry and fisheries. Agro based food processing is defined as a set of techno-economic activities, applied to all the products, originating from agricultural farm, aqua cultural sources, livestock and forests for their conservation, handling and value-addition to make them usable as food, feed, fiber, fuel or industrial raw materials.  Localisation of Agro-based food processing industries of North-West India  North western states like Punjab , Haryana and North Rajasthan have extensive network of agro based food processing industries. Some of the factors for localization are : • Raw material base: Punjab one of the highest producers of wheat and rice, Rajasthan important area for millet, Haryana for milk and livestock.  • Robust agri marketing infrastructure: Punjab has close to 30 agro processing clusters(one of highest in India).  • Robust infrastruc...