ECONOMY MODEL CHOICE QUESTIONS

World Bank

The World Bank (WB) is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programs. It has its Headquarters at Washington D.C United States.It comprises two institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and the International Development Association (IDA). The World Bank is a component of the World Bank Group, which is part of the United Nations system.

The World Bank's stated official goal is the reduction of poverty. However, according to its Articles of Agreement, all its decisions must be guided by a commitment to the promotion of foreign investment and international trade and to the facilitation of capital investment.

The World Bank is different from the World Bank Group, an extended family of five international organizations:

• International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
• International Development Association (IDA)
• International Finance Corporation (IFC)
• Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
• International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)

Members:

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has 189 member countries, while the International Development Association (IDA) has 173 members. Each member state of IBRD should be also a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and only members of IBRD are allowed to join other institutions within the Bank (such as IDA).

Voting power

• In 2010 voting powers at the World Bank were revised to increase the voice of developing countries, notably China.
•  The countries with most voting power are now the United States (15.85%), Japan (6.84%), China (4.42%), Germany (4.00%), the United Kingdom (3.75%), France (3.75%), India (2.91%),Russia (2.77%), Saudi Arabia (2.77%) and Italy (2.64%). Under the changes, known as 'Voice Reform – Phase 2', countries other than China that saw significant gains included South Korea, Turkey, Mexico, Singapore, Greece, Brazil, India, and Spain. Most developed countries' voting power was reduced, along with a few developing countries such as Nigeria. The voting powers of the United States, Russia and Saudi Arabia were unchanged.

Leadership:

The President of the Bank is the president of the entire World Bank Group. The president, currently Jim Yong Kim, is responsible for chairing the meetings of the Boards of Directors and for overall management of the Bank. Traditionally, the President of the Bank has always been a US citizen nominated by the United States, the largest shareholder in the bank (the managing director of the International Monetary Fund having always been a European).

 Millennium Development Goals-2015 

1. Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger: From 1990 through 2004 the proportion of people living in extreme poverty fell from almost a third to less than a fifth. Although results vary widely within regions and countries, the trend indicates that the world as a whole can meet the goal of halving the percentage of people living in poverty. Africa's poverty, however, is expected to rise, and most of the 36 countries where 90% of the world's undernourished children live are in Africa. Less than a quarter of countries are on track for achieving the goal of halving under-nutrition.
2. Achieve Universal Primary Education: The percentage of children in school in developing countries increased from 80% in 1991 to 88% in 2005. Still, about 72 million children of primary school age, 57% of them girls, were not being educated as of 2005.
3. Promote Gender Equality: The tide is turning slowly for women in the labor market, yet far more women than men- worldwide more than 60% – are contributing but unpaid family workers. The World Bank Group Gender Action Plan was created to advance women's economic empowerment and promote shared growth.
4. Reduce Child Mortality: There is some improvement in survival rates globally; accelerated improvements are needed most urgently in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. An estimated 10 million-plus children under five died in 2005; most of their deaths were from preventable causes.
5. Improve Maternal Health: Almost all of the half million women who die during pregnancy or childbirth every year live in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. There are numerous causes of maternal death that require a variety of health care interventions to be made widely accessible.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Other Diseases: Annual numbers of new HIV infections and AIDS deaths have fallen, but the number of people living with HIV continues to grow. In the eight worst-hit southern African countries, prevalence is above 15 percent. Treatment has increased globally, but still meets only 30 percent of needs (with wide variations across countries). AIDS remains the leading cause of death in Sub-Saharan Africa (1.6 million deaths in 2007). There are 300 to 500 million cases of malaria each year, leading to more than 1 million deaths. Nearly all the cases and more than 95 percent of the deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa.
7. Ensure Environmental Sustainability: Deforestation remains a critical problem, particularly in regions of biological diversity, which continues to decline. Greenhouse gas emissions are increasing faster than energy technology advancement.
8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development: Donor countries have renewed their commitment. Donors have to fulfill their pledges to match the current rate of core program development. Emphasis is being placed on the Bank Group's collaboration with multilateral and local partners to quicken progress toward the MDGs' realization.

To make sure that World Bank-financed operations do not compromise these goals but instead add to their realization, environmental, social and legal safeguards were defined. However, these safeguards have not been implemented entirely yet. At the World Bank's annual meeting in Tokyo 2012 a review of these safeguards has been initiated, which was welcomed by several civil society organizations.

ECONOMY MODEL CHOICE QUESTIONS

IMF cuts global growth forecast as China slows

India projected to continue growing at a robust pace.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its global growth forecasts for the third time in less than a year on Tuesday, as new figures from Beijing showed that the Chinese economy grew at its slowest rate in a quarter of a century in 2015.

