IndiAPIs: Access Indian Data via Public APIs and Curated Datasets"
In IndiAPIs: Access Indian Data via Public APIs and Curated Datasets

knitr::opts_chunk$set(
  collapse = TRUE,
  comment = "#>"
)

library(IndiAPIs)
library(ggplot2)
library(dplyr)

Introduction

The IndiAPIs package provides a unified interface to access open data from the World Bank API and the REST Countries API, with a focus on India. It allows users to retrieve up-to-date or historical information on topics such as economic indicators, international demographic statistics, and key geopolitical details related to India.

In addition to API-access functions, the package includes one of the largest curated collections of open datasets focused on India. These datasets cover a wide range of topics including population, economy, weather, politics, health, biodiversity, sports, agriculture, cybercrime, infrastructure, and more.

IndiAPIs is designed to support users working with data related to India by integrating international RESTful APIs with structured and reliable datasets from public, academic, and government sources into a single, easy-to-use R package.

Functions for IndiAPIs

The IndiAPIs package provides several core functions to access real-time and structured information about India from public APIs such as the World Bank API and the REST Countries API.

Below is a list of the main functions included in the package:

get_india_child_mortality(): Get India's Under-5 Mortality Rate from World Bank.
get_india_cpi(): Get India's Consumer Price Index (2010 = 100) from World Bank.
get_india_energy_use(): Get India's Energy Use (kg of oil equivalent per capita) from World Bank.
get_india_gdp(): Get India's GDP (current US$) from World Bank.
get_india_hospital_beds(): Get India's Hospital Beds (per 1,000 people) from World Bank.
get_india_life_expectancy(): Get India's Life Expectancy at Birth from World Bank.
get_india_literacy_rate(): Get India's Adult Literacy Rate from World Bank.
get_india_population(): Get India's Total Population from World Bank.
get_india_unemployment(): Get India's Unemployment Rate (% of total labor force) from World Bank.
get_country_info_in(): Get Key Country Information for India.
view_datasets_IndiAPIs(): View Available Datasets in IndiAPIs.

These functions allow users to access high-quality and structured information on India, which can be combined with tools like dplyr and ggplot2 to support a wide range of data analysis, visualization, and research tasks. In the following sections, you’ll find examples on how to work with IndiAPIs in practical scenarios.

IndiAPIs' GDP (Current US$) from World Bank 2022 - 2017

india_gdp <- head(get_india_gdp())

print(india_gdp)

IndiAPIs' Life Expectancy at Birth from World Bank 2022 - 2017

india_life_expectancy <- head(get_india_life_expectancy())

print(india_life_expectancy)

IndiAPIs' Total Population from World Bank 2022 - 2017

india_population <- head(get_india_population())

print(india_population)

Gold Prices Across Indian Cities

# Calculate average prices by city
city_avg <- GoldPricesIndia_df %>%
  mutate(
    Chennai_Avg = (Chennai_Low + Chennai_High) / 2,
    Kolkatta_Avg = (Kolkatta_Low + Kolkatta_High) / 2,
    Bangalore_Avg = (Bangalore_Low + Bangalore_High) / 2,
    Madurai_Avg = (Madurai_Low + Madurai_High) / 2,
    Hyderabad_Avg = (Hyderabad_Low + Hyderabad_High) / 2,
    Delhi_Avg = (Delhi_Low + Delhi_High) / 2,
    Month = factor(Month, levels = c("Feb", "Mar", "Apr", "May", "Jun", 
                                    "Jul", "Aug", "Sep", "Oct", "Nov", "Dec", "Jan"))
  )

# Create the plot
ggplot(city_avg, aes(x = Month)) +
  geom_line(aes(y = Chennai_Avg, color = "Chennai", group = 1)) +
  geom_line(aes(y = Kolkatta_Avg, color = "Kolkatta", group = 1)) +
  geom_line(aes(y = Bangalore_Avg, color = "Bangalore", group = 1)) +
  geom_line(aes(y = Madurai_Avg, color = "Madurai", group = 1)) +
  geom_line(aes(y = Hyderabad_Avg, color = "Hyderabad", group = 1)) +
  geom_line(aes(y = Delhi_Avg, color = "Delhi", group = 1)) +
  labs(title = "Gold Prices Across Indian Cities",
       x = "Month",
       y = "Average Price (INR)",
       color = "City") +
  theme_minimal() +
  theme(axis.text.x = element_text(angle = 45, hjust = 1))

Dataset Suffixes

Each dataset in IndiAPIs is labeled with a suffix to indicate its structure and type:

_df: A standard data frame object.
_dt: A data table object.
_ts: A time series object.

Datasets Included in IndiAPIs

In addition to API access functions, IndiAPIs offers one of the largest curated collections of open datasets focused on India. These preloaded datasets cover a wide range of topics including population, economy, weather, politics, health, biodiversity, sports, agriculture, cybercrime, infrastructure, and more. Below are some featured examples:

BurdwanWeather_df: A data frame containing weekly weather data for the rice growing season in the Burdwan district of West Bengal, India.
birds_watching_tbl_df: A tibble containing detailed information on bird species observed in India, including species names, scientific names, the date of last observation.
DelhiPotatoPrices_ts: A time series containing the monthly average potato prices of the Delhi market from January 2010 to July 2020.

Conclusion

The IndiAPIs package offers a unified interface for accessing both real-time data from public APIs and a rich collection of curated datasets about India. Covering a wide range of topics from economic indicators, international demographic and geopolitical statistics via global APIs, to detailed datasets on population, economy, weather, politics, health, biodiversity, sports, agriculture, cybercrime, infrastructure, and more, IndiAPIs provides users with reliable, structured, and high-quality data.

Unlike tools that focus exclusively on API access, IndiAPIs includes one of the most comprehensive collections of preloaded open datasets related to India, enabling deeper exploration of the country’s historical, social, and economic landscape.

Designed to support reproducible research, education, and data journalism, the package empowers users to analyze and visualize India-focused data directly within R, using tidy data formats and well-documented sources.