First-Party Insights

DIU conducts original, large-scale research that places people at the centre of the data story. From rapid perception surveys to deep longitudinal studies, our first-party work generates insights that complement public datasets and give policymakers, foundations, and development organisations a direct line to ground realities across rural and peri-urban India.

Research at Scale

42 lakh+

Citizens Surveyed

38

Districts Ranked

74

Indicators

9

Thematic Areas

Commissioned Research

Research That Supports Better Decisions

Just Transition for the Coal Belt of Ramgarh

India Climate Collaborative

Research on livelihoods and socio-economic conditions in coal mining communities to support India’s transition towards sustainable energy.

Village & District Ranking of Programm Areas

Eicher Goodearth Foundation

Developed district and village-level quality-of-life rankings across 52,188 villages to support programme planning and evaluation.

Assessment of Intervention Completeness

Cummins India Foundation

Evaluated programme implementation using field research, participatory methods, and evidence-based performance indicators to strengthen village development programmes.

Temporal Migration Patterns in India

Axis Bank Foundation

A nationwide mixed-method study exploring seasonal and distress migration, identifying migration drivers, vulnerabilities, and opportunities for better policy interventions.

Political Economy of Fertilisers

CEEW

A study of fertiliser usage patterns, farmer perceptions, and agroecological alternatives based on qualitative research and a survey of more than 12,000 farmers.

Pan-India Survey on Rooftop Solar

CEEW

A national household survey examining awareness, adoption barriers, and behavioural drivers influencing rooftop solar adoption across India.

42 lakh+

Citizens Surveyed

38

Districts Ranked

74

Indicators

9

Thematic Areas

CitizenSpeak for Viksit Bihar 2047

Bihar Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Department, Government of Bihar

DIU supported the state government’s data-driven vision for 2047 through the CitizenSpeak outreach survey, designed in an online-enabled format to reach citizens at scale.

 

We managed end-to-end analytics, predictive modelling for key performance indicators through to 2047, and comprehensive data-mining support for all contributors including NITI Aayog.

State of Sector Reports

In collaboration with thematic partners, DIU publishes annual reports covering key development themes. These reports bring together community voices, evidence, and analysis to support policy and programme design.

300k+

Curated Panel Numbers

700+

Districts Covered

24

States with Callers

Monthly

Cadence

ThinkInsights Series

ThinkInsights is DIU’s in-house monthly data initiative, delivering rapid consumer insights to critical strategy questions directly from target audiences across rural India.

 

Each report highlights a specific, topical issue and delivers data backed narratives on themes such as rural downtime habits, income diversification for marginal farmers, digital inclusion, youth obesity, food quality, national sentiment, rural entrepreneurship, and financial readiness for retirement.

 

Our telephone-based panel architecture is designed to minimise the Hawthorne effect by maintaining several respondent pools of similar profiles and randomly selecting participants for each survey. This ensures fresh, unbiased responses at scale.