To back its forecasts, the IMF cited a sharp slowdown in China trade and weak commodity prices that are hammering Brazil and other emerging markets.

The Fund forecast that the world economy would grow at 3.4 per cent in 2016 and 3.6 per cent in 2017, both years down 0.2 percentage points from the previous estimates made last October. “Near-term fiscal policy should be more supportive of the recovery, especially through investments that would augment future productive capital,” it said.

The updated World Economic Outlook forecasts came as global financial markets have been roiled by worries over China’s slowdown — confirmed by official Chinese data on Tuesday — and plummeting oil prices.

The IMF maintained its previous China growth forecasts of 6.3 per cent in 2016 and 6.0 per cent in 2017, which represent sharp slowdowns from 2015.

The IMF projected 7.3 per cent GDP growth for India in 2015-16 and 7.5 per cent in 2016-17, levels unchanged from its outlook released in October. In 2014-15, it estimates, GDP grew 7.3 per cent.

“India and the rest of emerging Asia are projected to grow at a robust pace, although with some countries facing strong headwinds from China’s economic rebalancing and global manufacturing weakness,” it said.

The Union Finance Ministry last November revised downwards its projection for the current financial year to 7.5 per cent after estimates from the Central Statistics Office showed that in the first six months, real GDP grew 7.2 per cent, slower than the 7.5 per cent in the corresponding period last year.

In February 2015, it projected that growth would accelerate to 8.1-8.5 per cent. The RBI’s forecast for growth this year is 7.4 per cent.

SUSTAINABLE INDICATIORS OF FOOD, NUTRITIONAL AND HEALTH OUTCOMES IN INDIA

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030 aimed at transforming the world by 2030 with 17 specific goals of which the second goal i.e. end hunger through achieveing food security and improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture is specifically focused on food and nutrition. It aims at ending and ensure access by all people to food security, end of all forms of malnutrition, double the agricultural productivity and income of small scale food producers, ensure sustainable food production systems and maintain genetic diversity of seeds.

Objectives

Developing suitable indicators to monitor progress year-on-year was an important prerequisite to achieve targets by 2030. FAO food security indicators are very useful tool for examining the comparative status of different countries in hunger and malnutrition. Hence, this paper tries to probe into indicators for end of hunger, malnutrition and agricultural production in India along with other developing countries by using FAO food security indicators. 

FAO food security indicators

Following the recommendation of experts gathered in the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) Round Table on hunger measurement, hosted at FAO headquarters in September 2011, a set of indicators aiming to capture various aspects of food insecurity are collected for each country year after year since 2001. In this study we have considered nine most important and comprehensive variables which cover food, nutrition security and health. They are (1) National average energy supply (expressed in calories per caput per day), (2) Average supply of protein, (3) National average fat supply (expressed in grams per capita per day), (4) Undernourishment, (5) Anaemia among pregnant women, (6) Depth of food deficit, (7) Per capita food production variability, (8)Domestic food price index and (9) domestic food price volatility index.

National average energy supply (expressed in calories per capita per day).

Consumption of calories is less in India compared to the world and even compared to African countries. Bangladesh overtaken India in the early 2000s (Figure 1). The reduced calories consumption might be due to the reduction in the cereal share in overall food consumption. It might be also due to lower consumption of cereals (which are major source of calories) and increased consumption of fruits, vegetables and oilseeds in the food basket.

Increasing demand for protein

Protein supply was stagnant in India since 1990s, whereas it was significantly and steadily increased for Bangladesh(Figure 3). India was ahead of Bangladesh in protein supply throughout 1990s and 2000s. Chinas protein supply was steeply increased during this period. Developed countries average protein supply was more than 100 grams/capita/day, where as India per capita supply was less than 60 grams/capita/day.

National average fat supply (expressed in grams per capita per day).

Based on Food balance Sheets data, national average fat supply is calculated. The fat supply in India is less than many comparable countries except Bangladesh. In the recent years, most of the developing countries improved their position, even China surpassed world average, but consumption in India is less (Figure 3).

Undernourishment

The Prevalence of undernourishment expresses the probability that a randomly selected individual from the population consumes an amount of calories that is insufficient to cover her/his energy requirement for an active and healthy life. The indicator is computed by comparing a probability distribution of habitual daily Dietary Energy Consumption with a threshold level called the Minimum Dietary Energy Requirement. This is the traditional FAO hunger indicator, adopted as official Millennium Development Goal indicator.

Undernourishment is much higher in India compared to world, but decreasing steeply. However, there is wide fluctuation year-on-year mainly due to the high fluctuations in food production and availability for human consumption (Figure 4).

