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• The last revision, NIC-2008, became outdated due to technological & structural changes in economy.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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

• 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.

Read More > India’s Urban Transition | National Plan to Build New Cities

{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.

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.