weekly economic bulletin - india in...

NEWS FEATUREIndia's annual wholesale inflation moves upIndia's annual wholesale inflation inched up to (-)0.85 percent for March, from (-)0.91 percent in February, offi-cial data showed on Monday.

India retains top spot as world’s largest remittance recipient in 2015India was the world’s largest remittance recipient in 2015 despite experiencing a $ one billion drop from theprevious year, the first decline in its remittances since 2009, the World Bank has said.

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Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei and Cisco are betting big on India's 'smart cities' projectGlobal majors such as Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei and Cisco are betting big on India's 'smart cities' project,which is estimated to be an up to $50 billion (Rs 340,000 crore) business opportunity over five years.


Asus planning to make India its home market for smartphonesTaiwan's Asus, the world's fifth largest personal computer maker, plans to make India its home market forsmartphones, and is stitching together aggressive growth plans which involves doubling local productionand spending on marketing in an effort to be a top five player.

OVERSEAS INVESTMENTS

ITP Division Ministry of

External Affairs Government of India

Issue No 672 I April 19-25, 2016

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TRADE NEWSPradhan eyes India's participation in hydro-carbon sector in BangladeshOil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan looked East when he explored India's participation in oil and gas infra-structure projects in Bangladesh Indo-Bangla oil and gas pipeline.


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SECTORAL NEWSCosmetics sector to see pickup in sales as firms line up budget brands Makers of beauty products and cosmetics expect their India sales to pick up as they line up budget brands,focus on cosmetics and create herbal offerings for the country in the backdrop of a slowdown in China.


NEWS ROUND-UPModi launches electronic trading platform for farmers Farmers need a choice in selling their produce and the electronic trading platform developed by the centre will bethe turning point in their economic life, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, while launching the National Agri-culture Market, or e-NAM.


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Issue no 672 I April 19-25, 2016

>> NEWS FEATURE

India's annual wholesale inflation moves up

India retains top spot as world’s largestremittance recipient in 2015

India's annual wholesale inflation inched up to (-)0.85 percent forMarch, from (-)0.91 percent in February, official data showed on Mon-day.

The annual inflation rate, based on the official wholesale priceindex (WPI) data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry,stood at 2.33 percent in March 2015.

The firmness in the annual rate of inflation was attributed to risingprices of food articles which rose by 3.73 percent for the monthunder review. Pulses were costlier by 34.45 percent over the pastyear.

Source: Indo-Asian News Service

India was the world’s largest remittance recipient in 2015 despite experiencing a $ one billion drop from the previous year,the first decline in its remittances since 2009, the World Bank has said.

India retained its top spot in 2015, attracting about $69 billion in remittances, down from $70 billion in 2014, the WorldBank said on Wednesday in its annual report ‘Migration and Development Brief’.

Other large remittance recipients in 2015 were China with $64 billion, the Philippines ($28 billion), Mexico ($25 billion) andNigeria ($21 billion).

“Remittances to India, the (South Asian) region’s largest economy and the world’s largest remittance recipient, decreasedby 2.1% in 2015, to $68.9 billion. This marks the first decline in remittances since 2009,” the World Bank report said.

Officially recorded remittances to developing countries amounted to $431.6 billion in 2015, an increase of 0.4% over $430billion in 2014. The growth pace in 2015 was the slowest since the global financial crisis, the report said.

Global remittances, which include those to high-income countries, contracted by 1.7% to $581.6 billion in 2015, from $592billion in 2014, the World Bank said.

“Remittances are an important and fairly stable source of income for millions of families and of foreign exchange to manydeveloping countries,” said Augusto Lopez-Claros, Director of the World Bank’s Global Indicators Group.党However, if remittances continue to slow down and dramatically, as in the case of Central Asian countries, poor families

in many parts of the world would face serious challenges including nutrition, access to health care and education,” Lopez-Claros said.

According to the report, the growth of remittances in 2015 slowed from eight per cent in 2014 to 2.5% for Bangladesh,from 16.7% to 12.8% for Pakistan, and from 9.6% to 0.5% for Sri Lanka.