Anaemia among pregnant women

Anaemia is a condition in which the number of red blood cells (and consequently their oxygen-carrying capacity) is insufficient to meet the body's physiologic needs. This indicator measures nutritional imbalance and malnutrition resulting in under-nutrition assessed by prevalence of anaemia. The prevalence of anaemia is an important health indicator. When used with other measurements of iron status, the haemoglobin concentration can provide information about the severity of iron deficiency. The cut-off values for public health significance is 40%. A prevalence of Anaemia equal or higher than this level signals a severe public health problem. 
The prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women is higher in India even compared to most underdeveloped countries like Kenya, Bangladesh and Egypt (Figure 5).

Depth of food deficit

The depth of the food deficit indicates how many calories would be needed to lift the undernourished from their status, everything else being constant. The average intensity of food deprivation of the undernourished, estimated as the difference between the average dietary energy requirement and the average dietary energy consumption of the undernourished population (food-deprived), is multiplied by the number of undernourished to provide an estimate of the total food deficit in the country, which is then normalized by the total population. Depth of food deficit is an indicator of severity of food deficit among different countries. In this indicator India is better than Africa, but falling behind all other developing countries (Figure 6).

 

Per capita food production variability

Per capita food production variability corresponds to the variability of the net food production value in constant 2004-2006 prices divided by the population number. Even though, percapita food production variability index is much higher in India, domestic food grain prices volatility is low compared to China and other developing countries mainly due to the stable Minimum Support Prices and Public Distribution System (Figure 7).

Domestic food price index

The Domestic Food Price Level Index is an indicator of the relative price of food in a country. Specifically, the ratio of food to actual individual consumption is calculated in purchasing power parity terms relative to the United States. The domestic food prices in India are stable, when compared to the other developing countries like China (Figure 8). The lower increase in food price index in India is an indicator of increase in competitiveness of food products in India compared to world. However, the increase in prices of protein rich food like pulses and animal sources of protein is a cause of concern, given the increase in the demand for protein foods.

Domestic Food Price Volatility

The Domestic Food Price Volatility Index measures the variability in the relative price of food in a country. In India the price volatility is less compared to most of the countries, as a result of nationwide food procurement system at minimum support price (Figure 9).

Conclusions

The FAO food and nutrition indicators are a good indicators for the year-to-year cross comparison of the countries position in food and nutrition security. Although, India improved its relative position over the years, still it is lagging behind many developing countries in food, nutrition and health indicators. Consumption of calories is less in India compared to the world and even compared to African countries. Bangladesh overtaken India in the early 2000s. Protein consumption was also less. The fat supply in India is less than many comparable countries except Bangladesh. Undernourishment is much higher in India compared to world, but decreasing steeply. However, there is wide fluctuation year-on-year mainly due to the high fluctuations in food production and availability of food due to abnormal rainfall. The prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women is higher in India even compared to most underdeveloped countries like Kenya, Bangladesh and Egypt.

Depth of food deficit is an indicator of severity of food deficit among different countries. In this indicator, India is falling behind all the developing countries except Africa. Even though, percapita food production variability index is much higher in India, domestic food grain prices volatility is low compared to China and other developing countries mainly due to the stable minimum support prices and wider public distribution system. The lower increase in food price index in India is an indicator of increase in competitiveness and sustainability of food production in India compared to world. 

However, the increase in prices of protein rich food like pulses and animal sources of protein is a cause of concern. Although the dietary energy supply in India was increased over the years, it is very much lower than China, but almost equivalent to Bangladesh. Level of malnutrition, anaemia, underweight among children was comparatively high even compared to some of the African countries. To reduce malnutrition levels, the Indian food security basket should also include not only rice and wheat, but also needs to be diversified in to pulses, oilseeds and other protein rich products. 

FINANCIAL INCLUSION VS PAYMENT BANKS

The Reserve Bank of India’s latest initiative of introducing ‘Payment Banks’ finds resonance with Economist Adam Smith’s Theory* of employing Division of Labour to exponentially increase productivity. The new Business Model adopted will create a revolutionary trend in the Indian Banking Industry and will accelerate Government’s Mission of improving Financial Literacy and achieving Total Financial Inclusion (TFI), both vital for a country’s Economic Development.

An important early (1776) description of processes was that of Economist Adam Smith in his famous example of a PIN Factory. Smith described the production of a PIN in the following way: ”One man draws out the wire, another straights it, a third cuts it, a fourth points it, a fifth grinds it at the top for receiving the head: to make the head requires two or three distinct operations: to put it on is a particular business, to whiten the pins is another ... and the important business of making a pin is, in this manner, divided into about eighteen distinct operations, which in some manufactories are all performed by distinct hands, though in others the same man will sometime perform two or three of them.” Smith also first recognized how the output could be increased through the use of labor division. Previously, in a society where production was dominated by handcrafted goods, one man would perform all the activities required during the production process, while Smith described how the work was divided into a set of simple tasks, which would be performed by specialized workers. The result of labor division in Smith’s example resulted in productivity increasing by 24,000 percent (sic), i.e. that the same number of workers made 240 times as many pins as they had been producing before the introduction of labor division.

