{"id":65489,"date":"2026-01-30T21:41:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T16:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=65489"},"modified":"2026-01-31T11:38:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T06:08:29","slug":"power-gap-index-economic-survey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/30-01-2026\/power-gap-index-economic-survey","title":{"rendered":"Economic Survey First Time Cites Power Gap Index\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Economy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For the first time, the Economic Survey 2025\u201326, tabled in Parliament, has cited the <strong>Power Gap Index<\/strong> to underline a <strong>Strategic Paradox in India\u2019s rise.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>While India has officially entered the <strong>Major Power category in Asia<\/strong>, the Survey notes that it continues to underperform relative to its capabilities, reflected in a <strong>negative Power Gap score of \u20134.0.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is the Power Gap Index?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Power Gap Index is <strong>not a standalone index like HDI.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is a derived analytical measure from the Asia Power Index compiled annually by the <strong>Lowy Institute.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It measures the gap between a<strong> country\u2019s potential power (resources)<\/strong> and its actual <strong>regional influence.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Every country has a certain<strong> &#8220;Expected Power&#8221; <\/strong>based on its raw resources (population, GDP, military hardware).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The &#8220;<strong>Comprehensive Power&#8221;<\/strong> is what the country actually achieves through diplomacy, trade, and alliances.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Power Gap = <\/strong>Comprehensive Power Score &#8211; Expected Power Score<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Positive score:<\/strong> Country punches above its weight (efficient use of resources via diplomacy, alliances, economic statecraft).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Negative score:<\/strong> Country punches below its weight (capabilities exist, but influence is under-leveraged).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"6c808d\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"559\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-130-1024x559.png\" alt=\"power gap index\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-65490\" style=\"--dominant-color: #6c808d; aspect-ratio:1.8328105822991954;width:494px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-130-1024x559.png 1024w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-130-300x164.png 300w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-130-768x419.png 768w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-130-1536x838.png 1536w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-130.png 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India\u2019s Comparative Performance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Japan (+1.0) &amp; Singapore (+5.2): <\/strong>High diplomatic and economic efficiency.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Australia (+8.0): <\/strong>The region&#8217;s premier &#8220;overachiever&#8221; relative to its population size.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>India (-4.0) 3rd out of 27:<\/strong> Lowest in Asia, excluding pariah\/isolated states like Russia and North Korea.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why is the Economic Survey Concerned?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Economic Connectivity:<\/strong> While India has a large GDP, its integration into global supply chains (Economic Relationships) lags behind its resource potential.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Defense Integration:<\/strong> India\u2019s military is large (Resource), but its regional defense partnerships (Influence) are still maturing compared to China or the US.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Stability Paradigm:<\/strong> The Survey notes that India has been a recipient of stability (absorbing shocks). To close the gap, India must become a provider of stability and opportunity for the Indo-Pacific.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.business-standard.com\/budget\/news\/power-gap-index-economic-survey-2026-india-strategic-potential-126012901381_1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>BS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>In News<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">For the first time, the Economic Survey 2025\u201326, tabled in Parliament, has cited the Power Gap Index to underline a Strategic Paradox in India\u2019s rise.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> What is the Power Gap Index? <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The Power Gap Index is not a standalone index like HDI. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">It is a derived analytical measure from the Asia Power Index compiled annually by the Lowy Institute. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">It measures the gap between a country\u2019s potential power (resources) and its actual regional influence. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/30-01-2026\/power-gap-index-economic-survey\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65489"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65530,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65489\/revisions\/65530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}