From kharif sowing well behind last year's levels amid uneven monsoon rains, to the IMF trimming India's FY27 growth forecast even as the country stays the fastest-growing major economy, corporate India favouring financial investments over capital expenditure, domestic air travel rebounding, and non-fossil sources briefly meeting half of India's electricity demand—here are this week's news in numbers.
Sowing setback
A delayed progress in the monsoon and a sharp rainfall deficit in June have left kharif sowing well behind last year's levels. Farmers had sown 35.08 million hectares as of 3 July, about 20.7% lower than 44.28 million hectares during the corresponding period last year, according to agriculture ministry data. That means only 31.8% of the normal kharif area had been covered by early July, compared with 40.4% a year ago.
While monsoon has picked up, sowing of most major crops continues to lag. June ended with rainfall nearly 40% below normal, and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast below-normal rainfall for July, keeping concerns over the kharif season elevated.
Growth resilience
India's growth outlook has diverged across the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) two forecast years. In its latest July projections, the IMF lowered India's FY27 GDP growth forecast to 6.4% from 6.5% in April, citing higher energy prices as a drag on economic momentum. For FY28, however, it raised the forecast to 6.7% from 6.5%.
Despite the near-term downgrade, India is expected to remain the world's fastest-growing major economy, ahead of Indonesia (5%), Malaysia (4.7%) and China (4.6%)—all calendar-year 2026 projections—supported by resilient private consumption and strong services activity
Investment divide
Corporate India is increasingly parking money in financial assets instead of expanding capacity. A Mint analysis of 3,561 non-financial companies shows net fixed assets grew 7% in FY26 while capital work-in-progress fell 6%. Financial assets, meanwhile, expanded 14%.
The divergence has widened since the pandemic. Growth in fixed assets slowed from an average 11% annually during FY17-FY19 to 7.5% in FY24-FY26, even as net profit rose 10% in the third quarter and 27% in the fourth quarter of FY26. Economists attribute the caution to tariff uncertainty and the West Asia conflict, though progress on trade agreements could revive investment. Net fixed assets now account for just 34% of total assets, down from 43% in 2012, while capacity utilization has remained around 75%, broadly in line with pre-pandemic levels.
Numbers talk
5.1%: India's projected inflation rate for FY27 if the southwest monsoon underperforms, according to S&P Global Ratings, which warned of weaker rural demand and sectoral stress.
₹25,863 crore: The first instalment released by the Centre to states for implementing the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin), which replaced MGNREGA from 1 July.
11th: India's rank among the world's largest recipients of foreign direct investment in 2025, after inflows surged 44% to $38.89 billion, according to the latest UN trade report. This was up from 13th rank in 2024.
₹4,000 crore: The potential size of Cult.fit's IPO, including a ₹950 crore fresh issue and an offer for sale by existing investors
$100 million: The size of the funding round Temasek is leading in Indian space-tech startup Pixxel, at a valuation of $350-400 million, Mint reported. The sovereign wealth fund is expected to pump in over $50 million, split between primary and secondary shares.
Cruising again
India's domestic aviation market rebounded in May as summer holiday travel and a favourable base effect lifted passenger traffic after three months of subdued growth.
Domestic air passenger traffic rose 9.5% year-on-year to 15.4 million, from 14.1 million a year earlier, according to the latest data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Traffic also recovered from 13.8 million in April after hovering at 14.1 million in both February and March. The favourable base largely reflects last year's disruption, when travel curbs and weaker demand following Operation Sindoor and heightened India-Pakistan tensions weighed on passenger traffic.
Cleaner grid
India briefly crossed an important clean energy milestone on 6 July, when non-fossil sources—renewables, hydropower and nuclear—generated 50.02% of the country's electricity at 11:46 am, meeting half of national demand of 221.5 GW, according to an analysis by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).
Although a momentary peak rather than a sustained average, the milestone highlights the rapid expansion of clean energy and its growing contribution to India's power mix. It also marks progress towards the country's target of installing 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based power capacity by 2030.