Remittances to Nepal rose dramatically in response to the earthquake, by 20.9% in 2015 versus 3.2% in 2014.Source: Press Trust of India

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>> OVERSEAS INVESTMENT

Taiwan's Asus, the world's fifth largest personal computer maker, plans to make India its home market for smartphones,and is stitching together aggressive growth plans which involves doubling local production and spending on marketing inan effort to be a top five player.

Asus, still struggling to establish a presence inan intensely competitive market, plans to doublelocal production to 600,000 smartphones thisyear, made by contract manufacturer Foxconn inAndhra Pradesh, while more smartphonelaunches in the Rs 6,000 and above Rs 20,000price brackets will follow.

"Internally, we're thinking we should make Indiaas our home base, especially in smartphones,"Peter Chang, Regional Head for South Asia andIndia country manager told ET, underlining thecriticality of the South Asian nation - the world'sfastest growing smartphone market - to globaloperations. The company that sells smartphones,tablets, laptops and personal computers,launched its gaming laptops and desktops on Wednesday.

"We would be doubling our marketing budget this year, from 2-3% of revenue, because we want to have 5% marketshare," Chang said. The company claimed to have 2.3% market share.

Source: The Economic Times

Asus planning to make India its home market for smartphones

WEEKLYECONOMIC BULLETIN >> OVERSEAS INVESTMENT

Global majors such as Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei and Cisco are betting big on India's 'smart cities' project, which is estimatedto be an up to $50 billion (Rs 340,000 crore) business opportunity over five years.

Players like Ericsson and Huawei have started working on some of the projects in the country, while Nokia could soonbid for some projects. Cisco, on the other hand, is involved in more than 25 cities, including the government's 20 officialsmart cities shortlist.

The government has defined a smart city in the Indian context as one that provides a decent quality of life to its citizens,a clean and sustainable environment, and supports the application of smart solutions.

It has shortlisted 20 cities, including Pune, Jaipur, Surat, Kochi, Ahmedbad, New Delhi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Ludhi-ana and Bhopal, which will be developed as smart cities. The smart city market opportunity in India will be $45-50 billionover the next five years, according to a report by Sustainability Outlook.

The electronic equipment business, just for the first phase, will be a $220-250 million opportunity for these vendors. Forcompanies like Cisco, which are largely looking at IT solutions, the opportunity is pegged at around $25 million per city, ac-cording to industry estimates. "The Indian government's vision of a Smart Digital India is creating enormous opportunities,"said Orvar Hurtig, global head of industry and society at Ericsson. The company has identified three key industry segments public safety, utilities and transport as its focus areas in the country.

The Swedish company has just won its first deal in India in the utilities space to install 15,000 smart meters in Assamover the next three years for a public sector power company.

Ericsson, which earlier created a separate vertical called 'industry & society' to tap 'Smart City' and 'Digital India' oppor-tunities, expects up to 20% of its India sales to come from this segment by 2020. Sales from this segment are negligiblenow.

Sandeep Girotra, Nokia's head of India market, said the company is in talks with various state governments and the Cen-tre and may soon bid for some projects. "We believe that there is no single approach that fits all cities and each city canhave multiple drivers, therefore, it is absolutely vital to engage with state government, city administration and planners tounderstand their objectives and KPIs," Girotra added.

Cisco, which has worked on more than 120 smart cities globally, is working in 12-13 cities out of the list of 20. Besides,the company has been working in another 14-15 cities, according to Purushottam Kaushik, managing director-sales atCisco India & Saarc.

"We are not just providing its solutions to the authorities, but also providing consultancy services," Kaushik said.Source: The Economic Times

Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei and Cisco are betting big on India's 'smart cities' project

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WEEKLYECONOMIC BULLETIN >> OVERSEAS INVESTMENT5


The government is set to waive the requirement of mandatory domestic sourcing for Apple, paving the way for the globaltechnology giant to open its own retail outlets in the country.

Although Apple has been keen on opening its own stores, the policy requirement of mandatory sourcing of 30% of thegoods from within the country proved to be amajor hurdle since the market does not have ven-dors to meet its needs. Following a change in thepolicy last November, Apple has decided to seekgovernment nod as the sourcing norms can nowbe waived for 'state-of-the-art' and 'cutting-edgetechnology'.

