Nirmala Sitharaman tables Economic Survey 2022-23 in Parliament

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New Delhi, Jan 13: Parliament's Budget Session began today with maiden address of President Draupadi Murmu's address to the joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

The Economic Survey was tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at 11 am as part of the Parliament's Budget session. News agency IANS reported that the Economic Survey is prepared by Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran. It must be noted that the Economic Survey is presented in Parliament every year, a day before the announcement of the Union Budget. This will mark the beginning of the Budget session of Parliament.

Economic Survey Main Focus Area

GDP Growth-India the fastest-Growing Major Economy

• India to witness GDP growth of 6.0 per cent to 6.8 per cent in 2023-24,depending on the trajectory of economic and political developments globally.

• The Economic Survey 2022-23 projects a baseline GDP growth of 6.5 per cent in real terms in FY24.

• The Survey says, in real terms, the economy is expected to grow at 7 per cent for the year ending March 2023. This follows an 8.7 per cent growth in the previous financial year.

• Despite the three shocks of COVID-19, Russian-Ukraine conflict and the Central Banks across economies led by Federal Reserve responding with synchronised policy rate hikes to curb inflation, leading to appreciation of US Dollar and the widening of the Current Account Deficits (CAD) in net importing economies, agencies worldwide continue to project India as the fastest-growing major economy at 6.5-7.0 per cent in FY23.

• According to Survey, India's economic growth in FY23 has been principally led by private consumption and capital formation and they have helped generate employment as seen in the declining urban unemployment rate and in the faster net registration in Employee Provident Fund.

• Moreover, World's second-largest vaccination drive involving more than 2 billion doses also served to lift consumer sentiments that may prolong the rebound in consumption.

• The Survey narrates about six challenges faced by the Global Economy. Global growth is forecasted to slow from 3.2 per cent in 2022 to 2.7 per cent in 2023 as per IMF's World Economic Outlook, October 2022. The Survey notes that like the rest of the world, India, too, faced this extraordinary set of challenges but withstood them better than most economies.

Capital Expenditure witnesses Significant Increase

• The outlay for capital expenditure in 2022-23 (BE) was increased sharply by 35.4 per cent from 5.5 lakh crore in the previous year (2021-22) to 7.5 lakh crore.

• 8,964 projects with more than ₹108 lakh crore investment at different stages of implementation under national infrastructure pipeline.

• Monetization of ₹0.97 lakh crore achieved under roads, power, coal and mines, beyond target of ₹0.9 lakh crore in fy22 under the national monetization pipeline.

• Increase in the construction of National Highways (NHs)/roads over time, with 10,457 km of roads constructed in FY22 as compared to 6,061 km in FY16.

• Cargo movement on national waterways achieves an all-time high of 108.8 million tons during fy22, recording 30.1 per cent growth.

Social Sector witnesses increase in Govt Spending

• Social Sector Expenditure Increases To 21.03 Lakh Crore In Fy 23(Be) From 9.1 Lakh Crore In Fy 16

• The findings of the report suggest that in India, 41.5 crore people exited poverty between 2005-06 and 2019-21.

• Aadhaar is an essential tool for social delivery by the State. 318 Central schemes and over 720 state DBT schemes are notified under section 7 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, and various initiatives.

• 135.2 Crore Aadhaar enrollments have been generated, 75.3 crore residents have linked their Aadhaar with ration cards to avail of Ration.

• With the overall development of the economy, the concept of quality of life has enlarged. he focus on social life aims to achieve the vision of "Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas".

Public health infrastructure nerve centre of health system

• 1.5 lakh Ayushman Bharat- Health & Wellness Centres set up before 31st December 2022, leading to strengthening of primary healthcare.

• Economic survey 2022-23 illustrates significant improvement in quality of rural lives; health indicators register uptick.

• As many as 21.9 crore beneficiaries have been verified under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri - Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) Scheme including 3 crore beneficiaries verified using State IT systems as on 4th January, 2023.

• Approximately 4.3 crore hospital admissions, amounting to Rs. 50,409 crore, have also been authorised under the scheme through a network of over 26,055 hospitals,

• Health is an integral component of social welfare, leitmotif for the Government. Comprehensive and 'leave no one behind' approach form the guiding principles of healthcare.

• The share of government health expenditure in total health expenditure has increased from 28.6 per cent in FY14 to 40.6 per cent in FY19.

• The document reports a concomitant decline in out-of-pocket expenditure as a percentage of total health expenditure from 64.2 per cent in FY14 to 48.2 per cent in FY19.  