Lack of awareness of the structured Financial System and an unregulated or disorganised Rural Banking System, prevented most rural population from depositing their savings in banks. The introduction of Payment Banks in the rural, semi urban, and interior pockets will change this scenario, usage of and access to the system will help people understand it’s functioning and help in channelizing the savings of the people in these areas. It will also give government access to funds for development activities.

The Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India have implemented various Business Models to achieve TFI i.e., No-frills Accounts, Business Correspondents, Business Facilitators, Local Area Banks, Regional Rural Banks, and setting up of Rural Branches of Commercial Banks. However, their contribution has been negligible. Payment Banks are better poised to aid achieve TFI, their strength lies in the use of Technology and the Low Operational Cost it would entail in contrast with the Bricks–and-Mortar Banking Model.

Payment Banks will offer the following Advantages

Currency Circulation

Presently, currency circulation is less in urban areas due to the use of Debit/Credit Cards and Internet/Mobile Banking compared to rural and semi urban areas. With Payment Banks using Technology-mobile phones and bio-metric system (Aadhar Card enabled bank accounts)-the use of currency circulation in these areas too will decrease drastically. Payment of utility bills, tax payments, and small business transactions will change to Wire Transactions. This will help fight the problem of forged notes and reduce the import of paper for printing currency.

A Narrow Banking Model

Attracting deposits for lending is one of the core activities of the Commercial Banking system. However, mobilising deposits and investing them in safe mode-in treasury bills, government securities-is called Narrow Banking. Since Payment Banks are mandated to invest their mobilised funds in government securities, these maybe classified under the ‘Narrow Banking Model’. This is the safest model as there is no Credit Risk involved, and the Spreads are high due to the mobilisation of low-cost deposits.

100% Safety

The Maximum Deposit to be mobilised by Payment Banks has been capped at Rs.1,00,000/-. The maximum deposits guarantee covered by DICGC is also Rs.1,00,000-this means depositors’ funds with payment banks are Completely Secure. This is one of the USPs that will attract Savings Bank Accounts to Payment Banks-most customers in the Rural Areas seek complete security for their hard earned savings funds. The activation of these Banks across the country will also lead to the decline of Chit Funds, and other unauthorized institutions that exploit Rural Population.

High Spread

The Operational Cost for these banks is less compared to Conventional Banking system. Further the use of latest Technology will increase the Spread of their business operations. In addition to Spreads, as these banks are authorised to sell other financial products such as Life Insurance, General Insurance and Mutual Funds like SIPs, etc. Presently Life and General Insurance penetration levels are low in India when compared to other countries. Payment Banks will increase the penetration level of these products. Moreover the fee-based income through Cross Selling will add to their Bottom-Line.

One Segment One Product

Payment banks are authorised to mobilise Savings Bank accounts upto Rs.1,00,000/- from salaried employees, petty vendors, agriculturists, landless laborers and small scales. This one product approach will be hugely beneficial as marketing skills required to sell this product is minimal. Further, this niche segment is not fully tapped by Commercial Banks. The differential service provided by the Payment Banks to the customer will result in high profitability.

Reach

In India, Mobile Usage is increasing and people-including rural population is well informed about its usage and functionalities. Mobile Service Providers have been allotted licenses to start Payment Banks. These providers using latest technology will reach the customers in the Nnook and corner of the country easily incurring least cost of operations.

Low Cost of Operations

Brick and Mortar Banking is a Capital-intensive Business Model and Commercial Banks would find it difficult to open branches in the unbanked and far-flung areas as incremental cost would exceed incremental benefit. With the help of Business Correspondents or Franchise Banking System, Payment Banks will provide Low Cost services to the Customers located in the Remote Areas.

For Example, assume that a customer is buying a Top-up for his Mobile for Rs.20/- in aremote village in India. A petty shop (Buddy Shop) owner in a village is getting commission on selling the top-up without any paper work. Operational Process of credit to a Savings Bank Account is similar to a top-up. Similar process will be adopted by payment banks to deposit credits to a SB account and for payments Bio-metric System. In Conventional Banking System (at present RRBs located in villages and unbanked areas) Paper Work like Pay-in-slips, Withdrawal form, Cheques etc. for receiving cash and payment of deposit through bank branch channels is essential. Payment Banks will focus on Paperless Banking.

