🇮🇳 Challenges Facing India – Facts & Figures (2025)

📉 1. Unemployment & Underemployment

• Unemployment Rate (2024 avg): ~7.5% (CMIE)
• Youth Unemployment (15–29 yrs): ~20–23%
• Issue: Jobless growth — formal job creation not keeping pace with GDP
• Gig Economy: ~7.7 million workers, but lacking job security and benefits

• Literacy Rate: ~77.7% (National Average)
• Learning Poverty: Over 50% of Class 5 students can't read Class 2 text (ASER report)
• Gross Enrollment Ratio (Higher Education): ~28%
• Dropout Rate: Still high in rural areas, especially for girls post-Class 10
• Skilled Workforce: Only ~5% of India’s workforce is formally skilled (NSDC)

• Public Health Expenditure: ~2.1% of GDP (2024)
• Doctor-to-Population Ratio: 1:834 (WHO recommends 1:1000)
• Hospital Bed Availability: 1.5 beds per 1,000 people
• Out-of-Pocket Expenditure: ~47% of total health spending (global avg: ~18%)
• Rural Healthcare Gap: ~70% of population, only ~40% of hospital beds

• Population Below Multidimensional Poverty Line (2024): ~11% (down from ~25% in 2015–16)
• Gini Coefficient (Wealth Inequality): ~0.50
• Top 1% own over 40% of national wealth (Oxfam 2024)
• Rural-Urban Income Gap: Still wide — rural income ~30–40% lower than urban

• Air Quality:
  • 9 of the world’s 10 most polluted cities are in India (IQAir 2024)
  • PM2.5 levels in Delhi: >100 µg/m³ (WHO safe limit: 5 µg/m³)
• Water Stress:
  • 75% households lack drinking water at home
  • 21 Indian cities faced severe water shortage in past 5 years
• Deforestation & Land Degradation: Over 30% of India’s land degraded
• Climate Vulnerability Index: High — heatwaves, floods, and cyclones increasing

• Crude Oil Imports: ~85% of domestic needs
• Coal Imports: ~20% of consumption, despite being 2nd largest producer
• Renewable Integration: Storage, grid stability, and financing are challenges
• Per Capita Energy Use: Much lower than global average

• Internet Penetration (2024): ~62%
• Rural vs Urban:
  • Urban: ~85% penetration
  • Rural: ~45%
• Female Mobile Internet Users: Only ~36% of total rural users (GSMA)
• Digital Literacy: Less than 30% of rural adults are digitally literate

• Agri GDP Share: ~18%, but employs >42% of the workforce
• Average Monthly Farmer Income: ₹10,218 (NABARD 2023)
• Land Holdings: 86% of farmers are small & marginal
• Dependence on Monsoon: Over 50% of cultivated land is rainfed
• Fertilizer Subsidy Burden: ₹1.75 lakh crore (2024-25)

• Urban Slums: Over 65 million people live in slums
• Affordable Housing Shortage: ~10 million urban homes needed
• Road Quality: ~40% of rural roads are below all-weather standard
• Railways: Electrification ~90%, but modernization still lagging

• Pending Court Cases: Over 5 crore cases (2024)
  • Supreme Court: ~80,000
  • High Courts: ~60 lakh
  • District Courts: ~4.3 crore
• Judge Vacancy: ~30% posts vacant in High Courts
• Corruption Perception Index (CPI 2024): Rank 93/180

• Left-Wing Extremism (LWE): Declining, but still active in ~45 districts
• Terrorism in J&K: Strong military control, but sporadic cross-border incidents
• Cybersecurity Threats: Surge in data breaches & financial frauds
• Northeast Insurgencies: Mostly under control, but occasional flare-ups

• China Border Tensions: Ongoing standoff in Eastern Ladakh since 2020
• Pakistan Relations: Frozen since Pulwama/Balakot; LoC relatively quiet
• Trade Deficit with China (2024): Over $80 billion
• Dependence on Russia: Defence imports (~45% still from Russia)
• Global South Leader: India leading but navigating between West, Russia, and China