(04 July 2022) Government Data Roundup: NITI Aayog’s reports on electric two-wheelers, gig economy, MoSPI’s reports on SDGs, youth in India are among the data & reports released recently

In the sixth edition of the ‘Government Data Roundup’, we cover NITI Aayog’s reports on electric two-wheelers, gig economy, MoSPI’s reports on SDGs, youth in India among others.

In this sixth edition of compilation about the latest government data and releases, we look at reports of NITI Aayog on Forecasting Penetration of Electric Two-wheelers in India, and India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy, Harnessing Green Hydrogen- Opportunities for deep decarbonization in India by NITI Aayog and RMI, Take Home Rations- Good practices across States/UTs by NITI Aayog and World Food Programme, the Performance Grading Index for Districts by Ministry of Education, the Youth in India by MoSPI, the progress report of Sustainable Development Goals National Indicator Framework, 2022 and the Draft National Data Governance Framework Policy.

In addition to the above reports, two other launches are made by the Government during the last fortnight. The first launch is by the Government is by the Ministry of Coal. It launched Project Information & Management Module of Single Window Clearance System. It is anticipated to make monitoring and swift implementation of coal mines easier for project proponents as well as Ministry and State officials. Additionally, it supplies the digital resolution about the block and caters to the digital connection between the mine allocattee and the Ministry. The module’s administration of Bank Guarantee, Upfront Payment, Major Clearances, Show Cause Notices, and Court Cases is one of its key features, as per a government press release.

The second important release by the government is the launch of NIRYAT (National Import-Export for Yearly Analysis of Trade portal) by Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The primary objective of the said portal is to make districts as the fulcrum of the exports. There will be access to crucial data pertaining to more than 30 commodity groupings shipped to more than 200 nations worldwide. In addition, district-wise export data will also be made available in the future.

Additionally, the 47^th GST Council meeting was held recently. Few of the major recommendations are as below.

• Hotel stays costing up to Rs. 1000 per day will be subject to a 12% tax. Additionally, it has been advised that hospital room rent exceeding Rs. 5000 per day per patient be subject to a 5% without ITC on the amount charged for the room.
• By tolerating the two-year COVID-19 period from 01 March 2020 to 28 February 2022, the GST Council approved a relief from the requirement to file refund claims. Council resolved to disregard the two-year window and allow tax officials to appeal incorrect reimbursements.
• From an earlier rate of 12%, items including kitchenware, LED lights, solar water systems, farm equipment, and services like work contracts for roads, hospitals, irrigation projects, and educational institutions would now be taxed at 18%.
• The council decided on rationalising the tax rates on few goods and services, and thereby remove the Inverted Duty Structure.
• To address various concerns raised by the States on GST Appellate Tribunal and amendments in CGST Act, it is recommended to set up a Group of Ministers to study the concerns raised.
• The existing Group of Ministers on Casino, Racecourse and Online Gaming is provided with time extension to re-examine the issues based on inputs from States and submit its report as early as possible.
• The exemption of petroleum and coal bed methane is rationalised from 5% to 12%, and on E-waste from 5% to 18%.
• Assistive Reproductive Technology (ART) and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) are considered as health care services for the purpose of exemption under the GST.
• Cheques and maps are going to attract a GST of 18% and 12% respectively. These were removed from GST exemption.

All these changes are going to be effective from 18 July 2022. The next GST Council meeting is scheduled in the first week of August.

Brief about the report/data:

The technology for electric two-wheelers has now reached a critical stage of development, and several manufacturers have launched marketable models. In this scenario, a bottom-up estimate of the annual growth of the use of electric two-wheelers would provide crucial information about the necessary infrastructure, manufacturing capacity, policy initiatives, and technological development objectives.

This forecast report contains a jointly developed agent-based tool to estimate the penetration of electric two wheelers in India. The basic tenet of this tool is to simulate the decisions of the buyers. The tool is further used to assess multiple possible scenarios in the EV penetration in the market. 

