Indian case study on 'Integrating Natural Capital into Government Post-COVID Economic Decision-Making and Economic Recovery'

The report evaluates India's post-pandemic economic recovery through the lens of natural capital, analyzing budgetary allocations in agriculture, MSMEs, power, mining, and the social sector. It finds that while the Union Budget 2021-22 showed more positive natural capital alignment than the initial COVID recovery package, significant gaps remain, particularly a lack of capital expenditure for green infrastructure and a heavy reliance on monetary rather than fiscal instruments to incentivize green practices.

• In the 2020 COVID recovery budget, approximately 18% of aggregate budgetary allocations across five priority sectors had the potential for a positive impact on natural capital, while 24% clearly indicated a negative impact.
• A large portion of the COVID recovery budget allocations (39%) were categorized as 'ambiguous' because insufficient information was available to determine their net impact on natural capital.
• The agricultural and allied sector showed an improvement in natural capital alignment in the Union Budget 2021-22 compared to the COVID recovery package, with 53% of allocations having a potential positive impact.
• The MSME sector's COVID recovery interventions were primarily monetary and lacked specific initiatives to incentivize green enterprises, resulting in an 'ambiguous' natural capital impact for all such schemes.
• The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) was identified as the only scheme in the social sector with a consistently intended positive influence on natural capital across both analyzed budgets.
• Mining and coal evacuation activities were consistently categorized as having a negative impact on natural capital due to environmental degradation and health hazards.
• The report identifies a critical gap in the Union Budget 2021-22 where minimal or no provisions were made for capital expenditures in several priority sectors, limiting the expansion of green infrastructure.
• The Solar Charkha Mission in the Union Budget 2021-22 was noted as a high-positive natural capital impact initiative, though its funding was significantly reduced from Rs 100 crores in 2020-21 to Rs 5.05 crores.

APA

Datta, D. S., Goswami, M. G., & Dutta, M. M. (2021). Indian case study on 'Integrating Natural Capital into Government Post-COVID Economic Decision-Making and Economic Recovery'. Green Economy Coalition. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/GEC-Reports/GR-Country-reports/Indian_case_study_on_Integrating_Natural_Capital_into_Government_Post_COVID.pdf

Chicago

Datta, Dr. Satabdi, Ms. Gitika Goswami, and Ms. Madhubanti Dutta. Indian case study on 'Integrating Natural Capital into Government Post-COVID Economic Decision-Making and Economic Recovery'. Green Economy Coalition, 2021. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/GEC-Reports/GR-Country-reports/Indian_case_study_on_Integrating_Natural_Capital_into_Government_Post_COVID.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Datta |first1=Dr. Satabdi |last2=Goswami |first2=Ms. Gitika |last3=Dutta |first3=Ms. Madhubanti |title=Indian case study on 'Integrating Natural Capital into Government Post-COVID Economic Decision-Making and Economic Recovery' |publisher=Green Economy Coalition |date=October 2021 |url=https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/GEC-Reports/GR-Country-reports/Indian_case_study_on_Integrating_Natural_Capital_into_Government_Post_COVID.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{datta2021indian, author = {Datta, Dr. Satabdi and Goswami, Ms. Gitika and Dutta, Ms. Madhubanti}, title = {{Indian case study on 'Integrating Natural Capital into Government Post-COVID Economic Decision-Making and Economic Recovery'}}, institution = {Green Economy Coalition}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/GEC-Reports/GR-Country-reports/Indian_case_study_on_Integrating_Natural_Capital_into_Government_Post_COVID.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }