What it is
A large, young and fast-changing economy, led by services and by the spending of its own people. Farming still employs a great many of them.
What the economy is known for
- Services lead, with information technology and business services prominent among its exports
- A large workforce in farming, which depends on the monsoon
- A big home market, and a manufacturing sector the government is working to enlarge
- It imports most of its crude oil, so the oil price matters to its trade balance and its prices
A description of structure, in words. No size, share or ranking is given: those are figures, and they are read at the statistical offices named below.
Its central bank and mandate
The Reserve Bank of India’s task is price stability, while keeping growth in mind. The inflation target is set by the government, and the policy repo rate by the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee.
Reserve Bank of India on Central Bank Watch
The policy rate, the last decision and the next meeting are not shown on this site: they are read at the bank’s own publication.
The releases that matter, and who publishes them
- Consumer Price IndexPublished by National Statistics Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme ImplementationExplainer: CPI
- Gross Domestic ProductPublished by National Statistics Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme ImplementationExplainer: GDP
- Index of Industrial ProductionPublished by National Statistics Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
- Merchandise tradePublished by Ministry of Commerce and Industry
- Monetary Policy Committee decisionPublished by Reserve Bank of IndiaExplainer: Rates
- Monsoon forecasts and progress reportsPublished by India Meteorological Department
No dates or figures are shown here: each publisher’s own calendar is the authority. The explainers are in Economic Events; a release without a link has no explainer on this site yet.
Its main stock index
Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex. The two best-known indices of Indian shares. Neither is a GIO4X instrument.
GIO4X lists no instrument on a stock index of India. The index is named for orientation only. The indices GIO4X does list are on the Indices page.
Its currency
The currency of India is the Indian rupee (INR), issued by the Reserve Bank of India. It is not in any GIO4X instrument: this page and the currency’s profile are general education.
Words worth knowing
A reference page. Educational information, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade. It gives no figure, no ranking and no forecast.