On Tuesday, the iPhone and iPad maker made apresentation before a committee headed by indus-trial policy and promotion secretary Ramesh Ab-hishek where it made a case for use of the specialprovision. Sources told TOI that Apple was a fitcase for relaxing the norms. "Their products cer-tainly meet the requirement for waiving the localsourcing clause," said a source, adding that a finaldecision will be announced in a few days.

Sources said Apple has indicated that it may produce locally in the future, although its current sourcing from the coun-try is limited to some chargers, which are being exported to markets such as China. During the presentation, Apple wasalso asked about its plans to sell refurbished phones in the country and the company is learnt to have responded that ithad no immediate plans at the moment.

While Xiaomi and LeEco have also submitted proposals to open single-brand retail outlets in the country, their proposalshave not been taken up so far.

The government allows 100% FDI in the segment but companies are required to seek approval if overseas holding ex-ceeds 49%.

India has emerged as one of the fastest growing markets for Apple, with the company notching up over $1-billion(around Rs 7,000-crore at current exchange rate) sales revenue in 2015. Its sales grew 76% during the quarter ended De-cember 2015 even as its global sales growth slowed to 0.4%. In recent months, the Steve Jobs-founded company hasidentified India along with China as its top markets.

At present, Apple sells through its distributors in India. It indicated in the presentation that it would open several stores(without disclosing numbers) but would rely on other retailers as well.

Source: The Times of India

Apple may get to open stores without 30% sourcing norm

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WEEKLYECONOMIC BULLETIN >> TRADE NEWS


Pradhan eyes India's participation inhydro-carbon sector in BangladeshOil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan looked East when he explored India's participation in oil and gas infrastructure proj-ects in Bangladesh Indo-Bangla oil and gas pipeline.

Pradhan finalised India's participation in the two downstream projects in the neighbouring country during a three-dayvisit there.

Hoping to enter Bangladesh's largely unexploredhydro-carbon sector where India's entry was oncebarred by the erstwhile BNP-Jamaat regime inDhaka, Pradhan explored opportunities during hismeeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and hersenior advisers.

His visit marked the signing of an MoU on thebroad aspects of cooperation in downstream oil andgas sector opportunities in Bangladesh between In-dian Oil Corporation LtdBSE -1.96 % (IOCL) and BPC.Pradhan visited the port city of Chittagong on Tues-day where a contract was signed for the installationof second unit of Eastern Refinery Ltd. betweenBangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) and Engi-neers India Ltd. (EIL).

What was unthinkable few years back is slowly becoming a reality with Indo-Bangla energy partnership gaining mo-mentum. Companies from both countries are collaborating in the hydrocarbon sector ranging from trade in petroleumproducts, exploration work and consultancy services.

India also supplies 2200 MT High Speed Diesel (HSD) to Bangladesh from Siliguri Marketing Terminal of NumaligarhRefinery Ltd (NRL) to Parbatipur Depot of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC). India is planning to continue withthe supply of HSD in a sustainable manner, Pradhan assured Bangla leadership during this visit.

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd wants to build an LPG bottling plant jointly with Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation. Aftermeeting domestic demand in Bangladesh, the rest of the produced gas will be exported to Tripura. Bangladesh is theseventh largest producer of natural gas in Asia. Geologists believe the country's maritime exclusive economic zoneholds one of the largest oil and gas reserves in the Asia-Pacific. Bangladesh has 27 exploratory hydro-carbon blocks inits Exclusive Economic Zone.

During his meeting with Hasina, Pradhan shared details of Indian hydrocarbon infrastructure project proposals inBangladesh, including setting up of LPG import terminal at Chittagong by IOCLBSE -1.96 % and sought favourable con-sideration for creating win-win situation for both sides. Pradhan also discussed with Hasina the 'Indo-Bangla FriendshipPipeline' and called it as an important project for both countries. The Bangla PM sought Indian investments in the Spe-cial Economic Zones.


WEEKLYECONOMIC BULLETIN >> SECTORAL NEWS7


Makers of beauty products and cosmetics expect their India sales to pick up as they line up budget brands, focus on cos-metics and create herbal offerings for the country in the backdrop of a slowdown in China.

