From India’s core infrastructure growth losing momentum, to the country’s rising dependence on Russian crude imports, the agriculture ministry’s contingency plans for a weaker monsoon and kharif sowing, a potential shift in initial public offering (IPO) fundraising trends, and India emerging as one of the global leaders in AI skills readiness—here is this week’s news in numbers.
Uneven momentum
India’s infrastructure output grew 0.5% year-on-year in May, slowing from 1.8% in April and marking its weakest growth in seven months, as five of the eight core industries contracted. Only electricity, cement and steel recorded growth compared with May 2025. Electricity led the gains with 8.7% growth, its strongest since December 2025, followed by cement (8.4%) and steel (5%).
Coal recorded the steepest contraction, falling 9.3% and extending its decline to a fourth straight month. Petroleum refinery products (-8.7%), natural gas (-4.9%), crude oil (-4.6%) and fertilisers (-0.9%) also contracted, offsetting gains in electricity, cement and steel and keeping overall subdued.
Crude math
India’s Russian crude imports averaged 2.66 million barrels per day (mbpd) in the first three weeks of June, lifting the country’s share of India’s oil purchases above 50% as refiners continued buying discounted barrels amid the war in West Asia, according to data from trade intelligence firm Kpler. Russian crude averaged 1.91 mbpd in May, up from 1.04 mbpd in February, when US sanctions disrupted supplies. The US later waived the sanctions until 17 June to help vulnerable economies cope with supply disruptions.
The UAE was India’s second-largest crude supplier in June, followed by Saudi Arabia, highlighting that West Asian producers remain key suppliers amid Russia’s growing dominance.
Monsoon watch
With India bracing for a weaker monsoon that could weigh on kharif output, the agriculture ministry has drawn up contingency plans for vulnerable regions. Agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said 111 districts with irrigation coverage of 25% or less have been identified as high priority for intervention to mitigate the impact of deficient rainfall.
Despite a prolonged pause in the monsoon so far, kharif sowing has gathered pace. Sown area reached 119.9 lakh hectares until 19 June, up 1.7% from a year ago, with most crops recording higher acreage. However, cotton, soybean and urad lagged last year’s levels. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) expects monsoon rainfall to revive in the coming days.
Numbers talk
$1 billion: The direct financing the Asian Development Bank (ADB) expects to provide in India this year to support private sector projects aligned with the country’s development objectives.
₹7,100 crore: The incentives the government plans to disburse in FY27 to support semiconductor fabrication, manufacturing and design projects, reported. The funding aims to attract ₹15,000 crore in fresh investment and create around 4,700 jobs.
8.33 GW: The estimated capacity of India’s future data centre pipeline, more than five times its current operational capacity, driven by rising demand for AI, cloud computing and data localisation, according to Knight Frank India.
1 million tonnes: The volume of liquified petroleum gas (LPG) that India is expected to import from the US in June, Reuters reported. This will be a record high as buyers shift away from West Asian suppliers amid the war.
Over 11,000: The number of sailors stranded in the Strait of Hormuz whom the UN’s maritime agency is evacuating following the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the US and Iran to end the war.
Shifting tide
For over a decade, India’s initial public offerings have been dominated by offers for sale (OFS), in which proceeds go to existing shareholders rather than to the company. A analysis of Prime Database data shows OFS has accounted for more than half of IPO fundraising since 2012, peaking at 87% in 2020. Jio Platforms could temporarily buck that trend. Based on its draft papers and Mint’s estimated issue size, its ₹35,000-crore IPO would be primarily a fresh issue, pushing OFS’s share of IPO fundraising below 50% in 2026. Analysts, however, see this as a one-off effect driven by the deal’s size rather than a structural shift in India’s primary market.
Leading edge
India has secured the 13th position among 89 economies in the QS World Future Skills Index 2027, released by global higher education analysts Quacquarelli Symonds, which measures countries’ readiness for an economy.
With an overall score of 89.42, India leads all lower-middle-income economies, outperforming peers such as the Philippines and Uzbekistan by a wide margin. It is also the only country in its income group to feature in the top 20, ranking ahead of advanced economies including Sweden, Japan, Taiwan, the UAE, Hong Kong, Denmark and Poland.
The report attributes the country’s strong performance to labour-market readiness but warns that better alignment between higher education and employer needs remains a key challenge.