Notable Findings of Economic Survey 2021-22

The Economic Survey is a way to analyze the country based on its economic development. The Government's survey for the fiscal beginning April 1, 2022. The fiscal system offers comprehensive statistical data on all sectors, including manufacturing, agriculture, and industrial. It also gives reforms that can help to boost growth.

The Economic Survey 2021-22 was presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. and brings out the economic trends in the country and facilities a better appreciation of the mobilization of economic trends in the country.

The chief economic advisor of India scribes the Survey and examines the trends in agricultural and industrial production, infrastructure, employment, money supply, prices, imports, exports, foreign exchange reserves, and other relevant economic factors that bear the Budget.

The Economic Survey 2021-22 states that the year will bring great developments in private sector investments in the financial system and is necessary to provide the support to revive the Economy. The growth rate for 2022-23 is based on the fact by assuming that there will be no further conditions to worsen Pandemic that is related to economic disruption, monsoon will be normal, withdrawal of global liquidity by major central banks, oil prices will range of US $70-$75/bbl and global supply chains.  

According to Principal Economic Advisor Sanjeev Sanyal, the Economic Survey 2022 is centered around four pillars. Still, the central theme of this year's Economic Survey is the "Agile approach,'' implemented because of India's economic response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.  

Major Key Highlights from Survey 2020-21 states that the Indian Economy is expected to grow by 11 percent during 2021-22. It suggests that the Indian GDP is expected to be at 149.2 lakh crore. The Survey points out that reviving back during the second half-year this year and the government consumption is expected to grow by 17%. The sector that is expected to grow this year is the agriculture sector which is expected to grow by 3.4 %. Also, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections increased in the second half of the year as the monthly GST collections in December 2020 is 1.15 Lakh Crore. The Bank credit growth is to stand at 6.7% since September 2019, and the inflation between April and December 2020 stood at 6.6% compared to the previous year on account of high food inflation of 9.1%. Therefore the Survey brings out a plain view of how the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic is on the Economy. As CEA Subramanian said, "India focused on saving lives and livelihoods by its willingness to take short-term pain for long-term gain, at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic."

Achievements according to Economic Survey  2021-22

GDP expands to 9.2 percent

The Survey states that the Indian Economy is estimated to grow by 9.2 %, showing an overall economic activity that has recovered from the pre-pandemic times.

Agriculture and allied sectors to witness growth

The agriculture and allied sectors have not been much impacted due to the Pandemic. This means a sharp growth of 3.9% in 2021-22. This year, the production of wheat and rice has been increasing at a high pace, and food grains production for the Kharif season is estimated to post a record level of 150.5 million tonnes. The sector was further facilitated by Government policies and helped by monsoon rains.

Services Sector to grow by 8.2 %

The Services Sector is the worst affected by the Pandemic. This sector is estimated to grow by 8.2 %, and both the finance/ Real Estate and the Public Administration sections are growing well above pre- covid times. However, Industries like Travel, Trade, and hotels are to recover fully, and also there is a boost in software and IT services.

Exports and Imports rates rises

In India's export relating to both goods and services have been strong, and the merchandise exports have been US$30 billion despite several global related constraints. The exports of the net services have also risen sharply, directed by professional and management consulting services, audiovisual and freight transport services, telecommunications, computer, and IT services. Hence, India's total exports will grow by 16.5 % in 2021-22. Similarly, Imports also recovered and are expected to grow by 29.4%.

Financial Sector

The financial sector is an area of dealing with stress during difficult times. The capital markets have done exceptionally well, with the Sensex and Nifty inflated up to touch their peak at 61,766 and 18,477 on October 18, 2021. Moreover, the banking system and NPAs have seemed to have structurally go down. The Gross Non-Performing Advances (GNPA) ratio (i.e., GNPAs as a percentage of Gross Advances) and Net Non-Performing Advances (NNPA) ratio of Scheduled Commercial banks (SCBs) goes on to decline since 2018-19. Thus the Survey brings in another distinguishing feature about India's economic response.

Process Reforms

The Government brought various reforms that can be seen as both a demand and its response to create infrastructure capacity for future growth. Two Common themes marked in India's supply-side strategy are reforms that improve flexibility and innovation to deal with the long-term unpredictability of the post-Covid world. This brings in factors like market reforms; deregulation of sectors like space, drones, geospatial mapping, trade finance factoring; process reforms like those in government procurement and the telecommunications sector and removal of legacy issues like retrospective tax; privatization and monetization, creation of physical infrastructure, and so on and reforms aimed at improving the resilience of the Indian Economy.

Sustainable Development and Climate Change

India has the tenth largest forest area covered globally, which means that in 2020, India ranked third and the forests covered 24% of India's total geographical area. So, new legislations are passed out by Economic Survey 2021-22 that includes Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021. This will ensure Extended Producer Responsibility for plastic packaging and strengthen the circular Economy of plastic packaging waste, promoting the development of new alternatives to plastics and sustainable plastic packaging. Besides this, the National Clean Air Programme is implemented in 132 cities to achieve 30 percent reductions in particulate matter concentrations (PM, an air pollutant).

Thus, the Survey brings out an overall development and macro-economic stability in the Indian Economy. It also underlines significant support given for the growth of Monetary Policy and come with hope in bringing stability in the Economy by boosting various other sectors in the Indian Economy via addressing various segments of the society.