Asset Liabilities Management (ALM)

ALM mismatch will be minimal in Payment Banks as deposits mobilised will be mostly invested in secure instruments like government securities. As these banks do not have any Credit Lending activity, Liquidity Risk will not arise. The RBI’s Monetary Policy will not affect Payment Banks due to these reasons. Due to Low Operational Cost and Spreads these banks can offer Higher Rate of Interest to Savings Bank deposit accounts when compared to Commercial Banks. As a result attrition or migration of SB Accounts from Commercial Banks to Payment Banks will occur. This poses a huge challenge for the former.

KYC 

Out of the Eleven Payment Bank Licences issued by RBI, most of them have been allotted to Mobile Service Providers. When a customer wants to open an account with the payment banks of the mobile service providers, obtaining KYC becomes seamless as most of these Companies would have complied with the KYC Guidelines for providing the Mobile Phone, DTH or Landline Service. Hence, these providers can open an account to all their existing customers by default. Those who wish to use the account can begin operations without the hassle of documentation, photograph, address proof and identity proof.

The Last Mile Bridge

From time to time the Government of India, and State Governments offer various subsidies and benefits to the people, particularly the social security schemes. These benefits will directly be credited to the beneficiaries through Payment Banks.

Implementation of Basel III

Three main risks in the Banking Industry are Credit Risk, Market Risk, and Operational Risk-Banks have to provide Capital Adequacy Norms i.e., a minimum of 9% to cover these risks. As Payment Banks will not sanction any Credit or Loans to the Public, Credit Risk for these banks iszero. As for Market Risk, most of its investments will be either Treasury Bills or Government Securities and hence this risk is also minimal. And as the regulator will monitor their performance closely in the initial stages, Compliance Risk is also less. However, there is some Operational Risk related to the implementation, usage and adaptation of Technology. The Overall Risk Profile for Payment Banks is very less when compared to the Conventional Banking System in India. Hence, the CRAR or CAR for Payment Banks is less and they need not bother about the implementation of Basel III accord in full before 31^st March, 2019.

Treasury Borrowings

In most of Commercial Banks, CASA Deposits Share in the Total Liabilities (Deposits) is in the range of 40% to 50%, where the Cost of CASA Deposits Ranges from 0% to 4%. Once Payment Banks start operations, CASA Deposits will shift from Commercial Banks and this will lead to an increase in the Commercial Banks Treasury Borrowing to Bridge ALM Mismatches. As a result Spreads will thin further. To overcome this problem, Commercial Banks need to provide excellent customer service and develop Technology Oriented Products to retain existing customers in not only Metro and Urban areas but also in Semi-urban and Rural areas.

Also due to the limited Services offered by the Payment Banks, Innovation and Strategic Thinking in increasing the Market Share of Low Cost Deposits is possible and it will create further challenges to Commercial Banks in the coming days.

FOREIGN TRADE POLICY 2015

The new foreign trade policy 2015-2020 is kept ready to make necessary shape after forming new Government,on 1st of April, 2015. However, the validity of Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 will be with effect from  the first notification at the time of  declaration of FTP 2015-20.   The FTP 2015-20 comes in to force with effect from 01st April 2015. 

Changes in schemes and incentives are expected in new Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20. However, the status quo might be maintained under some of the schemes. The priorities of policies taken by new government also are likely to be incorporated in new Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 (FTP 2015-20).

The new Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 (FTP 2015-20) is made product wise and location wise and tried to maximize the foreign trade from the country. Although some exporters could not make benefit out of Foreign Trade Policy of 2009 -14, those exporters can contact local office of Director General of Foreign Trade DGFT to get assistance.

Pre policy suggestions to Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 (FTP 2015-20)have been sent from different government departments concerned, Export Promotion Councils, Commodity Boards, Manufacturer’s associations, Traders forum, and other export promotion agencies of government and non government to the concerned authorities to shape new Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020. Customs and Banking related matters also have been updated after discussing all concerned to mold Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 (FTP 2015-20) in such a way to safeguard exporters of the county by resolving their previous issues under Foreign Trade Policy. Federation of Indian Exporters Association has submitted their reports in regional wise to strengthen the contents of new Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 (FTP 2015-20). We expect most of the recommendations and suggestions on the issues have been incorporated in new foreign trade policy 2015-2020 (FTP 2015-20).

The Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 has been designed by including long term and medium term strategy to boost overall growth of India’s foreign trade by enhancing trade competitiveness.

By implementing Foreign Trade Policy FTP 2015-2020 (FTP 2015-20), the India’s share in world trade is expected to double from the present level of 3% by the year 2020. By taking measures for import substitution at one side, the forthcoming Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 (FTP 2015-20) focuses on increasing exports at the present scenario of increasing current account deficit CAD. We also expect, the new Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 (FTP 2015-20) includes necessary measures to boost productivity and earn exportable surplus at competitive rates in exports.

