Agriculture, Food Security, Industry and Infrastructure

Agriculture: the big picture

• Agriculture provides about 16–18% of GVA but about 45% of jobs. Average landholding is 1.08 ha (Agriculture Census 2015–16), and 86% of holdings are small or marginal.
• Problems:
  • fragmented holdings;
  • dependence on the monsoon;
  • low productivity;
  • poor markets and storage;
  • indebtedness;
  • groundwater depletion (Punjab, Haryana);
  • climate risk.
• Green Revolution:
  • Positives: food self-sufficiency.
  • Negatives: regional (Punjab, Haryana, western UP) and crop (wheat, rice) bias; soil and water damage.
  • An "Evergreen Revolution" (Swaminathan) is needed.

Prices, markets and support

• MSP:
  • The CACP recommends MSP for 22 crops. The Centre also fixes the FRP for sugarcane.
  • Since 2018–19, MSP is at least 1.5 × A2+FL cost (A2 = paid-out cost, FL = family labour).
  • Procurement is mostly of rice and wheat, and mostly in a few states.
• Marketing:
  • APMC mandis suffer from cartels and commissions.
  • e-NAM (2016) links mandis online.
  • Bihar abolished its APMC Act in 2006.
  • The three farm laws of 2020 were repealed in 2021.
• Support and inputs:
  • PM-KISAN (2019): ₹6,000 a year.
  • PMFBY (2016): crop insurance.
  • Soil Health Card.
  • PMKSY: irrigation.
  • KCC credit.
  • FPOs: the target of 10,000 new FPOs was met.
• Fertiliser subsidy:
  • urea has a fixed price;
  • P&K fertilisers get Nutrient Based Subsidy (2010);
  • neem-coated urea;
  • nano urea.
• Food processing:
  • Low processing levels: less than 10% of fruits and vegetables are processed.
  • PM Kisan SAMPADA, PMFME (micro units; one district one product) and mega food parks.
  • Bihar's makhana got a Makhana Board (Budget 2025–26).
• Allied sectors: dairy (Operation Flood, Kurien, NDDB; India is no. 1 in milk), fisheries (PM Matsya Sampada Yojana) and animal husbandry.
• Digital agriculture: Agri Stack (Digital Public Infrastructure for farmers: farmer IDs, a crop survey), drones (Namo Drone Didi) and the Kisan Rin portal.

Food security and PDS

• Buffer stocks are held by the FCI (1965) at the Central Pool, with norms for each quarter.
• Targeted PDS (1997); the NFSA 2013 (75% rural, 50% urban; 5 kg per person; AAY 35 kg per family).
• Grain is free under PMGKAY for 5 years from 1 January 2024.
• One Nation One Ration Card gives national portability.
• Leakages are reduced by Aadhaar seeding, ePoS machines and automation.

Land reforms

• Abolition of intermediaries (zamindari).
• Tenancy reform: security of tenure and regulated rent.
• Ceiling on holdings.
• Consolidation (chakbandi).
• Records: DILRMP, now DILRMP and SVAMITVA (drone mapping of village homes).
• Bihar: the D. Bandyopadhyay Commission (2008) on sharecroppers was not implemented. A land survey (2024–26) is under way.
• Jharkhand: the CNT and SPT Acts restrict the transfer of tribal land (see the Jharkhand laws unit).

Industry

• Industrial policies:
  • the IPR 1948 and IPR 1956: the public sector in the "commanding heights";
  • 1977: small industry and district industries centres;
  • 1991 New Industrial Policy: abolished licensing except for a few industries, opened up to FDI, reduced public sector reservation and amended the MRTP Act.
• Public sector: PSU disinvestment and strategic sales (Air India to the Tata group, 2022). Maharatna and Navratna status.
• MSMEs:
  • About 30% of GDP, about 45% of exports and more than 25 crore jobs.
  • They are classified by investment and turnover: micro is up to ₹2.5 crore investment and ₹10 crore turnover (Budget 2025–26).
  • Udyam registration.
  • Credit guarantees through the CGTMSE.
• Initiatives:
  • Make in India (2014);
  • PLI schemes (2020–21);
  • Start-up India (2016);
  • the National Manufacturing Mission (2025);
  • semiconductor fabs (ISM);
  • industrial corridors (DMIC; the Amritsar–Kolkata corridor passes through Bihar and Jharkhand).
• Index of Eight Core Industries: coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity. They make up about 40% of the IIP. Refinery products have the highest weight.

Infrastructure and investment models

• National Infrastructure Pipeline (2019, ₹111 lakh crore).
• PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (2021) for integrated planning.
• National Logistics Policy (2022).
• Investment models:

Model	Who finances	Who bears risk
EPC (engineering, procurement, construction)	Government	Government bears traffic risk; contractor only builds
BOT (build–operate–transfer), toll	Private developer	Developer bears traffic risk, collects toll
BOT annuity	Private	Government pays fixed annuities
Hybrid Annuity Model (2016)	40% government during construction, 60% developer	Toll risk with government
TOT (toll–operate–transfer)	Private pays upfront to operate built road	Asset monetisation
InvIT / REIT	Investors	Monetising operational assets

• Energy: see the economic geography unit. Key items:
  • One Sun One World One Grid;
  • the Green Hydrogen Mission (2023);
  • PM Surya Ghar rooftop solar (2024, 1 crore homes).
• Bihar and Jharkhand projects:
  • the Eastern DFC, which ends at Sonnagar;
  • NW-1 terminals at Sahibganj and Kalughat (Patna);
  • AIIMS Darbhanga;
  • Patna Metro;
  • Purnea, Darbhanga and Deoghar airports.

Exam tip: In Mains, use the "problem → reason → scheme → gap → way forward" structure for farm answers. Back it with one data point (landholding, MSP coverage, groundwater) and one state example: Bihar's makhana and APMC; Jharkhand's lac and tasar.