A number of measures were announced in Union Budget 2012 to augment supply and improve storage and warehousing facilities. Government launched a National Mission for Protein supplements in 2011 with allocation of Rs 300 crore. To broaden the scope of production of fish to coastal aquaculture, apart from fresh water aquaculture, the outlay in 2012 was stepped up to Rs 500 crore. Recently, Government permitted Foreign Direct Investment in multi brand retail trading. This will help consumers and farmers as it will improve the selling and purchasing facilities. Global economic and financial conditions continued to deteriorate during this period and with a sharper moderation in domestic growth, the growth inflation trade-off needs a revisit. In the assessment of the Reserve Bank of India, keeping in view the inflation in the country, further reduction in policy rates at this juncture, could accentuate inflationary pressures rather than supporting growth. Further, since the risk to inflation was also emanating from the high fiscal deficit, uncertainty in international prices of crude oil and structural imbalances in demand supply of food (particularly protein foods), a cautious monetary policy stand was preferable. However, the actions taken by the Government since September, particularly with regard to the increase in the administered prices of diesel, announcement of a fiscal road map with clear medium term fiscal deficit targets and initiatives to improve investor perception have created a favourable environment and have signalled a shift towards investment and capacity addition. As it anticipates some of the inflationary pressures from excess demand will be alleviated, the RBI should have room for more accommodative monetary policy.