BRICS is the acronym coined for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as “BRIC” (or “the BRICs”), before the induction of South Africa in 2010. The BRICS members are known for their significant influence on regional affairs; all are members of G20. Since 2009, the BRICS nations have met annually at formal summits. ...

Digital India is a campaign launched by the Government of India in order to ensure the Government’s services are made available to citizens electronically by improved online infrastructure and by increasing Internet connectivity or making the country digitally empowered in the field of technology. The initiative includes plans to connect rural areas with high-speed internet networks. Digital India consists of three core components: ...

In 2014 India became the first country to adopt a national agroforestry policy. The Government of India announced this policy in order to resolve the bottlenecks that had emerged at the interface of existing policies for agriculture, forestry, water and environment, recognizing that land use by its very nature must be integrative. This working paper ...

The prime objective of the Sagarmala project is to promote port-led direct and indirect development and to provide infrastructure to transport goods to and from ports quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively. Therefore, the Sagarmala Project shall, inter alia, aim to develop access to new development regions with intermodal solutions and promotion of the optimum modal split, ...

As a follow-up to the ‘Make in India’ initiative launched by the Prime Minister, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy ( MNRE) has announced organisation of the First Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet & Expo (RE – INVEST) on 15-17 February, 2015 in New Delhi. The central theme of the meet is to attract ...

National Smart Cities Mission is an urban renewal and retrofitting program by the Government of India with the mission to develop smart cities across the country, making them citizen friendly and sustainable. The Union Ministry of Urban Development is responsible for implementing the mission in collaboration with the state governments of the respective cities. While the mission initially included only 100 cities, the government ...

Make in India, a type of Swadeshi movement covering 25 sectors of the Indian economy, was launched by the Government of India on 25 September 2014 to encourage companies to manufacture their products in India and enthuse with dedicated investments into manufacturing. After the launch, India gave investment commitments worth ₹16.40 lakh crore (US$230 billion) and investment inquiries worth of ₹1.5 lakh crore (US$21 billion) ...

The River Ganga is important not only for its cultural and spiritual significance but also because it hosts more than 40% of the country’s population. Addressing the Indian community at Madison Square Garden in New York in 2014, the Prime Minister had said, “If we are able to clean it, it will be a huge ...

Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (translation: Save the daughter, educate the daughter) is a campaign of the Government of India that aims to generate awareness and improve the efficiency of welfare services intended for girls in India. The scheme was launched with an initial funding of ₹100 crore (US$14 million)

Obtaining a quality education and giving access it underpins a range of fundamental development drivers including empowerment of poor, women and girls from poor strata of society . Education makes country progressive. Launched in 2014 by the HRD Minister of India, Smriti Irani, Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat can be regarded as a countrywide programme being ...