Key Highlights:

• Three prime factors that influence market penetration were chosen – cost of battery, demand incentives and performance in terms of range and power. A total eight scenarios were analysed. Each factor is analysed further at two different levels. Additionally, four constraint levels are developed depending on vehicle production capacity and charging infrastructure. Full constraint means both production capacity and charging constraint, no means neither.
• It was found that 100% market penetration can be obtained in a scenario with full constraints with base level of production capacity and charging infrastructure. However, increasing manufacturing capacity will be necessary since sales of electric two-wheelers would otherwise be constrained by supply, which would result in a decline in their relative market share.
• Combination of technological improvement and incentives can achieve 100% penetration in the full constraint scenarios. Maximum penetration, which is 71.5% in the technology driven scenario, is with the demand incentives removed after financial year 2024. Even if incentives are maintained through financial year 2031, only a penetration level of 21.9% can be reached in the absence of technological advancement and a decline in battery costs.
• The significance of technology development activities to increase performance and decrease the cost of the cars is one noteworthy finding from this investigation.

Brief about the report:

Future of work is undergoing significant transformation. Digitalization is transforming the landscape of employment provisioning in India and across the world. This evolving situation necessitates evaluating the gig and platform sector’s capacity to generate employment and developing policy measures that can redouble the efforts of many stakeholders to foster growth and decent employment prospects in this industry.

Key Highlights:

• Gig work is seen in terms of two aspects – in economic terms, and in worker perspectives. In terms of economics, the potential for the gig economy to create jobs, determining its size, and determining its demand across different industries are some of the topics that have been researched. The worker viewpoint focuses on the sector’s potential and difficulties for workers, equipping them with the necessary skills to improve their employment prospects.
• By 2029-2030, there will be 2.35 crore (23.5 million) workers in the gig economy from the 77 lakh (7.7 million) workers in 2020-21. By 2029-2030, gig workers are projected to make up 6.7% of India’s non-agricultural workforce, up from 2.6% in 2020-21 and 4.1% of all income from 1.5% in 2020-21.
• The expansion of gig work is happening across all the sectors. The retail sector saw a rise of 1.5 million workers, transport sector by 0.8 million, and the manufacturing sector by 0.4 million from 2011-12 to 2019-20.
• Currently, around 47% of the gig-work is medium skilled, while 31% in low-skilled and 22% is in high-skilled jobs. The demand for medium-skilled gig workers is declining, while that for high-skilled and low-skilled is rising.
• The report recommends undertaking a comprehensive survey of gig economy to understand its size and characteristics by including questions about nature of job, employee-employer relationship among others.
• Some recommendations on workers perspectives are to improve skilling, accelerate financial inclusion, enable social protection for workers, surveying small platforms and regulating them accordingly, and encouraging social inclusion in the expanding gig economy.

Brief about the study:

India, with over 15 lakh schools, 97 lakh teachers and nearly 26 crore students, has the largest school education ecosystem in the world. It is important to assess the performance of this huge system. The Performance Grading Index (PGI) for states was developed and released for 2017-18 to 2019-20. This is the first time the PGI for districts (PGI-D) is being released. PGI-D comprises of results from all the districts in India for 2018-19 and 2019-20. This district level index helps the governments to identify the gaps and improve them.

Key highlights:

• Comprised of 83 indicators, the index is divided into six categories – Outcomes, Effective Classroom Transaction, Infrastructure Facilities & Student’s Entitlements, School Safety & Child Protection, Digital Learning and Governance Process. The PGI-D has the components of Digital learning and Effective Classroom Transaction, while the PGI-State doesn’t cover them.
• Nomenclature is provided according to the scores, with Daksh (>90%) being the top, followed by Utkarsh (81-90%), Ati-uttam (71-80%), Uttam (61-70%), Prachesta-1 (51-60%), Prachesta-2, Akanshi -1, 2, and 3 (<= 10%) respectively. Interestingly, none of the districts feature in the Daksh category. Majority of the districts like in the Uttam and Prachesta-1 category.
• None of the states lie in the Level-I (951-1000) range. Five states/UT’s namely Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Kerala, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu feature in Level II (901-950). Most of the states lie in Level-III to Level-V.
• 33 States and UTs showed improvement in their performance in 2019-20 compared to 2018-19, fulfilling the purpose behind the computation of this index.
• For the first time in 2019-20, five States/UTs have reached Level-II (score 901-950). However, there are still 31 States/ UTs that are in Level-III/Grade- I+ or lower this year and they still have considerable ground to cover to reach the maximum aggregate of 1000 points.
• State geographical size does not appear to be a determining factor in the performance of States and UTs in the School Education. The effect of population size on PGI is inconclusive.
• The 2019-20 PGI-D report mentions about a performance-based grant to incentivize the States and UTs to ensure their continuous and focused attention to this sector.

