Union territories

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Chandigarh

Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu

Jammu and Kashmir

Ladakh

Lakshadweep

National Capital Territory of Delhi

Puducherry

ation Treaty, it received waivers from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear
Suppliers Group, ending earlier restrictions on India's nuclear technology and commerce; India
subsequently signed co-operation agreements involving civilian nuclear energy with Russia,[276]
France,[277] the United Kingdom,[278] and Canada.[279]

Military

Main article: Indian Armed Forces

The Indian Air Force contingent marching at the 221st Bastille Day military parade in Paris, July 2009.
The parade at which India was the foreign guest was led by India's oldest regiment, the Maratha
Light Infantry, founded in 1768.[280]

The President of India is the supreme commander of the nation's armed forces. With 1.45 million
active troops, they are the world's second-largest military. It comprises the Indian Army, the Indian
Navy, the Indian Air Force, and the Indian Coast Guard.[281] The official Indian defence budget for
2011 was US$36.03 billion, or 1.83% of GDP.[282] Defence expenditure was pegged at US$70.12
billion for fiscal year 2022–23 and, increased 9.8% on the previous fiscal year.[283][284] India is the
world's second-largest arms importer; between 2016 and 2020, it accounted for 9.5% of the total
global arms imports.[285] Much of the military expenditure was focused on defence against Pakistan
and countering growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean.[286]

Economy

Main article: Economy of India

In 2019, 43% of India's total workforce was employed in agriculture.[287]

India is the world's largest producer of milk, with the largest population of cattle. In 2018, nearly 80%
of India's milk was sourced from small farms with herd size between one and two, the milk harvested
by hand milking.[289]

55% of India's female workforce was employed in agriculture in 2019.[288]

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Indian economy in 2024 was nominally
worth $3.94 trillion; it is the fifth-largest economy by market exchange rates and is, at around $15.0
trillion, the third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP).[16] With its average annual GDP growth
rate of 5.8% over the past two decades, and reaching 6.1% during 2011–2012,[290] India is one of
the world's fastest-growing economies.[291] However, due to its low GDP per capita—which ranks
136th in the world in nominal per capita income and 125th in per capita income adjusted for
purchasing power parity (PPP)—the vast majority of Indians fall into the low-income
group.[292][293]

Until 1991, all Indian governments followed protectionist policies that were influenced by socialist
economics. Widespread state intervention and regulation largely walled the economy off from the
outside world. An acute balance of payments crisis in 1991 forced the nation to liberalise its
economy;[294] since then, it has moved increasingly towards a free-market system[295][296] by
emphasising both foreign trade and direct investment inflows.[297] India has been a member of
World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995.[298]

The 522-million-worker Indian labour force is the world's second largest, as of 2017.[281] The service
sector makes up 55.6% of GDP, the industrial sector 26.3% and the agricultural sector 18.1%. India's
foreign exchange remittances of US$100 billion in 2022,[299] highest in the world, were contributed
to its economy by 32 million Indians working in foreign countries.[300] In 2006, the share of external
trade in India's GDP stood at 24%, up from 6% in 1985.[295] In 2008, India's share of world trade was
1.7%;[301] In 2021, India was the world's ninth-largest importer and the sixteenth-largest
exporter.[302] Between 2001 and 2011, the contribution of petrochemical and engineering goods to
total exports grew from 14% to 42%.[303] India was the world's second-largest textile exporter after
China in the 2013 calendar year.[304]

Averaging an economic growth rate of 7.5% for several years before 2007,[295] India has more than
doubled its hourly wage rates during the first decade of the 21st century.[305] Some 431 million
Indians have left poverty since 1985; India's middle classes are projected to number around 580
million by 2030.[306] In 2023, India's consumer market was the world's fifth largest.[307] India's
nominal GDP per capita increased steadily from US$308 in 1991, when economic liberalisation
began, to US$1,380 in 2010, to an estimated US$2,731 in 2024. It is expected to grow to US$3,264 by
2026.[16]

Industries
A tea garden in Sikkim. India, the world's second-largest producer of tea, is a nation of one billion tea
drinkers, who consume 70% of India's tea output.

The Indian automotive industry, the world's second-fastest growing, increased domestic sales by 26%
during 2009–2010,[308] and exports by 36% during 2008–2009.[309] In 2022, India became the
world's third-largest vehicle market after China and the United States, surpassing Japan.[310] At the
end of 2011, the Indian IT industry employed 2.8 million professionals, generated revenues close to
US$100 billion equalling 7.5% of Indian GDP, and contributed 26% of India's merchandise
exports.[311]

The pharmaceutical industry in India includes 3,000 pharmaceutical companies and 10,500
manufacturing units; India is the world's third-largest pharmaceutical producer, largest producer of
generic medicines and supply up to 50–60% of global vaccines demand, these all contribute up to
US$24.44 billions in exports and India's local pharmaceutical market is estimated up to US$42
billion.[312][313] India is among the top 12 biotech destinations in the world.[314][315] The Indian
biotech industry grew by 15.1% in 2012–2013, increasing its revenues from ₹204.4 billion (Indian
rupees) to ₹235.24 billion (US$3.94 billion at June 2013 exchange rates).[316]

Energy

Main article: Energy in India

See also: Energy policy of India

India's capacity to generate electrical power is 300 gigawatts, of which 42 gigawatts is

renewable.[317] The country's usage of coal is a major cause of India's greenhouse gas emissions,
but its renewable energy is competing strongly.[318][better source needed] India emits about 7% of
global greenhouse gas emissions. This equates to about 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide per person per
year, which is half the world average.[319][320] Increasing access to electricity and clean cooking
with liquefied petroleum gas have been priorities for energy in India.[321]

Socio-economic challenges

Main articles: Poverty in India, Income inequality in India, and Debt bondage in India

Health workers about to begin another day of immunisation against infectious diseases in 2006. Eight
years later, and three years after India's last case of polio, the World Health Organization declared
India to be polio-free.[322]

Despite economic growth during recent decades, India continues to face socio-economic challenges.
In 2006, India contained the largest number of people living below the World Bank's international
poverty line of US$1.25 per day.[323] The proportion decreased from 60% in 1981 to 42% in
2005.[324] Under the World Bank's later revised poverty line, it was 21%-22.5 in 2011.[p][326][327]
In 2019, the estimates had gone down to 10.2%.[327] In 2014, 30.7% of India's children under the
age of five were underweight.[328] According to a Food and Agriculture Organization report in 2015,
15% of the population was undernourished.[329][330] The Midday Meal Scheme attempts to lower
these rates.[331]

A 2018 Walk Free Foundation report esti