Insights, a blog published by IMPRI.
Cotton plays a significant role in India's agricultural and industrial economy. The country ranks first in the world in terms of cotton cultivation area with 114.84 lakh hectares under cotton, which is nearly 38% of the global cotton area of 304.08 hectares.
Ladakh is a high-altitude union territory in northern India that was created on 31 October 2019, bifurcated from the former state of Jammu and Kashmir after the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act. Geographically, Ladakh lies between the Karakoram range in the north and the Great Himalaya and Zanskar ranges in the south, with much of the territory sitting above 3,000 meters. It includes the upper Indus River valley, the Nubra, Shyok, Suru, Dras, and Zanskar basins, and features high plains, deep valleys, glaciers, lakes, and passes such as Umling La.
India is Sri Lanka's closest neighbor, with a civilizational relationship stretching back more than 2,500 years. Sri Lanka holds a central place in India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy and its MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions) vision. (High Commission of India, Colombo, n.d.).
Punjab is one of India’s major agricultural states and has historically played an important role in national food security. Its economy is supported by agriculture and allied activities, industry, services, infrastructure and a large network of urban and rural settlements. At the same time, the state faces challenges related to agricultural diversification, groundwater and irrigation management, employment generation, infrastructure development, energy subsidies and environmental sustainability.
Punjab's female demographic profile presents a mixed picture of progress and persistent challenges. The state's sex ratio stands at 895 females per 1,000 males, below the national average of 940, while female literacy has improved to approximately 75% (Census 2011; recent NFHS-5 estimates). More critically, female labour force participation remains low at around 22–24%, reflecting limited economic opportunities and strong social norms restricting women's work outside the home (Periodic Labour Force Survey, 2024–25).
India’s dairy sector is an important source of rural employment, household income and nutritional security. The country produced 247.87 million tonnes of milk in 2024-25, an increase of 3.58% over the previous year, retaining its position as the world’s largest milk producer (DAHD, 2025). However, the sector is characterised by a large number of small and marginal producers who depend on regular milk sales for cash income. For these farmers, disruptions in procurement, weak market demand, delayed payments and inadequate working capital can have an immediate impact on their livelihoods.
Foundation models, national compute infrastructure, and sovereign datasets alone cannot sustain India's AI ambitions without a parallel mechanism to fund the startups building on top of them. The IndiaAI Startup Financing pillar was conceived to fill this gap — supporting deep-tech AI startups with streamlined access to capital, given the capital-intensive, long-gestation nature of AI product development compared to conventional software startups.