Current Affairs – September 13, 2025

{GS2 – MoSPI – Initiatives} National Industrial Classification (NIC) 2025

Context (PIB | ET): The Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has released the draft National Industrial Classification (NIC) 2025 for feedback, updating NIC-2008.

Background

India’s first Standard Industrial Classification was introduced in 1962, and has since been updated regularly in line with the UN’s International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC).
The last revision, NIC-2008, became outdated due to technological & structural changes in economy.
The update was necessitated after the UN Statistical Commission adopted ISIC Revision 5 in 2024.

Key Features of NIC-2025

It is aligned with ISIC 5 up to the 4-digit level for better international comparability.
The number of Sub-Classes has increased to about 1900 (from 1304 in NIC-2008).
Provides greater detail in Finance, Agriculture, IT, & Telecommunication for more accurate data tracking.
It includes new sectors such as Renewable Energy, Fintech, Intermediation services, AYUSH, E-commerce, and the Digital Economy.

Read More > Uneven Industrial Distribution in India

{GS2 – Governance – Issues} GST on Delivery Services Through E-Commerce

Context (IE): The GST Council’s 56^th meeting brought delivery services via e-commerce operators under Section 9(5) of the CGST Act, 2017, levying 18% GST.

The decision followed disputes where platforms claimed delivery partners acted as independent vendors and should bear the service tax liability.

GST Framework on Delivery Services

Delivery Services: Delivery charges via e-commerce & quick-commerce operators are now taxed at 18%.
Restaurant Services: Food supplied through e-commerce operators continues to attract 5% GST only.
Own Deliveries: Food plus delivery supplied directly by restaurants taxed 5% as composite service.

If one orders food worth ₹100 via Swiggy with a ₹10 delivery charge, the food attracts 5% GST (₹5) and delivery attracts 18% GST (₹1.8), making the total ₹116.8.
Similarly, if one orders the same directly from the restaurant with ₹10 delivery, the entire ₹110 is taxed at 5% GST (₹ 5.50), making the total ₹ 115.50.

Objectives of the Decision

Tax Clarity: Reduces litigation burdens by uniformly taxing all platform-based delivery services.
Revenue Expansion: Broadens overall GST base by covering high-frequency urban delivery services.
Compliance Shift: Transfers GST liability from delivery partners directly to e-commerce operators.

Associated Challenges

Consumer Burden: Higher GST on delivery charges will increase overall customer bills.
Worker Impact: Platforms may reduce delivery partner earnings to absorb added GST.
Competitive Distortion: Restaurant self-deliveries are taxed 5%, creating unequal treatment.

Way Forward

Billing Controls: Require itemised invoices showing base food, delivery, and GST components.
Shared Burden: Distribute GST impact fairly between platforms, restaurants, and end customers.
Impact Monitoring: Track customer demand changes & gig-worker income effects for policy evaluation.

Read More > E-commerce Policy

{GS2 – Governance – Issues} Recognising India’s Waste Workers

Context (IE | DTE): Informal waste workers recycle up to 20% of urban waste, driving a circular economy, yet remain excluded from rights, social security, and formal systems.

The circular economy is an economic model that reduces waste by reusing and recycling resources in a closed-loop system, unlike the traditional linear take-make-dispose approach.

Environmental and Economic Contribution

Savings: Divert 400,000 tonnes annually from Delhi’s landfills, saving ₹54.75 crore in disposal costs.
Plastic Recycling: India’s 60% recycling rate, four times the global average, is largely due to waste pickers and kabadiwalas.
Emission Reduction: In Delhi, their work prevents 960,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually, three times more than waste-to-energy plants.
Urban Resilience: By preventing clogging and flooding, they maintain civic infrastructure at minimal municipal cost.

India generates 62 million tonnes of municipal solid waste annually and only 22-28% of this waste is formally processed.

