Indian Economy — Glossary

The Agreement on Agriculture is a WTO treaty, effective 1995, that disciplines agricultural subsidies and market access across its three pillars.

The Amber Box is the WTO category covering all domestic agricultural subsidies that distort trade and are therefore subject to reduction commitments.

The Aspirational Districts Programme is a NITI Aayog-led initiative launched in 2018 to rapidly transform India's most backward districts through real-time data-driven competitive and cooperative federalism.

The Atal Innovation Mission is the Government of India's flagship initiative under NITI Aayog to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship across the country.

Ayushman Bharat is India's national health protection scheme, launched in 2018, combining wellness centres with a ₹5 lakh annual hospitalisation insurance cover for poor families.

The Cash Reserve Ratio is the minimum percentage of a bank's net demand and time liabilities that it must keep as cash reserves with the Reserve Bank of India.

A Chairperson is the presiding officer who heads a constitutional body, statutory commission, regulatory authority, tribunal, or legislative council and directs its proceedings and decisions.

The Composite Water Management Index is a NITI Aayog tool launched in 2018 that scores Indian states on water resource management across nine themes and 28 indicators.

The Consolidated Fund of India is the principal government account under Article 266(1) into which all revenues, loans raised, and loan repayments received by the Union flow.

The Consumer Price Index measures the average change over time in prices paid by households for a fixed basket of goods and services, serving as the principal gauge of retail inflation.

The Digital Rupee (e₹) is the Reserve Bank of India's central bank digital currency, a sovereign legal-tender liability of the RBI issued in digital form.

Direct Benefit Transfer is the Government of India's scheme to credit subsidies and welfare payments directly into beneficiaries' bank accounts to curb leakage and ghost beneficiaries.

Disinvestment is the sale or liquidation by the government of its equity holding, wholly or in part, in a public-sector undertaking.

Financial inclusion is the process of ensuring affordable, timely access to formal financial services—savings, credit, insurance, payments and pensions—for all sections, especially the underserved.

Fiscal deficit is the excess of a government's total expenditure over its total revenue excluding borrowings, indicating the total borrowing requirement in a financial year.

A five-year period is the standard fixed term for the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and India's medium-term economic plans under the planning framework.

The Food Corporation of India is a statutory public-sector body created under the Food Corporations Act, 1964 to procure, store, distribute and stabilise prices of foodgrains in India.

The Gender Development Index measures gender inequality in human development by comparing the female and male Human Development Index values within a country.

The Gender Inequality Index is a composite UNDP measure of gender-based disadvantage across reproductive health, empowerment, and labour market participation.

The Goods and Services Tax is a comprehensive, destination-based indirect tax levied on the supply of goods and services in India, subsuming most prior central and state indirect taxes since 1 July 2017.

A Governing Council is the apex deliberative and policy-directing body of an institution, comprising ex-officio and nominated members who set its strategic agenda.

Gross National Product is the total market value of all final goods and services produced by the normal residents of a country in a year, including net factor income from abroad.

The GST Council is a constitutional federal body created by Article 279A that recommends rates, exemptions and procedures for India's Goods and Services Tax.

A high-yield retention list is a curated set of frequently-tested, high-return facts and concepts that a candidate consolidates for rapid revision before competitive examinations.

An Industrial Policy Resolution is a formal Government of India statement of objectives and strategy for the industrial sector, defining the respective roles of the public and private sectors.

The Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI) is a measure that discounts the HDI's three dimensions for inequality in their distribution across a population.

Intensity denotes the degree of concentration, magnitude, or strength of a measured phenomenon per unit of reference, distinguishing qualitative force from mere quantitative scale.

The JAM trinity is the integration of Jan Dhan bank accounts, Aadhaar biometric identity, and Mobile connectivity to deliver welfare subsidies directly to beneficiaries.

The Kelkar Task Forces were expert committees chaired by economist Vijay Kelkar that recommended reforms in India's direct and indirect taxation, fiscal consolidation, and infrastructure financing.

