Completed Policy Projects

Manifesting its commitment to promoting evidence-based policymaking into a tangible interface, the Bharti Institute of Public Policy at the Indian School of Business launched the India Data Portal. This project was awarded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is a groundbreaking initiative that not only provides open access to datasets but is also equipped with cutting-edge technology to visualise them in a matter of clicks. The IDP has pioneered the “visualisation first approach,” facilitating data exploration through graphical depictions.

The portal underwent a paradigm shift in October 2023 with the launch of its 2.0 version, which provides access to over 3,400 indicators from more than 120 datasets across 25 diverse domains. The portal also has a unique feature enabling individuals to upload their own data for visualisation. India Data Portal is available as an e-library resource across 18 IIMs, XLRI, IIT Madras ( ranked 1, among the research institutes), Indian Statistical Institute, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Madras School of Economics, IIFT, BITS PILANI, besides over 10 IITs & NITs, IGIDR, TISS, TERI, Mumbai University, University of Hyderabad and more than 60 top tier NIRF ranked institutions in the country. In a first global collaboration, the India Data Portal is also available at the Oxford Library, as an e-library resource.

The Bharti Institute of Public Policy undertook the financial inclusion project as a part of the India Data Portal (IDP) supplementary grant to propagate the portal’s usability in the financial inclusion ecosystem and exhibit its potential for creating awareness of the platform amongst key stakeholders, such as government institutions, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), credit bureaus, banking correspondent aggregators, think tanks, private research firms, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s (BMGF) partner network. This programme was enabled by the most updated data available on the financial inclusion ecosystem on the India Data Portal.

In collaboration with the Bharti Institute of Public Policy at the Indian School of Business, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) led the project “Institutional Networks and Self-Organised Adaptation: Tracing the Democratic Architectures of Climate Response,” funded by the Swedish Research Council from 2019 to 2021.

The project investigated the influence of political institutions on the climate adaptation responses of vulnerable communities residing in risky terrains, such as the Himalayan regions of Nepal and India. Through extensive data collection across four such sites—Ramechhap and Kavrepalanchok in Nepal, Kangra and Kullu in Himachal Pradesh, India, the project answered four pertinent questions: The portfolios of climate risks that different households face; the political channels through which citizens seek support for climate threats; the networks of interactions through which state responses are developed; and the recursive effects of these responses on households' experiences of climate risk.

The project was launched in June 2018. The team of the Bharti Institute of Public Policy worked on Doubling Farmers’ Income (DFI). This project identified policy interventions that could be used to double farmers income by strengthening market linkages and proposing policy prescriptions. A multitude of data analysis was undertaken to form a detailed understanding, using statistical tools, visualisation of data at spatial level by using GIS and infographics on the household and crop level of the Indian districts.

JumpStartIndia@ISB is a unique initiative by Indian School of Business to help power India’s post-COVID19 economic recovery. This initiative aimed to harness the expertise and experience of ISB’s students, coupled with the intellectual leadership of its faculty, into projects to address challenges of national significance. In its initial phase, it focused on:

• Food and Agriculture
• Informal Economy
• Boosting the Economy
• Real Time Indices of Economic Activity
• Transportation, Logistics, and Mobility
• Healthcare
• Institutionalising Remote Work
• Monitoring Corporate Health

As part of the JSI Projects, Bharti Institute worked closely with six state governments and signed MoUs with Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Punjab, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu.

JSI Engagement in Himachal Pradesh

Pulse Project: In order to help the state government, reach the last mile, Pulse, an advanced data analytics application, used real-time digital data on citizen interactions with government programmes and systems.

Employment Market Place For Informal Sector: Created a marketplace that connects employers and job seekers across all occupations listed under the National Classification of Occupations (NCO). Further, developed a sector-wise Skill-Competency Matrix to help identify and enable targeted capacity building interventions for specific skill groups that are crucial for the economy.

Forest Based/Herbal Economy:  Extended assistance to add value in branding and marketing of production from rural clusters including online platform across the state.

Restrategising the Tourism Policy: The study focused on medium to long-term imperatives for the government designed around ensuring hygiene and safety, and some fiscal stimulus packages to ensure economic impact is reduced. The study also looked at the existing models of tourism in the state and suggested ways to re-look and restrategise the tourism policy with a long-term sustainability perspective.

JSI Engagement in Andhra Pradesh

Pulse Project: To help the state government reach the last mile, Pulse, an advanced data analytics application, used real-time digital data on citizen interactions with government programmes and systems.

Attracting Industrial Investments: To identify unique investment opportunities in manufacturing across industries, as part of the project, various parameters (infrastructure, natural resources, financing etc.) which are primary drivers to establishing manufacturing in that region were identified and analysed.

Employment Marketplace For Informal Sector: Created a marketplace that connects employers and job seekers across all occupations listed under the National Classification of Occupations (NCO). Further, developed a sector-wise Skill-Competency Matrix to help identify and enable targeted capacity building interventions for specific skill groups that are crucial for the economy.

High-Frequency High-Resolution Indicators For Monitoring Economic Recovery: Established a mechanism to monitor progress in the short term through a series of high-frequency and high-spatial resolution indicators to informed decision-making and responding to opportunities. Significant progress has been made in compiling several indicators of economic activity at a daily resolution at the national level – fertilizer sales, electricity demand, agriculture sales transactions, digital payments, NREGA demand, Aadhaar authentications, and air quality indicators. Visit: www.indiadataportal.com/jsi for HFI.