“In the last three years, the sector grew in high single digit at an average of 7-8%. However, in the last six months,growth has improved and the estimated growth for calendar year 2015 is 9%,” said Jean-Christophe Letellier, managingdirector, L’Oreal India Pvt. Ltd, adding that heexpects India to become one of the fastestgrowing beauty and cosmetics markets in theworld with a growth rate of 11-12% for thenext three years.

Beauty and hygiene is a $10 billion marketand is estimated to grow at a 10% com-pounded annual growth rate to $17 billion by2020, according to a February report by theIndian Beauty and Hygiene Association(IBHA), Bain and Co and Google India.

L’Oreal targets to grow at twice the marketrate, said Letellier, whose confidence stemsfrom low inflation, better economic growthand underlying trends of demographic divi-dend, digitalisation and rurbanisation.

The Indian economy which is estimated to have grown at 7.6% in the year ended 31 March 2016 also benefits asChina, the world’s second largest economy is slowing down faster than expected.

“Beauty players are strengthening their focus here,” said an October report by Euromonitor International which esti-mated India outpacing China’s growth in a number of beauty categories like colour cosmetics, hair care, men’s grooming,fragrances and deodorants at a compounded annual growth rate of 10-14% during 2014-19.

Moreover, companies have also tweaked their strategies to focus on budget brands. Modi Revlon Pvt. Ltd, a joint ven-ture between the Umesh Modi Group and Mundipharma Group of Switzerland along with Revlon of US, is focusing onColor Rich, its value brand launched in 2014 for growth.

“Brands like Color Rich have a wider scope and potential to scale from its current 1,500 outlets to 50,000 in threeyears,” said Umesh Modi, chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO), Umesh Modi Group. He claimed that thedistribution reach of Color Rich has already exceeded that of Revlon which is now available at 1,300 outlets.

Even global majors such as US beauty giant Est e Lauder, which was earlier focusing on skin care, one of its largestcategories globally, have now adapted to the Indian market, shifting its focus to makeup. “The makeup category is biggerthan advanced skin care in the country,” said Govind Shrikhande, managing director, Shoppers Stop. He said that be-cause India is a young country in terms of its demography and still new to the entire skincare culture, the adoption ofbeauty is starting out with the makeup category.

To be sure, India is not an easy market. Shiseido India Pvt. Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japan’s $6.7 billion cos-metics major Shiseido Group which launched premium brand Za from the House of Shiseido in 2014, withdrew fromIndia last year, finding the market challenging. Others like L’Occitane, a French beauty brand known for its natural skin-

Cosmetics sector to see pickup in salesas firms line up budget brands

WEEKLYECONOMIC BULLETIN >> SECTORAL NEWS

care and beauty products, has shut a few stores after expanding rapidly three years ago. It now has 13 stores, downfrom 18 two years ago.

“For premium brands, the retail platform is limited to presence within a few department stores and for standalone(stores), the rentals are too high,” said Tony Thin, CEO, Beauty Concepts Pvt. Ltd, a distributor for brands like Bvlgari,Salvatore Ferragamo, Hermes and Lalique in India.

As such, even within makeup, it is categories like lipstick, face powder compact and eye pencil that do well as com-pared with categories like foundation and mascara which are big segments globally, said Biju Anthony, head of market-ing, Baccarose Perfumes and Beauty Products that markets fragrances, skincare, nail care and cosmetics in Indiabesides manufacturing Chambor products in the country.

Meanwhile, ayurveda and herbal brands are finding high acceptance. Forest Essentials, in which beauty behemothEst e Lauder Companies Inc. has a minority stake, and Kama Ayurveda are also fast expanding. For instance, KamaAyurveda which had over 15 stores in Delhi opened its first store in Mumbai about a year ago has now got three stores inthe city with plans to open more.

Technology adoption will also aid the sector’s growth.“In the past couple of years, while the consumer packaged goods sector saw a slowdown, the e-commerce market

has been growing and we have been able to capture some of that growth,” said Falguni Nayar, former managing directorof Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, who has started an online beauty commerce site, nykaa.com. The portal is in talkswith Australian and Korean skincare brands interested in entering India through the online route.

