Every year, the Ministry of Finance publishes a report called the Economic Survey of India. This report usually comes out a day before the Union Budget is presented in the Parliament. The Economics Division of the Department of Economic Affairs creates this report with guidance from the Chief Economic Advisor. It looks back at what happened in the Indian economy during the last 12 months and also gives an idea of how the economy will do in the current year. The economic survey report also gives a snapshot of the current condition of the Indian economy. This includes information about things like the size of the economy (GDP), inflation, jobs, and trade.

The first time this Economic Survey was made in India was during 1950-51. Back then, it used to be presented along with the Union Budget. But from 1964 onwards, it has been presented separately, not at the same time as the Budget.

The Economic Survey 2024 won't be shown before Budget 2024 this year due to the General Election process. It would be released after the elections before the final budget is released. Instead, a report on India's last 10 years called 'Indian Economy–A Review' has been released by the Centre. This report, prepared by Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran, also gives a sneak peek into the future outlook of the economy.

Indian Economy - A Review

The Department of Economic Affairs on 30th January 2024 published a report highlighting India's achievements in the past decade, just ahead of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's interim budget speech. Despite global economic challenges with growth rates barely surpassing 3%, India's GDP is projected to surpass 7.2% in FY24, marking the third consecutive year of over 7% growth. This growth is attributed to increased public sector investment, a robust financial sector, and strong non-food credit expansion.

India has solidified its position as the world's third-largest fintech economy, following only the USA and the UK, and has surpassed Hong Kong to claim the fourth spot in global stock markets. This success is credited to both domestic and international investor interest, along with sustained IPO activity.

Key social and economic initiatives have significantly impacted the landscape. The PM Jan Dhan Yojana has notably increased the percentage of women with bank accounts, rising from 53% in 2015-16 to an impressive 78.6% in 2019-21. Female labor force participation has also seen substantial growth, increasing from 23.3% in 2017-18 to 37% in 2022–23, thanks to initiatives like the Skill India Mission, Start-Up India, and Stand-Up India, which have boosted female participation in human capital formation.

In higher education, the female Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) has quadrupled from 6.7% in FY01 to 27.9% in FY21, while the overall GER has more than doubled from 24.5% to 58.2% between FY05 and FY22. Supportive government measures are fostering increased dynamism among the MSME sector.

The adoption of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), combined with the unification of domestic markets and enhanced production incentives, has enhanced economic efficiency, resulting in a subsequent reduction in logistics costs.

Importance of Economic Survey

The projected GDP growth for India in FY24 is expected to surpass 7.2%.

India has established itself as the world's third-largest fintech economy, ranking just behind the USA and the UK.

Initiatives such as the Skill India Mission, Start-Up India, and Stand-Up India have contributed to an increase in female participation in human capital formation.

The overall Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) has experienced substantial growth, more than doubling from 24.5% to 58.2% between FY05 and FY22.

According to the Economic Survey 2022-23, India has recovered economically from the losses caused by the Pandemic, and now the economy is expected to grow at the rate of 6%- 6.8% in the coming Financial Year 2023-24.

Here are the Major highlights from the Economic Survey 2022-23.

• Indian economy staging a broad-based recovery across sectors, positioning itself to ascend to the pre-pandemic growth path in FY23.
• Retail inflation was back within RBI's target range in November 2022.
• Direct Tax collections for the period April-November 2022 remain buoyant.
• Enhanced Employment generation is seen in the declining urban unemployment rate and in the faster net registration in the Employee Provident Fund.
• Creating public goods to enhance opportunities, efficiencies, ease of living, trust-based governance, enhancing agricultural productivity and promoting the private sector as a co-partner in development are the focus of the government reforms.
• Cleaner balance sheets led to enhanced lending by financial institutions
• Growth in credit offtake and increased private capex to usher virtuous investment cycle
• Non-food credit offtake by Scheduled Commercial Banks growing in double digits since April 2022
• The Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA) ratio of SCBs has fallen to a seven-year low of 5.0
• Social sector expenditure (Centre and States combined) increases to Rs. 21.3 lakh crore in FY23 (BE) from Rs. 9.1 lakh crore in FY16
• Central and State Government’s budgeted expenditure on the health sector touched 2.1% of GDP in FY23 (BE) and 2.2% in FY22 (RE) against 1.6% in FY21
• More than 220 crore COVID vaccine doses administered
• The economic survey highlights the findings of the 2022 report of the UNDP on Multidimensional Poverty Index, which says that 41.5 crore people exit poverty in India between 2005-06 and 2019-20
• India declared Net Zero Pledge, to achieve net zero emissions goal by 2070
• A mass movement LIFE– Lifestyle for Environment launched
• National Green Hydrogen Mission to enable India to be energy independent by 2047
• Private investment in agriculture increases to 9.3% in 2020-21
• Free foodgrains to about 81.4 crore beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act for one year
• About 11.3 crore farmers were covered under PM KISAN in its April-July 2022-23 payment cycle
• India stands at the forefront of promoting millets through the International Year of Millets initiative
• Investment of ₹47,500 crores under the PLI schemes in FY22- 106% of the designated target for the year
• India’s e-commerce market is projected to grow at 18 per cent annually through 2025
• Merchandise exports of US$ 332.8 billion for April-December 2022
• India is the largest recipient of remittances globally, receiving US$ 100 billion in 2022
• PM GatiShakti National Master Plan creates a comprehensive database for integrated planning and synchronised implementation across Ministries/ Departments
• UPI-based transactions grew in value (121%) and volume (115%) terms between 2019-2022, paving the way for its international adoption.