Socio-Economic Vulnerabilities

Low Earnings: Around 70% of waste workers earn less than ₹10,000 per month (UNDP, 2022), with women typically earning even less.
Vulnerable Demographics: Workforce largely composed of marginalised castes, migrants, and women, with children often forced into work.
Occupational Hazards: Unsafe conditions with minimal protective gear, constant exposure to medical waste and toxins, lead to chronic illnesses.
Social Stigma: Workers are perceived as “polluting,” facing exclusion from labour statistics and welfare schemes.

In 2008, the First World Conference of Waste Pickers in Colombia adopted the term “waste picker” to replace the derogatory term “scavenger.”

Structural and Policy Challenges

Displacement: Privatisation and mechanisation in cities like Delhi displaced 50% of waste pickers, cutting down income opportunities.
Policy Neglect: Lack of a uniform national policy to ensure inclusion in Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) frameworks.
Poor Implementation: Solid Waste Management Rules (2016) mandate inclusion of waste pickers, but enforcement is weak, and many remain unregistered and outside welfare access.

Successful Models in India

SWaCH Cooperative: A cooperative of 3,000+ women waste pickers in Pune, engaged in door-to-door collection, ensuring fair wages and access to social security.
Dry Waste Centres: These collection centres in Bengaluru diverted over 2000 tonnes of plastic in 2018, showcasing decentralised recycling efficiency.
NAMASTE Scheme: The National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (GOI+ UNDP) provides waste workers with training, health insurance, and subsidies.
CSR Models: Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives like the Tetra Pak–Bal Vikas Dhara project in Delhi-NCR formalised waste pickers, improving income and welfare for 3,000+ workers.

Read More > Waste Management in India

{GS2 – Governance – Initiatives} Household Finance & Farm Assessment Surveys

Context (PIB | TH): The NSO, under MoSPI, will conduct the All-India Debt and Investment Survey (AIDIS) and the Situation Assessment Survey (SAS) between July 2026 and June 2027.

National Statistics Office (NSO), founded in 2019 by merging the CSO and NSSO, serves as the apex body for large-scale household surveys and official socio-economic data.

All-India Debt and Investment Survey

AIDIS is India’s flagship household finance survey, initiated in 1951–52, conducted decennially by NSO.
Objective: It measures household debt, savings, and asset distribution across both rural and urban areas.

Significance: It includes institutional and non-institutional credit, widely used by RBI, MoSPI, and NITI Aayog for credit policies and asset-creation schemes.

About Situation Assessment Survey

The SAS, launched in 2003, evaluates farm household well-being by tracking income, expenditure, indebtedness, production, technology adoption, and access to schemes and insurance.
Significance: It covers all agricultural households, including landless cultivators, and is used for rural development, credit reforms, and insurance policy design.

{GS3 – IE – Banking} India’s e-Rupee Expansion *

Context (LM): The RBI’s e-rupee, India’s CBDC, alongside UPI growth (700+ million daily transactions) and Next-Gen GST reforms, offers a chance to boost security, transparency, and efficiency.

CBDC: The Central Bank Digital Currency is a sovereign digital money issued by the central bank, equivalent to paper currency.

Rationale for Expansion

Financial Inclusion: e-rupee wallets enable direct transfers without bank accounts, supporting migrants’ families in underbanked areas, improving financial inclusion.
Tax Compliance: e-rupee blockchain transactions enhance traceability and compliance, lowering fraud.

Blockchain is a decentralised digital ledger storing transactions permanently, securely, and transparently across a shared network.

Remittance Advantage: e-rupee allows faster, cheaper wallet transfers, cutting costs and dollar reliance.

Targeted Delivery: e-rupee enables preset fund use, ensuring subsidies reach intended beneficiaries.

Read More > Cryptocurrency vs. CBDC

{GS3 – IE – Urbanization} Kerala’s Urbanisation Model

Context (TH): The Kerala Urban Policy Commission (KUPC) report offers a model to tackle India’s rapid urbanisation, with urban population expected to exceed 50% by 2050.

About the KUPC

The KUPC, formed in December 2023, is India’s first State-level urban commission, tasked with a 25-year roadmap to shift urban planning from reactive projects to systemic approaches.
Rationale: Kerala’s urbanisation exceeds the national average, expected to reach 80% by 2050, amid rising flood, landslide, and sea-level pressures.