• The Survey shows the hike in the share of expenditure on health in the total expenditure on social services, which has increased from 21 per cent in FY19 to 26 per cent in FY23 (BE).

Thrust On Rural Development

• The Survey aims to improve quality of life in rural areas for more equitable and inclusive development.

• Assets created under MGNREGS positively impacting agricultural productivity and household income; reducing migration and indebtedness.

• Significant rise in rural female labour force participation rate from 19.7 percent (2018-19) to 27.7 percent (2020-21)

• The aim of engagement of the government in the rural economy has been "transforming lives and livelihoods through proactive socio-economic inclusion, integration, and empowerment of rural India."

• The Survey refers to National Family Health Survey data for 2019-21 which illustrates a significant improvement vis-à-vis 2015-16 in an array of indicators concerning the quality of rural lives, including, inter alia, access to electricity, presence of improved drinking water sources, coverage under health insurance schemes, etc.

• Women empowerment has also gained momentum, with visible progress in female participation in household decision-making, owning bank accounts, and use of mobile phones.

• Most of the indicators concerning the health of rural women and children have improved.

• These outcome-oriented statistics establish tangible medium-run progress in rural living standards, aided by the policy focus on basic amenities and efficient programme implementation.

Agriculture Sector witnessing Robust Growth

• India's agriculture sector has been witnessing robust growth with an average annual growth rate of 4.6 per cent over the last six years. This has enabled agriculture and allied activities sector to contribute significantly towards country's overall growth, development and food security.

• The Government has been increasing the MSP for all 22 Kharif, Rabi and other commercial crops with a margin of at least 50 per cent over the all-India weighted average cost of production since the agricultural year 2018-19, says the Survey. Relatively higher MSP was given to pulses and oilseeds in order to keep pace with the changing dietary patterns and achieve the goal of self-sufficiency.

• The Government has set a target of ₹18.5 lakh crores in agricultural credit flow in 2022-23. The Government had consistently increased this target every year and it has also been able to continuously surpass the target set every year over the past several years. In 2021-22, it was about 13 per cent more than the target of ₹16.5 lakh crores.

• The survey suggests, this achievement was made possible because the Government had designed multitude of initiatives to ensure hassle-free credit availability to farmers at a competitive interest rates - Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Scheme which provides credit at any time, and Modified Interest Subvention Scheme which provides short term agricultural loan up to ₹3 lakhs at subsidized interest rate.

• The Survey points out that 11.3 crore farmers received income support from the Government under the April-July 2022-23 cycle of PM KISAN.

• India's foodgrains production touched a record 315.7 million tonnes in 2021-22 despite climate change challenges.

Quality Education for all

• School enrollment stands at 26.5 crore children in fy22. 19.4 lakh additional school children enrolled in primary to higher secondary level in fy 22.

• Over 14,500 schools to be developed as exemplary schools under pm shri, more than 20 lakh students to benefit

• Number of Indian Institutes Of Information Technology (IIITS) rises to 25 in 2022 against 9 in 2014

Improving Employment Trends

• In both urban and rural areas, unemployment rates falling from 5.8 per cent in 2018-19 to 4.2 per cent in 2020-21.

• Rise in rural female labour force participation rate from 19.7 % in 2018-19 to 27.7% in 2020-21

• Total over 28.5 crore unorganised workers have been registered on E-Shram portal. Female registrations stood at 52.8 per cent of the total and 61.7 per cent of total registrations.

According to news agency PTI report, the Budget session will have 27 sittings. The first part of the session will conclude on February 14. Parliament will reconvene on March 12 for the second part of the session which will continue till April 6. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will on Wednesday (February 1) present the last full-fledged Union Budget of the Modi government.

On Monday, during an all-party meeting, the government said it was willing to discuss every issue under the rules during the Budget Session of Parliament. At the all-party meeting, Aam Aadmi Party's Sanjay Singh, RJD's Manoj Jha, DMK, Left parties and others raised the Adani issue and sought a discussion on it in Parliament during the session. Parties like the BRS and DMK raised the issue of conduct of governors in States ruled by them.

Ahead of the Union Budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday chaired a meeting of the Union Council of Ministers in New Delhi. The meeting which is the first to be held for the Union Council of Ministers in 2023, started around 10 am.

This comes amid a buzz of a cabinet reshuffle and also ahead of the assembly polls in nine states this year. The finance ministry is considering proposals to benefit the middle class in the upcoming budget.