Guwahati: The Economic Survey 2025-26, presented by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday, spotlighted the northeast’s persistent mean inflation trends above the national average between 2014 and 2025 while noting the gradual rise of emerging institutions and a surge in investment momentum — signalling the region’s growing weight in India’s economic transformation.The inflation differential of states, which is calculated as difference between the mean state inflation and mean national inflation, and also referred as ‘mean gap inflation’ shows that between Jan 2014 and Dec 2025, all states exhibited positive persistence, implying that deviations from the national average often extended beyond a single month.“Far-end states in the south and northeast tended to have recorded inflation above the national average, with relatively higher persistence,” the report stated pointing out that “states such as Delhi and Himachal Pradesh, on the other hand, were typically below the national average, with comparable persistence.”Several states clustered close to the national average, though with differing degrees of persistence. The report adds, “Overall, the pattern suggests that while national factors remain central in shaping inflation outcomes, state-level inflation dynamics display heterogeneity over time.”The report added that examination of inflation and wage rates at the state-level over a decade indicates that the states with an average wage rate above the national wage (i.e. positive mean wage gap) tend to experience a relatively higher inflation (i.e. a positive mean gap inflation).The report underlines that the share of agricultural output does not seem to have a meaningful impact at the local level for the 10-year duration under study as production structures may be oriented more to national and export markets rather than flooding the local markets.The report notes that state-level inflation in 2025-26 (April–Dec) broadly mirrored the national trend, with reductions across most states, except in Kerala and Lakshadweep, where retail inflation crossed the upper tolerance limit of six per cent.On National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) , the report states that over the years, the ranking has expanded in scope, focusing more on qualitative variables and now influences funding, institutional support, and academic autonomy.“The NIRF 2025 data shows south India and Delhi have a concentration of top-ranked institutions, while northern and central states lag, with few in the top 100. Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are represented, but other large states have minimal presence. Emerging institutions in northeastern states and UTs are gradually appearing,” the report states.The report states that following the Rising Northeast Investors Summit 2025, a substantial number of MoUs have progressed to implementation, with Tripura accounting for a significant share of the total investments committed to the northeast.Citing few state-level innovations in agricultural governance leading to outcomes, the report notes water management of Assam State Irrigation Plan (2022)which is aimed to expand irrigation coverage through new schemes and solar pumps, increasing gross irrigated area to 24.28 per cent of agricultural land by 2024–25.The report also noted Assam’s ‘Alokar Jatra’ (launched in 2002) to illustrate how large-scale community mobilisation can improve access and enrolment and create local databases on children’s educational status.The report pointed out Meghalaya’s ecosystem-based water security and climate adaptation stating that the state facing growing concerns over water security, with nearly half its springs dried or depleted, has adopted a community-centric adaptation strategy, which include the MegARISE project, the Spring Mapping Initiative, and the Climate-Adaptive Community-Based Water Harvesting Project.“The MegARISE project aims to enhance water availability and security by protecting critical catchment areas through sustainable forest management. The initiative focuses on watershed treatment, forest restoration, and participatory community involvement, with plans to establish plantations over 8,430 hectares and to treat and protect two key catchments — Umiew and Ganol,” the report pointed out.It also highlighted the state’s spring mapping initiative using GIS to document over 55,000 springs to enable timely action besides establishing more than 500 community-based water harvesting projects to improve climate-resilient water management for communities in the state.