Key Recommendations of KUPC Report

Zoning: Risk-sensitive planning requires hazard mapping for floods, landslides, and coastal inundation.
Data Observatory: Establish a real-time observatory integrating Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), tide gauges, and satellite imagery datasets.
Green Fees: Apply green fees in eco-sensitive zones and parametric insurance for disaster-prone areas.
Fiscal Tools: Large cities should issue municipal bonds; smaller towns should adopt pooled instruments.
Governance Overhaul: Elected city cabinets, specialist municipal cadres, and a “Jnanashree” program deploying youth technocrats to overcome bureaucratic inertia.
Economic Revival: Promote Thrissur-Kochi as FinTech, Thiruvananthapuram-Kollam as knowledge, and Palakkad-Kasaragod as industrial corridors.
Urban Renewal: Revive wetlands, conserve heritage, and establish city health councils.

Uniqueness of the KUPC Report

Systemic Integration: KUPC linked community narratives with data, fostering participatory governance.
Co-Produced Policy: It replaced top-down approaches, demonstrating inclusive policymaking methods.
Climate Embedding: It integrated hazard awareness with disaster-ready frameworks.
Sub-National Innovation: KUPC showed the value of State-level commissions tailored to realities.

{GS3 – Infra – Initiatives} New Highway Concession Pact *

Context (LM): The Government of India is set to roll out a revised Model Concession Agreement (MCA) for highway projects under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BoT) mode by September 2025.

Model Concession Agreement: A standard contract between govt. and private developer that sets rules for building, operating, and transferring a project.
Build-Operate-Transfer: A PPP model where a private player builds a highway, operates it by collecting tolls for a fixed time, before transferring it back to the government.

Key Provisions in Draft MCA

Risk Sharing: Clearer rules on traffic variation, with compensation or extension of concession period.
Exit & Substitution: Developers can exit midway by selling stakes; the government is empowered (alongside banks) to replace delayed or stressed concessionaires.
Lender Protection: Full settlement of non-recourse funding ensured in termination cases.
Flexibility: Agencies can buy back projects before concession expiry, releasing capital for reinvestment.

Significance of the New BoT Push

Once dominant, BoT projects lost appeal due to traffic risks and liquidity crunch, falling to almost nil after 2014.
From 2018-2020, no projects were awarded under BoT, while EPC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction) dominated (~81% of awards between 2016-25).
Government now seeks to revive the model to reduce fiscal burden and bring long-term private participation.

{GS3 – S&T – Tech} India’s Path Towards Technological Independence **

Context (TH): India faces the challenge of dependence on foreign technologies, making technological independence essential to ensure true sovereignty and reduce strategic vulnerabilities.

Why Technological Sovereignty Matters?

Cyber Threats: Modern wars are fought with software, drones, and cyberattacks, making reliance on external technology a national risk.
Dependence Risks: India lacks homegrown operating systems, databases, and foundational software, leaving the nation exposed if foreign companies cut access to cloud or AI services.
Infrastructure at Risk: Banks, trains, power grids, & governance systems rely on imported technologies.

Software Sovereignty

Open-Source: India can build secure versions of Linux and Android, free from hidden vulnerabilities.
Collective Effort: Requires a large user base, continuous support, and contributions from India’s vast IT workforce.
Holistic Development: Beyond OS, India must develop and maintain databases, email clients/servers, cloud servers, and web servers, all available as open-source, but requiring long-term management.

Hardware Sovereignty

Greater Challenge: Requires semiconductor fabs, which demand huge investments, patience, and expertise.
Pragmatic Approach: Start with chip design, assembly, and partnerships, even if fabrication is outsourced.
Strategic Vision: Focus on critical hardware components before aiming for complete self-reliance.

Way Forward

National Mission: Create a dedicated mission focused on development and implementation.
Business Model: Ensure a self-sustaining framework beyond government funding to maintain long-term viability.
Ecosystem Approach: Encourage industry, academia, startups, and the open-source community to collaborate.
Government Role: Enable policy support, incentives, and infrastructure, while letting the mission grow independently.