HIGHLIGHTS

Increase exports to $900 billion by 2019-20, from $466 billion in 2013-14

Raise India's share in world exports from 2% to 3.5%.

Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) and Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) launched.

Higher level of rewards under MEIS for export items with High domestic content and value addition.

Chapter-3 incentives extended to units located in SEZs.

Export obligation under EPCG scheme reduced to 75% to Promote domestic capital goods manufacturing.

FTP to be aligned to Make in India, Digital India and Skills India initiatives.

Duty credit scrips made freely transferable and usable For payment of custom duty, excise duty and service tax.

Export promotion mission to take on board state Governments

Unlike annual reviews, FTP will be reviewed after two-and-Half years.

Higher level of support for export of defence, farm Produce and eco-friendly products.

CENSUS 2011

The 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved collection of information about all buildings. Information for National Population Register was also collected in the first phase, which will be used to issue a 12-digit unique identification number to all registered Indians by Unique Identification Authority of India. The second population enumeration phase was conducted between 9 to 28 February 2011. Census has been conducted in India since 1872 and 2011 marks the first time biometric information was collected. According to the provisional reports released on 31 March 2011, the Indian population increased to 1.21 billion with a decadal growth of 17.64%. Adult literacy rate increased to 74.04% with a decadal growth of 9.21%. The motto of census 2011 was 'Our Census, Our future'.

Spread across 29 states and 7 union territories, the census covered 640 districts, 5,767 tehsils, 7,933 towns and more than 600,000 villages. A total of 2.7 million officials visited households in 7,933 towns and 600,000 villages, classifying the population according to gender, religion, education and occupation. The cost of the exercise was approximately ₹2200 crore (US$330 million) – this comes to less than $0.50 per person, well below the estimated world average of $4.60 per person. Conducted every 10 years, this census faced big challenges considering India's vast area and diversity of cultures and opposition from the manpower involved.

Information on castes was included in the census following demands from several ruling coalition leaders including Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sharad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadavsupported by opposition parties Bharatiya Janata Party, Akali Dal, Shiv Sena and Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Information on caste was last collected during the British Raj in 1931. During the early census, people often exaggerated their caste status to garner social status and it is expected that people downgrade it now in the expectation of gaining government benefits. Earlier, there was speculation of conduction caste-based census in 2011, first time after 80 years since 1931, to find the exact population of Other Backward Class (OBCs) in India,which was later accepted and Socio Economic Caste Census 2011 was conducted whose first findings were revealed on 3 July 2015 by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.Mandal Commission report of 1980 quoted OBC population at 52%, though National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) survey of 2006 quoted OBC population at 41%.

There is only one instance of a caste-count in post-independence India. It was conducted in Kerala in 1968 by the Communist government under E. M. S. Namboodiripad to assess the social and economic backwardness of various lower castes. The census was termed Socio-Economic Survey of 1968 and the results were published in the Gazetteer of Kerala, 1971.

C. Chandramauli is the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India of 2011 Indian census. Census data was collected in 16 languages and training manual was prepared in 18 languages. India and Bangladesh also conducted their first-ever joint census of areas along their border in 2011. The census was conducted in two phases. The first houselisting phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved collection of data about all the buildings and census houses. Information for National population register was also collected in the first phase. The second population enumeration phase was conducted from 9–28 February 2011 all over the country. The eradication of epidemics (2) availability of more effective medicines for the treatment of various types of diseases and the improvement in the standard of living these are the main reason for the high growth of population in India.

 Socio-Economic and caste census (SECC) 2011

Here are some key points from the census report:

1. This is the first caste census done in Independent India.

 2. The last caste census in India happened in 1932.

3. Just 4.6% of all rural households in the country pay income tax.

4. The total households in the country - rural plus urban - stand at 24.39 crore.

5. Public sector-employed households made up 1.11% of the total.

6. Over 11% rural households possessed refrigerators.

7. 20.69% rural households had either an automobile or a fishing boat.

8. 94% of the rural households owned a house with 54% cent having 1-2 room dwellings.

9. Of all the rural salaried households, 5% earned salaries from the government while those employed in the private sector constituted 3.57% of the total households.

10. Landless ownership was 56% of the total rural population, with 70% of SCs and 50% of STs being landless owners.

Population

Population Total         1,210,193,422

         Males          623,724,248

         Females      586,469,174

Literacy     Total          74%

        Males        82.10%

        Females    65.50%

Density of population per km² 382

Sex ratio   per     1000 males  -  940 females

Child sex ratio (0–6 age group) per 1000 males-919 females

Five largest Populous State of the Country
1. Uttar Pradesh	19,95,81,477
2. Maharashtra	11,23,72,972
3. Bihar	10,38,04,637
4. West Bengal	9,13,47,736
5. Andhra Pradesh	8,46,65,533
Highest Populous State - Uttar Pradesh

Five least Populous State of the Country
1. Lakshadweep	64,429
2. Daman & Diu	2,42,911
3. D & N Haveli	3,42,853
4. A & N islands	3,79,944
5. Sikkim	6,07,688
Least Populous UT - Lakshadweep, Sikkim is the least populous state.