Brief about the report:

• India has a grand vision to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070. This is being worked by adopting a multi-pronged strategy, including reducing emissions, as well as exploring cheaper and alternative cleaner energy sources.
• In addition to the significant environmental issues, the energy imports form a huge burden on foreign reserves, amounting to around 160 billion USD every year. This could increase, if left uncared. This report aims to illustrate India’s distinct ecosystem advantages and how the country is currently poised to become a global leader in green hydrogen. To build a high-tech and low-carbon Indian brand, the study works towards a hydrogen strategy.

Key Highlights:

• The global demand for hydrogen might increase by approximately 400% by 2050, driven by industry and transportation, as the desire to reduce carbon emissions grows. The launch of the National Hydrogen Mission in 2021, signals India’s intent to be a global hub for green hydrogen.
• The report recommends a policy roadmap complementing the National Hydrogen Mission. It will build confidence and trust among the investors.
• The government can suggest specific mandates regarding the blending of hydrogen in current (refineries and ammonia) and possibly upcoming consumption sectors (steel and heavy-duty vehicles). India may set a goal of 25 GW of electrolysers by 2030 and spend USD 1 billion on R&D to spur the creation of commercial green hydrogen technologies along the entire value chain.
• The government must initiate green hydrogen standards and a labelling programme. It should also promote the exports of green-hydrogen and its related technologies through a global alliance.
• The report recommends the union government to encourage state-level action plans and create a championship of green hydrogen states. It calls for capacity building and skill development, and investment facilitation through demand aggregation.

Brief about the report:

India’s transformation from being a food deficit country to food secured nation is a major achievement. Yet, the country faces the paradox of having one of the largest numbers of malnourished people in the world. Despite several initiatives and schemes, malnutrition is one area that is still plaguing India. Take home ration (THR) program provides fortified rations to those segments of the population that are vulnerable to malnutrition. This program showed very good resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic. This report provides a compilation of the good practices across states and UTs and documents the innovations in this landscape. Every aspect of the entire supply chain is reviewed to generate a collection of good practices.

Key Highlights:

• On the procurement side, the report highlights practice of procuring through e-tendering in states like Telangana, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, and Mizoram. This will ensure level playing field and transparency.
• The report highlights the decentralized production model in states like Kerala, Odisha, and Karnataka, where this responsibility is entrusted to self-help groups.
• To increase acceptability and give recipients more options, the following states: Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttarakhand. Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh have different product formulations as per the need of the target population.
• In quality assurance and monitoring level, Gujarat, Telangana, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Mizoram have some of the best practices for ensuring quality throughout.
• Odisha, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh stand out in terms of packaging and labelling.
• In supply chain management, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Telangana have some best standards using technological interventions.
• Odisha, Jharkhand, Telangana, and Himachal Pradesh have some best practices around monitoring the execution of this programme.

Significance of the policy:

• The world is witnessing a large-scale digitalization. This is spread in all sectors, ranging from agriculture to services. Governments across the world are also adopting digital means as an approach towards effective public service delivery and governance.
• Since the adoption of technology is eminent in the future, it becomes important to have a proper governance and monitoring of the public data.
• Currently, different government agencies manage, store, and access the Digital Government data in different and inconsistent ways, which reduces the effectiveness of data-driven governance and prevents an innovative ecosystem of data science, analytics, and AI from developing to its full potential. Utilizing the power of this data will enable more innovative and efficient digital government.
• This draft was released in May 2022, but the time limit for stakeholder consultations is extended recently.

Key highlights of the policy:

• The policy calls for the establishment of an ‘Indian Data Management Office’ (IDMO) that shall be set-up under the aegis of the Digital India Corporation (DIC) which shall be responsible for executing the policy and their timely revision. It is responsible for the collation of the data-set and meta-data rules, guidelines in consultations with the ministries and departments.
• This IDMO shall be assisted by ‘Data Management Unit’ (DMU) that shall be set-up in every ministry and department. This DMU acts as a streamlining mechanism for effective policy implementation. Additionally, states are encouraged to appoint Data Officers, who shall be assisted by the IDMO for their training related aspects.
• Above all, IDMO shall also publish the data anonymization standards and rules to ensure privacy of information. It shall also notify protocols for sharing of non-personal datasets while ensuring privacy and trust. It reserves the right to decide on the provision of access to various datasets by different entities.
• It shall define the rules for ethical and fair use of the data shared beyond government system.

