Key highlights

• Inflation: 4.9% (FY25 Apr–Dec) vs 5.4% (FY24). India Budget
• External buffers: FX reserves USD 640.3 bn (end-Dec 2024); external debt USD 711.8 bn (end-Sep 2024). India Budget
• Energy transition: RE capacity 209.4 GW (Dec 2024) ~47% of installed capacity; total installed 456.7 GW (Nov 2024). India Budget
• Jobs: unemployment down to 3.2% (2023–24). India Budget
• Logistics: DFC commissioned 2,741 km (96.4%) of 2,843 km (Nov 2024). India Budget

Every January needs a reset narrative: not optimism, not doom—orientation. If you want a clean “India entering 2026” explainer, build it around five visuals that answer five questions.

1) Are prices cooling? Use the inflation chart: retail inflation moderated to 4.9% in FY25 (Apr–Dec) from 5.4% in FY24. India Budget

2) Is India externally protected? Show reserves USD 640.3 bn (end-Dec 2024) alongside external debt USD 711.8 bn (end-Sep 2024) and the Survey’s own framing of buffer strength. India Budget

3) Is the energy transition real or rhetorical? The power/renewables snapshot: total installed capacity 456.7 GW (Nov 2024); renewables 209.4 GW (Dec 2024)—about 47% of installed capacity. India Budget

4) Is employment healing? Use the PLFS improvement line: unemployment (15+, usual status) declined to 3.2% in 2023–24 from 6.0% in 2017–18. India Budget

5) Is logistics getting faster? Dedicated Freight Corridors commissioned 2,741 km (96.4%) of 2,843 km (Nov 2024). India Budget

The pessimistic safeguard: put a small “limits” box under the visuals—time windows differ, definitions differ, and one chart never equals one truth.