World Grain - January 2017 - 20

COUNTRY FOCUS

Focus on India
Increasingly affluent population is
demanding more grain-based foods
by Chris Lyddon

AFGHANISTAN

India is the world's second most populous country
with a rate of growth that is rapidly making it one of the
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INDIA
India is an important producer
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CHINA

PAKISTAN

NEPAL

BURMA

SRI LANKA

Key Facts
Capital: New Delhi
Population: 1,266,883,598 (July 2016 est.)
Religions: Hindu 79.8%, Muslim 14.2%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh
1.7%, other and unspecified 2% (2011 est.).
Location: Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay
of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan.
Government: Federal parliamentary republic. Chief of state:
President Pranab Mukherjee (since July 22, 2012); head of government: Prime Minister Narendra Modi (since May 26, 2014).
Economy: India's diverse economy encompasses traditional village farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range of
modern industries, and a multitude of services. Slightly less than
half of the work force is in agriculture, but services are the major source of economic growth, accounting for nearly two-thirds
of India's output but employing less than one-third of its labor
force. India has capitalized on its large educated English-speaking
population to become a major exporter of information technology services, business outsourcing services, and software workers.
India is developing into an open-market economy, yet traces of
its past autarkic policies remain. Economic liberalization measures,
including industrial deregulation, privatization of state-owned enterprises, and reduced controls on foreign trade and investment,
began in the early 1990s and served to accelerate the country's
growth, which averaged under 7% per year from 1997 to 2011.
India's economic growth began slowing in 2011 because of a decline in investment caused by high interest rates, rising inflation,
and investor pessimism about the government's commitment to
further economic reforms and about slow world growth. Growth
rebounded in 2014 and 2015, with both years exceeding 7%.
Investors' perceptions of India improved in early 2014, due to a
reduction of the current account deficit and expectations of postelection economic reform, resulting in a surge of inbound capital
flows and stabilization of the rupee. Since the election, economic
reforms have focused on administrative and governance changes
largely because the ruling party remains a minority in India's upper house of Parliament, which must approve most bills. Despite
a high growth rate compared to the rest of the world, in 2015,
India's government-owned banks faced mounting bad debt, resulting in low credit growth and restrained economic growth. The
outlook for India's long-term growth is moderately positive due
to a young population and corresponding low dependency ratio,
healthy savings and investment rates, and increasing integration
into the global economy.
GDP per capita: $6,200 (2015 est.); inflation: 4.9% (2015 est.);
unemployment: 8.4% (2015 est.).
Currency: Indian rupees (INR): 68.24 rupees equal 1 U.S. dollar
(Dec. 28, 2016).
Exports: $272.4 billion (2015 est.): petroleum products, precious
stones, vehicles, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, cereals, apparel.
Imports: $409.2 billion (2015 est.): crude oil, precious stones,
machinery, chemicals, fertilizer, plastics, iron and steel.
Major crops/agricultural products: Rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, lentils, onions, potatoes; dairy products,
sheep, goats, poultry, fish.
Agriculture: 17% of GDP and 49% of the labor force.
Internet: Code: .in; 325.441 million users.
Source: CIA World Factbox

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