Bamboo is a special species in the Indian rural economy and the ecology. Bamboo is a tender healthy grass that grows rapidly and can provide both tensile strength and versatility and is both fast-growing and renewable, supporting livelihoods in agriculture, forestry, handicrafts and modern manufacturing, at the same time, and is called “green gold” or “green steel.”
Edible oils form an essential component of India’s food and nutritional security, and oilseeds play a vital role in the livelihoods of millions of farmers. Oilseeds contribute not only to nutritional security but also to farmers’ welfare, serving as an important cash crop that sustains rural incomes and employment.
The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for the National Programme on High Efficiency Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Modules was approved by the Union Cabinet on 7 April 2021, with a total outlay of ₹24,000 crore, to build gigawatt-scale domestic manufacturing capacity and reduce India's dependence on solar imports. It is administered by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). Tranche-I, a smaller pilot worth ₹4,500 crore, required manufacturers to integrate the full value chain, from polysilicon through to modules, to qualify. This bar proved too high, only three manufacturers ultimately won Letters of Award (LoAs), for a combined 8,737 MW, leaving most of the scheme's intended capacity-building potential untapped.
The global pharmaceutical sector for decades has been operating with a hyper-specialized and cost-driven business model. Under this approach, western pharmaceutical giants have used their capital to invest in high-margin research and development, patent acquisition and initial clinical design. Simultaneously, capital intensive, environmentally demanding, and low margin segments of manufacturing. Especially the synthesis of key starting materials (KSMs) and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), were successively exported to developing Asian economies with lower overhead costs and more flexible regulatory frameworks.
At COP26 in Glasgow on 1 November 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled five ambitious climate commitments for India, collectively known as Panchamrit, which translates to “five nectars” in Sanskrit. These pledges include: (i) 500GW of non-fossil energy capacity by 2030; (ii) meeting 50% of energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030; (iii) cutting projected cumulative carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes between then 2030; (iv) reducing the emissions intensity of GDP by 45% from 2005 levels by 2030; and (v) achieving net zero emissions by 2070.
Bihar’s agricultural future may increasingly depend not only on how much it produces, but also on what it produces and how much value farmers can obtain from it. In this context, the emergence of dragon fruit, or Kamalam, offers an interesting case of agricultural diversification. Once considered an exotic fruit in Indian markets, dragon fruit has gradually entered India’s commercial horticulture landscape.While dragon fruit is promoted nationally under MIDH,Bihar has introduced a separate state-funded Dragon Fruit Vikas Yojana under the Mukhyamantri Bagwani Mission ,the two are complementary, with MIDH providing the broader technical and institutional horticulture ecosystem and the Bihar scheme providing state-level financial and implementation support for crop expansion.
India stands at a critical juncture in addressing the climate crisis, where the imperatives of development, energy security, climate resilience and social justice increasingly intersect. While the country has undertaken several commitments towards mitigating greenhouse-gas emissions and transitioning towards a low-carbon economy, the impacts of climate change are already being experienced through extreme weather events, agricultural losses, disruptions to livelihoods and growing vulnerabilities among marginalised communities.