India economic update 2012

The March 2012 edition of the India Economic Update, apart from analyzing the macroeconomic situation in the country today, also takes a closer look at agriculture. Food inflation may have relented, but food prices continue to be much higher. Production of high-protein foods, fruits and vegetables has not kept pace with demand. At the same time, lack of infrastructure -- including roads and cold storage -- is hampering production and marketing of perishable agricultural goods. Rules and regulations often deter private investment in the supply chain and sometimes they are arguably a bigger deterrent to private investment than even the rules on FDI in multi-brand retail, which have received a lot of attention in recent times.