Source: Livemint

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WEEKLYECONOMIC BULLETIN >> SECTORAL NEWS

The service sector contributed about 61% of India's GDP in 2014-15, according to a joint report by CII-KPMG. The services sector is increasingly becoming critical to the development trajectory of a country, especially since the

World Bank found that the sector's contribution in poverty alleviation is greater than that of agriculture and manufactur-ing.

The report said the Indian service sector is growing strongly at approximately 10% per annum, making India the sec-ond fastest growing services economy in theworld. India's share in global services exportswas 3.2% in 2014-15, double that of its mer-chandise exports in global merchandise ex-ports at 1.7%, placing India in the eighth placecurrently among the top ten exporters of serv-ice in the world.

Rajat Wahi, partner and head, consumermarkets, KPMG in India, said, "India's youngdemographic profile combined with its risingliteracy rate, offers it a significant competitiveadvantage vis-a-vis other developingeconomies. Along with the 'Make in India' ini-tiative that is striving to boost the manufactur-ing sector, the Prime Minister has outlined avision to represent India as a world-class services hub across sectors. Multiple stakeholders need to work cohesively tohelp achieve this vision."

"Technology, innovation and creativity are rapidly redefining the global economy with digitization collapsing distancesand transcending borders. In the process, the impact of the services sector is turning out to be manifold and significant.India has pride of place as the fastest-growing service sector nation globally. To keep the momentum going, it is criticalthat stakeholders, investors and policy-makers are best equipped in strategizing for the future and tapping the best mar-kets globally." he said.

Among key services sectors, such as IT, telecom, tourism, media and entertainment, healthcare, management con-sulting, logistics and professional services, IT is the largest private sector employer in India, employing more than 3.7million people. The industry is projected to grow at 8.5 per cent in 2016 fiscal, from us$132 billion in FY2015 to US$143billion (excluding e-commerce). IT-BPM exports in fiscal 2016 are estimated at US$108 billion.

On the other hand, the tourism sector's contribution to GDP was US$125.2 billion in 2014, and is expected to reachUS$259 billion in 2025 (accounting to 7.6% of India's GDP).

Source: The Times of India

Service sector growing at 10% annually:CII-KPMG

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WEEKLYECONOMIC BULLETIN >> NEWS ROUND UP10


Modi launches electronic trading platformfor farmersFarmers need a choice in selling their produce and the electronic trading platform developed by the centre will be theturning point in their economic life, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, while launching the National Agriculture Market,or e-NAM.

“Farmers are often forced to sell at a distress pricesin the closest mandi (market) and the e-NAM platformwill allow them to sell their produce anywhere in thecountry,” Modi said, adding, “while farmers will earnmore, traders will have a wider choice and consumerscan expect lower prices”.

The e-NAM platform a key initiative of the NationalDemocratic Alliance government’s promise to doublefarm incomes by 2022 will connect 21 mandis from eightstates in the first phase. The centre aims to bring 585mandis across India on to the platform by March 2018.

Horticultural crops such as onions and potatoes areoften sold at varying rates in different states and a uni-fied market can help bring a parity in prices. Fallingprices of key commodities such as rice, wheat and cot-ton have dented farm incomes in the past few years, while consecutive droughts have led to a protracted period of ruraldistress.

Fourteen states have amended their Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Acts state laws that currentlygovern how farm produce can be traded to allow for electronic trading, and the centre has approved 365 mandis from 12states to join the platform.

Modi urged all states to come on board the project. “Some states do not have marketing laws and others have toamend existing laws to join the platform,” he said, adding, “the initial success of the project will force others to join theproject”.

The eight states that will be part of the platform in the first phase are Gujarat, Telangana, Rajasthan, MadhyaPradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand and Himachal Pradesh. The platform will begin by trading in 25 crops, in-cluding wheat, maize, pulses, oilseeds, potatoes, onions and spices.

Initially, farmers will have the choice to sell at any mandi within the state, and the goal is to widen this to across thecountry, according to an official from the agriculture ministry who did not want to be named.

But a national common market may not be a reality soon as states have to amend their marketing laws further. “Thegovernment has formed a committee to look into the statutory requirements (as agriculture and marketing are statesubjects) that can allow farmers and buyers to trade at a pan-India level,” the official added.

