World Grain - March 2020 - 18

COUNTRY FOCUS

FOCUS ON

INDIA
Government incentivizing
wheat production
by Chris Lyddon

India's production of wheat has broken records in recent years,
while the country remains a major producer and the world's biggest exporter of rice.
In its January Grain Market Report, the International Grains
Council (IGC) forecast India's total grains production in 2019-20
at 148.6 million tonnes, unchanged from its previous estimate of
a month earlier and up from 142.7 million produced in 2018-19.
The country's wheat production is put at 102.2 million tonnes,
also unchanged from the previous month and up from 99.7 million the year before. India's corn crop in 2019-20 is estimated at
28.4 million tonnes, another unrevised estimate, compared with
27.2 million in 2018-19. The country's barley crop is put at 1.8
million tonnes, an unrevised estimate that is the same as the previous year's production. The sorghum crop is put at 4.7 million
tonnes, unrevised and up from 3.8 million the previous year.
India's total grains imports in 2019-20 are put at an unrevised
700,000 tonnes, up from 300,000 the year before. Its total grains
exports are put at an unrevised 1.1 million tonnes, compared with
1.2 million in 2018-19. Wheat imports are put at
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given by the IGC for the previous year.
Its exports of wheat are put at 400,000
tonnes, unrevised from a month
earlier and down from 500,000
the year before. Barley exports
are put at 100,000 tonnes, also
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the previous year. India is
also forecast to export 60
million tonnes of sorghum in
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that compares with 62 million the previous year.
Rice production in India in
2019-20 is put at 115 million
tonnes, unrevised from the previous report and down from 116.4
million the year before. India is the
18

KEY FACTS
Capital: New Delhi
Population: 1,326,093,247 (July 2020 est.)
Religions: Hindu 79.8%, Muslim 14.2%, Christian
2.3%, Sikh 1.7%, other and unspecified 2% (2011 est.).
Location: Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea
and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan.
Government: Federal parliamentary republic. Chief
of state: President Ram Nath Kovind (since July 25,
2017); head of government: Prime Minister Narendra
Modi (since May 26, 2014).
Economy: India's diverse economy encompasses
traditional village farming, modern agriculture,
handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and
a multitude of services. Slightly less than half of the
workforce is in agriculture, but services are the major source of economic growth, accounting for nearly
two-thirds of India's output but employing less than
one-third of its labor force. India has capitalized on
its large educated English-speaking population to
become a major exporter of information technology
services, business outsourcing services, and software
workers. Nevertheless, per capita income remains below the world average. India is developing into an
open-market economy, yet traces of its past autarkic
policies remain. Economic liberalization measures, including industrial deregulation, privatization of stateowned enterprises, and reduced controls on foreign
trade and investment, began in the early 1990s and
served to accelerate the country's growth, which averaged nearly 7% per year from 1997 to 2017. Despite
a high growth rate compared to the rest of the world,
India's government-owned banks faced mounting
bad debt, resulting in low credit growth. Rising macroeconomic imbalances in India and improving economic conditions in Western countries led investors to
shift capital away from India, prompting a sharp depreciation of the rupee through 2016. The economy
slowed in 2017, due to shocks of "demonetizaton"
in 2016 and introduction of GST in 2017. India has
a young population and corresponding low dependency ratio, healthy savings and investment rates,
and is increasing integration into the global economy.
However, long-term challenges remain significant,
including: an inefficient power generation and distribution system; ineffective enforcement of intellectual
property rights; decades-long civil litigation dockets;
inadequate transport and agricultural infrastructure,
limited non-agricultural employment opportunities,
and high spending and poorly targeted subsidies.
GDP per capita: $7,200 (2017 est.); inflation: 3.6%
(2017 est.); unemployment: 8.5% (2017 est.).
Currency: Indian rupees (INR): 71.82 rupees equal 1
U.S. dollar (Feb. 20, 2020).
Exports: $304.1 billion (2017 est.): petroleum products, precious stones, vehicles, machinery, iron and
steel, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, cereals,
apparel.
Imports: $452.2 billion (2017 est.): crude oil, precious stones, machinery, chemicals, fertilizer, plastics,
iron and steel.
Agriculture: 15.4% (2016 est.) of GDP and 47% of
the labor force.
Internet: Code: .in; 374,328,160 users.
Source: CIA World Factbook

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