Brief about the report:

Sustainable Development Goals consists of 17 indicators and 169 targets, that are to be achieved by the year 2030. It is therefore imperative to keep monitoring the progress of the country towards the achievement of those goals and targets. To track the progress, MoSPI has developed a National Indicator Framework in 2018, consisting of 306 indicators and official data sources and periodicity of availability of data. The NIF-2022 has 286 indicators currently in 2022 progress report.

Key Highlights of the report:

• Under the SDG-2 (Zero Hunger), the performance is worth highlighting. Agricultural productivity improved during 2015-16 to 2021-22, from 3034 to 3597 kgs per hectare for wheat, and from 2400 to 2735 kgs per hectare for rice. The net area under organic farming also grew from 0.97% to 2.45% during the same period.
• Under SDG-3 (Good Health and Well-being), the institutional births improved from 82.6 in 2015-16 to 90.6 in 2019-21. Maternal Mortality Ratio reduced from 130 in 2014-16 to 103 in 2017-19.
• Under SDG-4 (Quality education), the male-female ratio enrolled in higher education improved from 0.92 in 2015-16 to 1.01 in 2019-20. From 2015-16 to 2020-21, the schools with access to electricity increased from 58.5% to 86.9%, computer facilities from 27.3% to 41.3%, basic hand washing facilities from 51.6% to 91.9%, and disabled friendly ramps from 61% to 70.7%, and disabled friendly toilets from 19.8% to 25.2%.
• Under SDG-6 (Clean water and sanitation), from 2015-16 to 2021-22, rural households with access to toilet facilities rose from 50.9% to 100%. Open defecation free districts improved from 18.4% in 2016-17 to 100% in 2021-22.
• Under SDG-8 (Decent work and economic growth), the number of patents issued rose from 6326 in 2015-16 to 30074 in 2021-22. The start-ups recognized under start-up India program rose from 477 in 2016 to 20173 in 2021.
• Under SDG-11 (Sustainable cities and communities), 100% door to door waste collection was achieved in 98% of the wards in 2022. The waste processing improved from 17.9% in 2016 to 73% in 2022.

Brief about the report:

Youth in India report is a diverse profile of youth across the states. It is a compilation of statistics across different data sources and can be used as a single point of data source regarding the youth and its profile in India. This is the fourth publication in this series, compiled by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. From National Youth Policy, 2014, youth is aged between 15 and 29 years, while the erstwhile policy of 2003 put this at 13-35 years. For this report, the standard set by the National Youth Policy 2014 is followed.

Key Highlights of the report:

• The total number of young people is expected to rise from 222.7 million in 1991 to 333.4 million in 2011, reach 371.4 million by 2021, and then fall to 345.5 million by 2036.
• Youth as a percentage of the population increased from 26.6% in 1991 to 27.9% in 2016, with a projected decreasing trend starting to reach 22.7% by 2036.
• Male population statistics for the percentage of young (15-29 years) who have never been married have increased, from 20.8% in 2011 to 26.1% in 2019. About 24.7% of women and 15.2% of men in the 18–29 age cohort during 2019-21 had married by the exact legal minimum age of marriage, when compared to 45.6% of women and 26.6% of men in same age group in 2005-06.
• The proportion of suicides in youth has raised from 32% in 2015 to 34% in 2020, making it one of the most vulnerable groups to suicides.
• Only around 34.1% of young persons are involved in employment related activities at All India level. This proportion is higher for males with 53.9%, while only 14.2% of females are involved in employment related activities. This is largely due to the unpaid domestic services, where 85.8% females participate compared to 24.2% in males, and unpaid caregiving services with 39.8% of female participation as compared to 11.5% participation from males.
• The report states that, ‘Investment in youth can derive a “triple dividend” by improving health now, enhancing it throughout the life course & contributing to the health of future generations’