States are often reluctant to let go of taxes and levies imposed on the marketing of agricultural produce. Punjab, forinstance, known for its strong network of arthiyas (traders), has not given in-principle approval to the e-NAM scheme.Further, states like Kerala and Bihar that do not have an APMC Act have to take a call, agriculture minister Radha MohanSingh said earlier this week.

WEEKLYECONOMIC BULLETIN >> NEWS ROUND UP

While launching e-NAM, Modi said the scheme will bring transparency and policymakers will have a better idea ofreal-time availability of crops. This will help smoothen movement of crops from surplus to deficit areas, he said. “Todaywe cannot look at farming in bits and pieces,” he said, adding, “agriculture needs a holistic and science based approach.”

He elaborated on other major thrust areas of the government increasing water use efficiency or “more crop perdrop”, restoring soil fertility and diversifying into fisheries and livestock to improve farm incomes.

Modi further said that farmers should move towards value addition of agricultural produce, and the government’s de-cision to allow 100% foreign direct investment in the food processing sector is an important policy decision in this re-gard.

Source: Livemint

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India remains part of Asean-led trade pacttalks: MinisterCommerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said India remains part of the Asean-led talks for a regionaltrade agreement with six other countries and that the next round of dialogue was due to be held in Australia from thisweek-end.

"The RCEP negotiations are happening in detail," Sitharaman said in a tweet on Wednesday morning, referring to theRegional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) proposed between the 10 Asean members with six countries --Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

"India participating in the next round beginning April 24, 2016, at Sydney, Australia."The tweets came in reaction to a media report that the negotiating team for the accord had found India to be obstruc-

tionist and had asked New Delhi to either agree to eliminate tariffs on all products or leave the talks on the proposedfree trade agreement.

"We've made our offers for goods and services. Are being discussed. 'India has been told...to leave the talks...?'Shocked to say the least!" the commerce minister tweeted.

The 10 nation Asean grouping of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore,Thailand and Vietnam, already has free trade agreements with each of the six countries with which the regional accord isproposed.

The negotiations were launched in November 2012 at the Cambodia Asean Summit.Source: Indo-Asian News Service

WEEKLYECONOMIC BULLETIN >> NEWS ROUND UP

India to become US$10 trillion economy by2032: Amitabh KantNiti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant gave a 2032 date to India becoming a $10-trillion economy, a year after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said India should dream of a $20 trillion economy but did not fix a target.

The PM, while speaking at the ETGlobal Summit last year had asked whythe country could not dream of a $20-tril-lion economy and said his governmentwas preparing the ground for it. Kant, in apresentation before the Prime Minister onThursday, said the country needs to worktowards a 10% growth rate year-onyearagainst its projected growth rate of 7.4%to achieve a $10 trillion economy by2032.

When contacted by ET, Kant said theaim was to create 175 million jobs andachieving zero percent of Below PovertyLine population by 2032. "If we achieve a$10 trillion economy target by 2032 by a 10% growth rate year-on-year, the compounding effect would be such that ourscould be a $20-trillion economy in the next 6-7 years after 2032. The 10% y-o-y growth is the biggest challenge."

In his presentation, Kant said if India grows at 7% till 2032, its GDP will only be $6 trillion in 2032 against $2 trillion ason today while 5-6% of the population will remain below poverty line. The new plan flows out of a Group of Secretariesreport that talked of achieving 10% growth "year-on-year in the next five years" by aiming at 10 'Champion States' grow-ing at 12% and more, 4% agricultural growth rate, 10-12% growth in manufacturing and services, worldclass infrastruc-ture and the advancements in technology and innovation.

The immediate targets specified for 2019 are India moving up to No. 1 Start-up destination, India's rank in Ease ofDoing Business being in Top 30 and 60% digital penetration through JAM Platform and e-payment mobile applicationsfor government programmes.

Target for manufacturing contribution rising to 25% of GDP is fixed for 2022. Kant told ET that each department's tar-gets had been specified with clear dates and it will be monitored through an online dashboard by NITI Aayog. "It hasnever happened before in the history of the country," he added.


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