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Gist of NITI Aayog reports in news
In India's dynamic policy landscape, NITI Aayog, the premier national think tank, plays a pivotal role. Its reports frequently spark debate and shape government agendas.
This article delves into the essence of recent NITI Aayog reports featured in the news, providing insights into critical issues and potential policy directions for India's development journey.
Boosting Exports from MSMEs
- NITI Aayog has released a report titled Boosting Exports from MSMEs to improve exports from MSMEs.
- MSME Development Act 2006 was amended in 2020 increasing the investment and turnover limits for micro, small, and medium enterprises.
- Between FY 2019 and FY 2021, there was a rise of around 40 lakh new MSME units.
- MSME sector comprises approximately 6.34 crore enterprises but approximately 6.3 crore are microenterprises with less than 20 workers, placing them out of most formal regulations.
- Of the 1.58 crore registered MSMEs, only around 1.5 lakh units export which is only a small percentage (0.95%) of MSMEs.
Towards Decarbonising Transport 2023
- NITI Aayog has released a report titled Towards Decarbonising Transport 2023 for assessing the current status and developments in the transport sector.
- Transport sector contributes about 25% of CO₂ emissions and 15% of GHGs globally.
- It involves steps like-
- Transition to Clean Energy by shifting from fossil fuels.
- Improving Fuel Efficiency by altering internal combustion engines.
- Promoting public transportation.
- Multi-Modal Transportation.
- Infrastructure for electric vehicle charging stations, hydrogen refueling etc.
- Policy like setting emissions standards, incentives for clean energy vehicles etc.
- COP 26 committed to the ‘Declaration on Accelerating the Transition to 100% Zero-Emission Cars and Vans’.
National Multidimensional Poverty Index, 2023
- The index released by NITI Aayog enables tracking of progress towards the SDGs.
- It is the first ever MPI for India based on NFHS 4.
- MPI has three equal – Health, Education, and Standard of living – represented by 12 indicators.
- There is a remarkable reduction in poverty with steepest decline seen in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan.
- There is a decline in the proportion of the population in multidimensional poverty from 24.85% to 14.96% between 2015-16 and 2019-21.
- Intensity of Poverty also reduced from 47.14% to 44.39%.
- Sanitation deprivation (reduced by 21.8% points) and cooking fuel deprivation (reduced by 14.6 % points) fell the most from 2015-16 to 2019-21.
Export Preparedness Index 2022
- It is a ranking of all states and union territories in India based on their export readiness which was released by the NITI Aayog.
- The performance is measured across 4 pillars-
- Policy
- Business Ecosystem
- Export Ecosystem
- Export Performance
- Tamil Nadu topped EPI 2022, followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka while Haryana topped in landlocked regions and Uttarakhand topped among hilly states.
- Even after global slowdown, India’s exports in 2021-22 crossed an USD 675 Billion.
- The value of merchandise exports crossed USD 400 billion in FY2022.
LNG as a Transportation Fuel in Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicle
- NITI Aayog with Netherlands launched this report to promote effective, timely and coordinated policy for energy access, sustainability, ease of doing business, and improved energy infrastructure.
- Strategies for achieving a 15% gas share in primary energy supply and also the goal of Net Zero by 2070 were formulated.
- World Air Quality Report, 2021 states that several Indian cities rank among the top 30 cities with the highest air pollution levels and this needs to be addressed.
- Transportation is a major contributor to PM2.5 emissions in cities like Delhi (almost 40% of the total emissions).
- LNG has a 24 per cent lower Emission Factor (gCO2/kg-fuel) than diesel.
- A switch to LNG can lower import bills by $1.5 billion by the year 2032.
- Nitrogen Oxide emissions are reduced by 40-50% and Particulate Matter by 80% approximately.
Report on Learnings for Large-Scale Transformation in School Education
- The report is an outcome of the SATH-E project in the states of Jharkhand, Odisha, and Madhya Pradesh.
- Even though the enrollment is similar, India has over five times the number of schools than China.
- Many states have over 50% of primary schools enrolling fewer than 60 students.
- A rough estimate suggests that 2-5 lakh untrained teachers are there in primary and upper primary levels.
- Merger of 4,380 schools in Jharkhand resulted in Rs 400 crore savings through reduced teacher and infrastructure requirements.