The Lakdawala Committee was a 1993 expert group that recommended estimating poverty using state-specific poverty lines anchored to disaggregated consumer price indices rather than a single national line.

Make in India is the Government of India's 2014 flagship initiative to transform the country into a global manufacturing, design, and innovation hub by attracting investment and easing business.

MGNREGA is a 2005 Indian law guaranteeing 100 days of wage employment per financial year to every rural household whose adults volunteer for unskilled manual work.

Minimum Support Price is the government-announced floor price at which state agencies procure specified crops to insulate farmers from distress sales.

Union of India v. Mohit Minerals (2022) is the Supreme Court judgment holding that GST Council recommendations are not binding on the Union and States and striking down IGST on ocean freight.

The Monetary Policy Committee is the statutory six-member body that fixes India's benchmark policy interest rate to achieve the legislated inflation target.

The Multidimensional Poverty Index is a composite measure that identifies poverty through simultaneous deprivations in health, education, and standard of living rather than income alone.

The National Development Council was India's apex extra-constitutional body for approving Five-Year Plans, chaired by the Prime Minister with all Chief Ministers as members.

The New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) is the post-2025 climate finance target adopted at COP29 in 2024, replacing the earlier USD 100 billion annual goal.

A non-performing asset is a loan or advance on which the borrower has stopped paying interest or principal for 90 days or more.

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) is India's official employment-unemployment survey, launched by the National Statistical Office in 2017 to provide annual and quarterly labour-market estimates.

A source or pronouncement that a court or authority may consider and be influenced by but is not legally obliged to follow.

The Periodic Labour Force Survey is India's official household survey, launched by the National Statistical Office in 2017, that measures employment and unemployment indicators at regular intervals.

PM-KISAN is a central-sector Indian scheme launched in 2019 that transfers ₹6,000 per year to eligible landholding farmer families in three equal instalments via Direct Benefit Transfer.

The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is a flagship Government of India housing mission, launched in 2015, that aims to provide affordable pucca houses with basic amenities to all eligible urban and rural households.

The President is the constitutional head of state and supreme commander of the armed forces, exercising executive authority that is largely formal and bound by ministerial advice in parliamentary systems.

Priority Sector Lending is the RBI mandate requiring banks to direct a fixed share of credit to economically weaker and developmentally critical sectors such as agriculture and small enterprises.

The Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) is an Indian government scheme that disburses cash incentives to manufacturers as a percentage of incremental sales of goods made in India over a base year.

The Rangarajan Committee, constituted in 2012 under economist C. Rangarajan, was an expert group that revised India's official poverty estimation methodology, raising the national poverty headcount.

The repo rate is the interest rate at which the Reserve Bank of India lends short-term funds to commercial banks against government securities under a repurchase agreement.

The SDG India Index is NITI Aayog's composite tool that scores and ranks Indian States and Union Territories on their progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India is the statutory regulator of the Indian securities market, established under the SEBI Act, 1992.

The Second Five-Year Plan (1956–61) was India's industrialisation-focused plan built on the Mahalanobis model emphasising heavy and capital-goods industries in the public sector.

The Seven-Year Strategy is NITI Aayog's medium-term planning document released in December 2018, titled "Strategy for New India @ 75," outlining sectoral objectives for the period up to 2022-23.

The Statutory Liquidity Ratio is the minimum percentage of a bank's net demand and time liabilities that it must maintain in safe liquid assets like cash, gold, and approved securities.

The Tendulkar Committee was a 2009 expert group that revised India's official poverty-line methodology, raising the estimated poverty headcount and shifting measurement from calorie norms to a broader consumption basket.

A "three consecutive quarters" trend refers to data measured over three back-to-back three-month periods, used to confirm sustained economic direction rather than transient fluctuation.

The unemployment rate is the percentage of the labour force that is jobless, actively seeking work, and available to work during a reference period.