Density of Population (person per sq km)
Density of Population in India	382
Highest Density in State	Delhi (11297)
Lowest Density in State	Arunachal Pradesh (17)

Sex Ratio (Females per 1000 Males)
Sex ratio in India	940
Child (0-6 years) sex ratio	914
Highest sex ratio in state	Kerala (1084)
Lowest sex ratio in UTs	Daman & Diu (618)
Highest child (0-6) sex ratio in state	Mizoram (971)
Lowest child (0-6) sex ratio in state	Haryana (830)

Literacy Rate in India
Total Person Literacy Rate	74%
Males	82.14%
Females	65.46%
Highest Literacy Rate in state	Kerala - 93.11%,
Lowest Literacy Rate in state	Bihar -  63.82%.

The population of India as per 2011 census was 1,210,854,977. India added 181.5 million to its population since 2001, slightly lower than the population of Brazil. India with 2.4% of the world's surface area accounts for 17.5% of its population. Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state with roughly 200 million people. A little over 5 out of 10 Indians live in the six states of Uttar Pradesh Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

India is the homeland of major belief systems such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism, while also being home to several indigenous faiths and tribal religions which have survived the influence of major religions for centuries.

Ever since its inception, the Census of India has been collecting and publishing information about the religious affiliations as expressed by the people of India. In fact, population census has the rare distinction of being the only instrument that collects this diverse and important characteristic of the Indian population.

Rank	State /	Type	Population	%[30]	Males	Females	Sex Ratio	Literacy	Rural[32]	Urban[32]	Area[33]	Density
	Union Territory						[31]		Population	Population	(km²)	(/km²)
1	Uttar Pradesh	State	199,812,341	16.5	104,480,510	95,331,831	930	67.68	131,658,339	34,539,582	240,928	828
2	Maharashtra	State	112,374,333	9.28	58,243,056	54,131,277	929	82.34	55,777,647	41,100,980	307,713	365
3	Bihar	State	104,099,452	8.6	54,278,157	49,821,295	918	61.8	74,316,709	8,681,800	94,163	1,102
4	West Bengal	State	91,276,115	7.54	46,809,027	44,467,088	950	76.26	57,748,946	22,427,251	88,752	1,030
5	Andhra Pradesh	State	84,580,777	6.99	42,442,146	42,138,631	993	67.02	55,401,067	20,808,940	275,045	308
6	Madhya Pradesh	State	72,626,809	6	37,612,306	35,014,503	931	69.32	44,380,878	15,967,145	308,245	236
7	Tamil Nadu	State	72,147,030	5.96	36,137,975	36,009,055	996	80.09	34,921,681	27,483,998	130,058	555
8	Rajasthan	State	68,548,437	5.66	35,550,997	32,997,440	928	66.11	43,292,813	13,214,375	342,239	201
9	Karnataka	State	61,095,297	5.05	30,966,657	30,128,640	973	75.36	34,889,033	17,961,529	191,791	319
10	Gujarat	State	60,439,692	4.99	31,491,260	28,948,432	919	78.03	31,740,767	18,930,250	196,024	308
11	Orissa	State	41,974,218	3.47	21,212,136	20,762,082	979	72.87	31,287,422	5,517,238	155,707	269
12	Kerala	State	33,406,061	2.76	16,027,412	17,378,649	1084	94	23,574,449	8,266,925	38,863	859
13	Jharkhand	State	32,988,134	2.72	16,930,315	16,057,819	948	66.41	20,952,088	5,993,741	79,714	414
14	Assam	State	31,205,576	2.58	15,939,443	15,266,133	958	72.19	23,216,288	3,439,240	78,438	397
15	Punjab	State	27,743,338	2.29	14,639,465	13,103,873	895	75.84	16,096,488	8,262,511	50,362	550
16	Chhattisgarh	State	25,545,198	2.11	12,832,895	12,712,303	991	70.28	16,648,056	4,185,747	135,191	189
17	Haryana	State	25,351,462	2.09	13,494,734	11,856,728	879	75.55	15,029,260	6,115,304	44,212	573
18	Delhi	UT	16,787,941	1.39	8,987,326	7,800,615	868	86.21	944,727	12,905,780	1,484	11,297
19	Jammu and Kashmir	State	12,541,302	1.04	6,640,662	5,900,640	889	67.16	7,627,062	2,516,638	222,236	56
20	Uttarakhand	State	10,086,292	0.83	5,137,773	4,948,519	963	79.63	6,310,275	2,179,074	53,483	189
21	Himachal Pradesh	State	6,864,602	0.57	3,481,873	3,382,729	972	82.8	5,482,319	595,581	55,673	123
22	Tripura	State	3,673,917	0.3	1,874,376	1,799,541	960	87.22	2,653,453	545,750	10,486	350
23	Meghalaya	State	2,966,889	0.25	1,491,832	1,475,057	989	74.43	1,864,711	454,111	22,429	132
24	Manipur	State	2,570,390	0.21	1,290,171	1,280,219	992	79.21	1,590,820	575,968	22,327	122
25	Nagaland	State	1,978,502	0.16	1,024,649	953,853	931	79.55	1,647,249	342,787	16,579	119
26	Goa	State	1,458,545	0.12	739,140	719,405	973	88.7	677,091	670,577	3,702	394
27	Arunachal Pradesh	State	1,383,727	0.11	713,912	669,815	938	65.38	870,087	227,881	83,743	17
28	Pondicherry	UT	1,247,953	0.1	612,511	635,442	1037	85.85	325,726	648,619	479	2,598
29	Mizoram	State	1,097,206	0.09	555,339	541,867	976	91.33	447,567	441,006	21,081	52
30	Chandigarh	UT	1,055,450	0.09	580,663	474,787	818	86.05	92,120	808,515	114	9,252
31	Sikkim	State	610,577	0.05	323,070	287,507	890	81.42	480,981	59,870	7,096	86
32	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	UT	380,581	0.03	202,871	177,710	876	86.63	239,954	116,198	8,249	46
33	Dadra and Nagar Haveli	UT	343,709	0.03	193,760	149,949	774	76.24	170,027	50,463	491	698
34	Daman and Diu	UT	243,247	0.02	150,301	92,946	618	87.1	100,856	57,348	112	2,169
35	Lakshadweep	UT	64,473	0.01	33,123	31,350	946	91.85	33,683	26,967	32	2,013
TOTAL	India	28 + 7	1,210,854,977	100	623,724,248	586,469,174	943	73	833,087,662	377,105,760	3,287,240	382

