BUSINESS
Food subsidies grew by 400% to Rs 5.25 lakh crore
This increase was driven by almost 400 per cent growth in food subsidies from Rs 1.09 lakh crore in 2019-20 to Rs 5.25 lakh crore in 2020-21. The steep rise in food subsidy bill was on account of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana introduced as part of the Economic Response to COVID-19, and the pre-payment of around Rs 1.5 lakh crore of outstanding food subsidy related loans of the Food Corporation of India.
Economic Survey 2021-22: Key takeaways
Economic survey 2021-22 was tabled in Parliament on Monday by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. It provides detailed information about the current economic status of the country. It further recommends policies, blueprints and strategies on resource allocations to bring about social and economic reforms. It is prepared under the aegis of the Chief Economic Advisor and is approved by the Union Finance Minister. Here are the key highlights.
Excise duty cut on petrol, diesel provided relief to consumers: EcoSurvey
The Centre in early November slashed excise duties on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 10 per litre, respectively. Taking cue from this, some states too followed suit. "Reduction in central excise and subsequent cuts in VAT by most states has also helped ease petrol and diesel prices," the Survey said.
Equities settle high as Eco Survey shows several positive growth indicators
Sensex settled at 58,014 points, up 1.4 per cent or 813 points, whereas Nifty at 17,339 points, up 1.4 per cent or 237 points. "Indian markets tried to bounce back on Friday, but due to weak global cues it couldn't sustain and lost momentum in the last hour of trade. As the market has seen some correction from the top and also, we have a budget lined up this week, there could be a bounce back in the indices," said Rajesh Bhatia -- MD and CIO -- ITI Long Short Equity Fund.
Need to spend $1.4 tn on infra for $5 tn GDP by 2024-25: Eco Survey
According to it, during FYs 2008-17, India invested about $1.1 trillion on infrastructure. "However, the challenge is to step up infrastructure investment substantially. "Keeping this objective in view, National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) was launched with projected infrastructure investment of around Rs 111 lakh crore ($1.5 trillion) during FY 2020-2025 to provide world-class infrastructure across the country, and improve the quality of life for all citizens," the Survey, tabled in Parliament on Monday, said.
India on track to meet FY22 fiscal deficit target, says Eco Survey
The revenue receipts of the Central government during April- November 2021 have gone up by 67.2 per cent (YoY), as against an estimated growth of 9.6 per cent in the 2021-22 Budget Estimates. As per the Survey, the primary deficit during the period April to November 2021 turned up at nearly half of the level it had reached during April to November 2019.
Railways target 100% electrification by Dec 2023: Economic Survey
To achieve this target with creation of other infrastructure in the sector, the government has increased the CAPEX (Capital expenditures) by five fold in the last seven years. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday tabled Economic Survey 2021-22 in the Lok Sabha. The survey claims that IR is targeting 100 per cent electrification of its network by December 2023, upgradation of Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata corridors to 160 kmph and also elimination of level crossings on the Golden Quadrilateral and Golden Diagonal routes.
India opted for 'Barbell Strategy' with safety nets as part of economic response to Covid
The last two years have been particularly challenging for policy-making around the world with repeated waves from a mutating virus, travel restrictions, supply-chain disruptions and more recently, global inflation. This is a common strategy used in financial markets to deal with extreme uncertainty by combining two seemingly disparate legs. The iterative leg of this strategy is the same as the "Agile" approach that uses feedback-loops, and real-time adjustment.
Atmanirbhar Bharat isn't protectionism but a pragmatic recognition of vagaries of int'l supply-chains: Economic Survey
The Survey has noted that a distinguishing feature of India's economic response has been an emphasis on supply-side reforms rather than a total reliance on demand management. These supply-side reforms include deregulation of numerous sectors, simplification of processes, removal of legacy issues like 'retrospective tax', privatisation, production-linked incentives.
India's total consumption likely to grow 7% in FY22: Economic Survey
The Survey said that the government consumption was estimated to grow by a strong 7.6 per cent, thereby surpassing the pre-pandemic levels. Besides, private consumption is also estimated to have improved significantly to recover 97 per cent of corresponding pre-pandemic output level.
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