Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman (The Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs) presented the Economic Survey 2020-21 in the Parliament on January 29, 2021. Here in this post, we have presented some major highlights of the Economic Survey 2020-21 that are important from the Exam Point of view. But before that, we need to understand some basic concepts about the Economic Survey.

What is Economic Survey?

Economic Survey of India is a document prepared by the Ministry of Finance on annual basis and it contains a detailed account of the various sectors of the economy and overall economic scenario of the country of the last year.

Who prepares the Economic Survey?

The economic survey is prepared under the guidance of the Chief Economic Adviser of the Finance Ministry. The present Chief Economic Adviser is Krishnamurthy V. Subramanian.

Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs of the Finance Ministry prepares it under the guidance of the Chief Economic Adviser. At the final stage, it is approved by Union Finance Minister.

Highlights of Economic Survey 2020-21

The economic survey 2020-21 is divided into 2 volumes. Both these volumes have 10 chapters each.

Theme of the Economic Survey 2020-21 – #SavingLives&Livelihoods  #VshapedRecovery

1. As per the advance estimates by NSO, India’s GDP is estimated to grow by (-) 7.7% in FY21 – a robust sequential growth of 23.9% in H2: FY21 over H1: FY21
2. India’s real GDP to record a 11.0% growth in FY2021-22 and nominal GDP to grow by 15.4% – the highest since independence.
3. During the pandemic, Agriculture remained the silver lining while contact-based services, manufacturing, construction were hit hardest, and recovering steadily. Agriculture set to cushion the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Indian economy in FY21 with a growth of 3.4%.
4. Moody’s has assigned a sovereign rating of Baa3 to India while S&P has assigned a BBB(-) rating to India, both of which are the lowest investment grade rating awarded by the agencies.
5. India ranked 48^th in Global Innovation Index 2020, ranking first in Central and South Asia, and third amongst lower middle-income group economies.
6. Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) – the ambitious program launched by Government of India in 2018 to provide healthcare access to the most vulnerable sections demonstrates strong positive effects on healthcare outcomes in a short time. The health outcomes of the States that adopted Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) improved when compared to the States that did not adopt the scheme.
7. Access to the ‘bare necessities’ has improved across all States in the country in 2018 as compared to 2012. It is highest in States such as Kerala, Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat while lowest in Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Tripura. (bare necessities means- Just sufficient resources, with nothing to spare.)
8. India’s forex reserves at an all-time high of US$ 586.1 billion as on January 08, 2021, covering about 18 months worth of imports.
9. Supported by resilient software service exports, India is expected to witness a current account surplus during the current financial year after a gap of 17 years. India to Have a Current Account Surplus of 2 Per Cent of GDP in FY21.
10. Accommodative monetary policy during 2020: repo rate cut by 115 bps since March 2020.
11. International Solar Alliance (ISA) launched two new initiatives – ‘World Solar Bank’ and ‘One Sun One World One Grid Initiative’ – poised to bring about solar energy revolution globally
12. India’s Agricultural (and Allied Activities) sector has shown its resilience amid the adversities of COVID-19 induced lockdowns with a growth of 3.4% at constant prices during 2020-21 (first advance estimate).
13. A strong V-shaped recovery of economic activity further confirmed by IIP data.
14. AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan with a stimulus package worth 15 % of India’s GDP announced.
15. India’s rank in the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) Index for 2019 has moved upwards to the 63rd position in 2020 from 77th in 2018 as per the Doing Business Report (DBR).
16. Government has announced a Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme in the 10 key sectors under the aegis of AatmaNirbhar Bharat for enhancing India’s manufacturing capabilities and exports.
17. Life expectancy at birth improved from 69.4 years in 2018 to 69.7 years in 2019.
18. World’s largest COVID-19 vaccination drive commenced on 16th January, 2021 using two indigenously manufactured vaccines- Covishield (by Serum Institute of India, Pune) and Covaxin (Bharat Biotech International Ltd, Hyderabad).
19. India’s pandemic response, focused on saving lives and livelihoods, restricted the COVID-19 spread by 37 lakh cases and saved more than 1 lakh lives.
20. The new farm laws, which are being widely opposed by farmer groups, will be beneficial for small and marginal farmers and herald Indian agriculture in a new free-market era.

Download Economic Survey Volume 1

Download Economic Survey Volume 2