Religious demographics

The religious data on India Census 2011 was released by Government of India on 25 August 2015.Hindus are 79.8% (96.63 crore) while Muslims are 14.23% (17.22 crore) in India.First time, a "No religion" category was added in the census in 2011.28.7 lakhs were classified as people belonging to "no religion" in India in 2011 census- 0.24% of India's population of 121 crore. Below is the decade-by-decade religious composition of India till 2011 census. There are six religions in India which have been awarded "National minority" status- Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis.

Population trends for major religious groups in India (1951–2011)

Religious group	Population % 1951	Population % 1961	Population % 1971	Population % 1981	Population % 1991	Population % 2001	Population % 2011[52]
Hinduism	84.1%	83.45%	82.73%	82.30%	81.53%	80.46%	79.80%
Islam	9.8%	10.69%	11.21%	11.75%	12.61%	13.43%	14.23%
Christianity	2.3%	2.44%	2.60%	2.44%	2.32%	2.34%	2.30%
Sikhism	1.79%	1.79%	1.89%	1.92%	1.94%	1.87%	1.72%
Buddhism	0.74%	0.74%	0.70%	0.70%	0.77%	0.77%	0.70%
Jainism	0.46%	0.46%	0.48%	0.47%	0.40%	0.41%	0.37%
Zoroastrianism	0.13%	0.09%	0.09%	0.09%	0.08%	0.06%	n/a
Other religions / No religion	0.43%	0.43%	0.41%	0.42%	0.44%	0.72%	0.9%

Literacy

Any one above age 7 who can read and write in any language with an ability to understand was considered a literate. In censuses before 1991, children below the age 5 were treated as illiterates. The literacy rate taking the entire population into account is termed as "crude literacy rate", and taking the population from age 7 and above into account is termed as "effective literacy rate". Effective literacy rate increased to a total of 74.04% with 82.14% of the males and 65.46% of the females being literate.

S.No.	Census Year	Total (%)	Male (%)	Female (%)
1	1901	5.35	9.83	0.60
2	1911	5.92	10.56	1.05
3	1921	7.16	12.21	1.81
4	1931	9.50	15.59	2.93
5	1941	16.10	24.90	7.30
6	1951	16.67	24.95	9.45
7	1961	24.02	34.44	12.95
8	1971	29.45	39.45	18.69
9	1981	36.23	46.89	24.82
10	1991	42.84	52.74	32.17
11	2001	64.83	75.26	53.67
12	2011	74.04	82.14	65.46