From India’s direct household spending on healthcare declining while states show sharp disparities, to the country securing the second rank in Mint’s emerging markets tracker despite global headwinds, income tax filings by low-income earners falling after successive exemption hikes, and thematic mutual fund inflows plunging 79% amid investor fatigue—here is a compilation of this week’s news in numbers.
Health bills
India’s out-of-pocket healthcare spending in overall health expenditure has declined over the years, according to the health ministry’s National Health Accounts (NHA) Estimates report released this week. However, latest data for 2022-23, showed the burden varied sharply across states. Among select states covered, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala recorded highest out-of-pocket expenditure shares at 66% and 64%, respectively, while West Bengal reported the lowest at 17.6%. Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, and Karnataka were also among the states with household burdens below 30%. Lower shares do not necessarily indicate better healthcare outcomes, as differences may also reflect variations in public provisioning and dependence on private services.
Rank revival
India strengthened its position among emerging market economies in April, securing second rank in Mint’s Emerging Markets Tracker (EMT) with a score of 63.6, behind Brazil’s 71.4. This came despite West Asia war and elevated crude prices weighing on economic resilience. India’s performance was driven by a rebound in goods exports, which rose 13.8% year-on-year in April after contracting in March, aided largely by a 34.7% jump in petroleum shipments amid higher crude prices. Strong , robust manufacturing activity and contained inflation also supported the economy. However, pressure persisted on indicators, with the rupee weakening 0.7% against the dollar and market gains trailing EM peers.
Exemption effect
Successive tax relief measures are reshaping by reducing the need for lower-income earners to file returns. Income Tax Department data show returns filed by individuals earning below ₹5 lakh annually fell to 27.6 million in 2025-26 from a post-pandemic peak of 56.5 million in 2023-24. The decline accelerated after the government raised the basic exemption limit under the new tax regime from ₹2.5 lakh to ₹3 lakh effective FY24, reducing tax liability and filing incentives for many small earners. Individuals below the exemption threshold are generally not required to file returns unless they meet specific conditions such as high electricity consumption, foreign travel or ownership of overseas assets.
Numbers talk
₹5,000 crore: The amount the government aims to collect by selling up to a 2% stake in state-run Coal India Ltd (CIL), as it looks to meet disinvestment and asset monetisation target for FY27.
₹25,530 crore: The cabinet’s five-year outlay to overhaul India’s public food distribution network, merging two subsidy programmes into a single AI-led scheme serving over 81 crore beneficiaries starting FY27.
₹1,000 crore: The textiles ministry’s proposal to expand India’s silk economy through higher domestic production, technology upgrades and quality improvements, reported. This will boost incomes of 9.84 million farmers, revelers, weavers and artisans dependent on the sector.
$1 billion: The amount quick-commerce firm Zepto aims to raise through an IPO, with the company preparing to publicly file in the first half of June, Bloomberg reported. It will begin investor roadshows later next month, targeting an IPO launch as early as July.
5.5%: India’s project stalling rate in FY26, a 12-year low, measured as the value of stalled projects as a share of total projects under implementation, down from nearly 11% in FY15, showed a analysis of data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
Theme fatigue
Thematic and sectoral mutual funds, once among the industry’s most aggressively sold categories, saw inflows plunge in FY26 as volatile markets pushed investors towards diversified equity schemes. Net inflows into the category fell 79% year-on-year to ₹29,973 crore from a peak of ₹1.46 trillion in FY25, according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi). The weakness continued into FY27, with thematic funds recording the lowest inflows among equity categories at just ₹1,949 crore in April. Experts attributed the decline to weakening investor appetite for concentrated bets, “theme fatigue” following a surge in launches, and tighter Sebi rules aimed at reducing overlap across thematic and sectoral fund offerings.
Perception gap
Urban Indian wives do more childcare than their husbands give them credit for, and the gap is widest among millennials. A Mint survey found that 51% of millennial women said they handled childcare primarily themselves, but only 38% of millennial men agreed their wives did so. Among pre-millennials, the figures were 53% and 43%, respectively. Gen Z showed the narrowest divide with 26% women claiming primary responsibility against 22% of men who acknowledged it, suggesting younger couples are more aligned in their perceptions.
This was the second part of a survey conducted in association with YouGov India and Delhi-based think tank Centre for Policy Research, covering 10,022 adults across 207 towns and cities.