(27 March 2023) Government Data Roundup: Reports By MoSPI, NITI Aayog Among Those Released Recently

The 25^th edition of the fortnightly government roundup covers reports released by MoSPI, NITI Aayog, Ministry of Coal, and Ministry of Fisheries among others.

In this 25^th edition of the Fortnightly roundup of government data, we look at some of the reports released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), NITI Aayog, the Ministry of Coal, and the Ministry of Fisheries. We also look at the key updates presented in some monthly releases, details of which were discussed in older fortnightly roundups. 

Task Force Report on “Production and Promotion of Organic and Bio fertilisers with Special Focus on Improving Economic Viability of Gaushalas”

About the report

NITI Aayog had constituted a 17-member Task Force to suggest measures to make Gaushalas self-sustaining entities while addressing the problem of stray and abandoned cattle and effective utilization of cow dung and cow urine in the agriculture and energy sectors. The report provides factual estimates of operating costs and fixed costs and other issues in respect of gaushalas and the cost and investments involved in setting up the Bio-CNG plant and PROM plant in Gaushalas. It also gives suggestions and recommendations for improving the financial and economic viability of Gaushalas, channelizing the potential of stray, abandoned and uneconomic cattle wealth for promoting natural and organic farming.

Key highlights

A total of 22 recommendations have been listed in the report. These recommendations cover the processing of gobar, manufacturing agricultural inputs from it, standardization of products, marketing, policy support and research. Some of the key recommendations are:

• Parity in support for chemical fertilisers vis-a-vis organic and cow dung and cow urine-based compost, manures, jivamrit, ghanjivamrit and other organic fertiliser formulations will help gaushalas earn a sizeable income from cow dung and cow urine.
• A new scheme, like Sustainable Alternative towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) and Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources (GOBARdhan), should be launched in the Central sector to promote the use of agri bio-waste and cattle waste available with gaushalas to produce Compressed Biogas (CBG) and organic manure from the slurry left after producing CBG. A special incentive to procure gas from such plants should be made available and linked with payment of a reasonable price to gaushalas for the cattle manure.
• Interested gaushalas should be helped through capital assistance and marketing of cow dung and cow urine-based formulations for application in agriculture. This will require some viability gap funding.
• Specific policy measures and support have been suggested to encourage the commercial production, packaging, marketing & distribution of cow dung-based organic fertilisers including brand development. Measures should also be taken to attract private investors.
• The report also suggests a revision of the Fertilizer Control Order to include simpler processes for licensing and registration of produces of Gaushalas.

Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics 2022

Brief about the report

The publication gives an overview of the Animal Husbandry sector briefly in terms of important livestock statistics such as livestock population, livestock production and other information like animal diseases, infrastructure, etc. It is the primary source of data on production estimates of four Major Livestock Products (MLPs) like Milk, Egg, Meat and Wool for the year 2021-22 and other technical aspects of the Integrated Sample Survey (ISS). The Survey was conducted from March 2021 to February 2022.

Additionally, the report also contains data of secondary information like livestock population as per the latest 20th Livestock Census, import and export data of livestock and livestock products, the incidence of livestock disease, infrastructure, and economic contribution of the livestock sector. 

Some important findings

• Total milk production in the country during 2021-22 grew by 5.3% to touch 221.06 million tonnes. The top five major milk producing States are Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh which account for more than 50% of the total production.
• The total egg production in the country improved by 6.2% in 2021-22 and was 129.60 billion. Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana were the top 3 egg-producing states. 
• India’s total meat production was 9.29 million tonnes for the year 2021-22 with an annual growth rate of 5.62%. The top 5 major meat producing States are Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.
• During 2014-15 and 2020-21, the value addition of the sector grew at a compound annual growth rate of 7.93%.
• In 2020-21, the share of Livestock at constant prices in the Agriculture Sector and total GVA was 30.13% and 4.9% respectively.

Purpose of the report

The report is an important repository of data pertaining to animal husbandry in the country and is used by Governments, private agencies, and other institutions etc. for effective planning, policy, decision-making and research.

