Rapid growth and a large population present major challenges. Whilst all Indian states have experienced real increases in per capita income since 2000, some states are enjoying much faster growth than others. Improving health outcomes, from reducing child mortality to improving women's health, remains an important priority for improving long-term growth. Delivery mechanisms for public health services, especially in rural areas, are deficient and, with rising urbanisation, the problem could worsen in urban areas. Indeed, managing the urbanisation process effectively is critical from the perspectives of welfare, equity and sustainability. High inflation, infrastructure bottlenecks and a heavy subsidy scheme are also difficulties to be tackled, and there is considerable debate in India about what monetary policy framework and financial regulatory structure would best promote macroeconomic and financial stability.

The IGC-India Central programme was launched with a conference in Delhi in April 2010 that brought together senior government officials and legislators, academics and NGO representatives to flesh out a research agenda that had been outlined in earlier rounds of consultations with selected members of these groups. The conference sharpened the focus of the research agenda and also identified a number of avenues for promoting continued engagement among academics and the policy community. The programme will next work on identifying and funding research projects on a few specific topics that government officials expressed particular interest in and will also work with officials in setting up workshops on some of those topics.