Energy Statistics India 2023

About the report

The report is an integrated database on the energy statistics in the country for the year 2021-22 and is the 30^th in the series. It collates statistics on energy resources in the country from different ministries and departments of the Government of India such as the Ministry of Power, Ministry of Coal, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. It presents state-wise data on energy reserves and capacity, extraction, production, distribution, losses, storage, trade, and final consumption of energy products. Further, it also provides information on the environmental impact of the energy sector like combustion, emission, and India’s performance with respect to various energy indicators for sustainability in 2021-22. 

Key findings

• Total estimated reserves of coal in India as on 01 April 2022 were 361.41 billion tonnes with Odisha, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh, accounting for 69%. Meanwhile, Coal production in the country during the year 2021-22 was 778.19 million tonnes as compared to 716.08 million tonnes during 2020-21. 
• India imports a decent amount of electricity to meet its domestic demand. India’s electricity imports declined by over 20% in 2021-22 as compared to 2020-21. 
• India experienced a rather slow rate of consumption, due to the pandemic, where all the sectors experienced a negative growth rate in 2020-21. However, in 2021-22, all the sectors have come up with a healthy growth rate displaying a steady recovery of the Indian economy.
• Among all the petroleum products, High-Speed Diesel Oil (HSDO) accounted for 37.55% of total consumption, followed by Petrol (15.10%), LPG (13.87%), and Pet Coke (7.72%). 
• India’s Total Emissions from the Energy Sector have increased from 16,51,928 GgCO2 Equivalent in 2011 to 21,29,428 GgCO2 Equivalent in 2016 as per the latest estimates by MoEFCC in February 2021.

Women and Men in India 2022

Brief about the publication

The annual publication “Women and Men in India” is a comprehensive report that puts together data on a wide range of topics such as education, health, employment, and political participation, among others. It presents data disaggregated by gender, urban-rural divide, and geographical region, which helps understand the disparities that exist between different groups of women and men. The 24^th issue of the publication was released recently in which a new chapter on SDGs and gender has been added.

Important findings

• Data on health indicators is based on NFHS-5. According to the report, during 2019-21, 38% of males and 8.9% of females above the age of 15 years used tobacco. The usage was more than 50% among male adults in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Odisha, and Tripura. Among female adults, it was more than 50% in Mizoram and Tripura and less than 1% in Punjab and Chandigarh.
• In India, females are more attracted towards the profession of teaching than males, especially at the primary level. There were 126 female teachers per 100 male teachers at the primary level in 2021-22. However, the representation of female teachers in tertiary education was low at 41% as per 2020-21 data.
• Men spent 38 minutes while women spent 281 minutes of a single day for unpaid non-SNA activities like household upkeep (e.g., cooking, washing, cleaning, shopping for own household, etc.), care work (e.g., care of children, the old, the sick, disabled and others that need care), and unpaid voluntary services.
• As per State-wise Women participation in the 17th Lok Sabha Election, among States with more than ten seats, the percentage of women MPs out of total seats is the highest in Odisha at 33% and lowest in Kerala at 5%. Considering the share of women (49.5%) in the total population of India, their representation in Parliament is skewed.
• Cruelty by Husbands and Relatives, Assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty and Kidnapping & Abduction constituted more than 70% of the total crime committed against women with the rate of Cruelty by Husbands and Relatives faced by women in their own house accounting for one-third of all crimes.

The details of the following monthly publications were discussed earlier. Some key developments in these publications released this month have been covered here. 

RBI’s Bulletin

The latest RBI bulletin for March 2023 revealed that India has emerged from the pandemic years stronger than initially thought, with a steady gathering of momentum since the second quarter of the current financial year even as global growth is set to slow down or even enter a recession in 2023 as global financial markets wager.

Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production

For January 2023, the Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 2011-12 stands at 146.5. The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of January 2023 stand at 135.9, 144.3 and 186.6 respectively. 

All-India Consumer Price Index Number for Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers

The All-India Consumer Price Index Number for Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers (Base: 1986-87=100) for February 2023 increased by 1 point each to stand at 1171 and 1182 points respectively. The maximum upward pressure on the general index of Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers came from the miscellaneous group to the extent of 0.93 & 0.98 points respectively mainly due to increases in prices of medicine, doctor’s fees, barber charges, bus fare, washing shops, cinema ticket, etc.

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