Economic Survey 2021

• The Economic Survey of India is an annual document released by the Ministry of Finance.
• It contains the most authoritative and updated source of data on India’s economy.
• It is prepared by the Economics Division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Finance Ministry under the overall guidance of the chief economic adviser.
• The first Economic Survey in India was presented in the year 1950-51. 
• Up to 1964, it was presented along with the Union Budget.
• From 1964 onwards, it has been delinked from the Budget.
• The foundational theme of the survey is "Saving Lives and Livelihoods".

Economy Growth

• Indian economy will grow at 11 per cent in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22).
• However, the GDP growth rate is estimated at minus 7.7 per cent for the ongoing fiscal.
• The estimated real GDP growth for FY 2022 at 11 per cent is the highest since independence.
• The survey projected a V-shaped recovery.
• The lockdown resulted in a 23.9 per cent contraction in GDP in Q1.
• The recovery has been a V-shaped one as seen in the 7.5 per cent decline in Q2.
• Moreover, the recovery across all key economic indicators.

• Key indicators such as Services Purchasing Managers’ Index, rail freight traffic, and port traffic, are all displaying a V-shaped recovery after a sharp decline during the lockdown.

FDI

• Net Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) record the inflows of USD 27.5 billion during April - October, 2020.
• It is 14.8% higher as compared to the first seven months of FY 2019-20.
• Net Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) Inflows recorded an all-time monthly high of 9.8 Billion Dollars in November 2020.
• The services sector accounts for over 54% of India’s Gross Value Added (GVA) and nearly 4/5 of total FDI inflow into India.
• The Indian start-up ecosystem has been progressing well amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
• India is being home to 38 unicorns.
• India’s space sector has grown exponentially in the past six decades.
• The allocated capital budget for defence has been fully utilised since 2016-17.

Agriculture and allied sector

• The Agriculture and Allied activities clocked a growth of 3.4%.
• The share of Agriculture and Allied Sectors in GVA of the country at current prices is 17.8% for the year 2019-20.
• In 2019-20, the major agricultural and allied export destinations were the USA, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Nepal and Bangladesh.
• The contribution of Livestock in total agriculture and allied sector GVA (at Constant Prices) has increased from 24.32% (2014-15) to 28.63% (2018-19).
• Fish production reached an all-time high of 14.16 million metric tons during 2019-20.

Innovation

• India has entered the top-50 innovating countries for the first time in 2020.
• Since the inception of the Global Innovation Index in 2007, India is ranked at first in Central and South Asia, and third amongst lower middle-income group economies.

Credit ratings

• The fifth largest economy in the world has never been rated as the lowest rung of the investment grade (BBB-/Baa3) in sovereign credit ratings.

Health sector

• Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana contributed to improvement in many health outcomes in many States.
• National Health Mission played a critical role in mitigating inequity as the access of the poorest to pre-natal/post-natal care.
• Institutional child deliveries increased significantly.
• An increase was seen in government spending on the healthcare sector – from the current 1% to 2.5-3% of GDP.
• The MANODARPAN initiative for psychological support has been included in Atma nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.

Literacy level

• India has attained a literacy level of almost 96% at the elementary school level.
• The literacy rate of persons of age 7 years and above at the All-India level stood at 77.7%.
• But the differences in literacy rate attainment among social-religious groups, as well as gender still persists.
• The percentage of enrolled children from government and private schools owning a smartphone increased enormously from 36.5% in 2018 to 61.8% in 2020 in rural India.
• PM eVIDYA is a comprehensive initiative to unify all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education.
• It aims to enable multi-mode and equitable access to education for students and teachers.
• Around 92 courses have started and 1.5 crore students are enrolled under Swayam Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
• These are online courses relating to the National Institute of Open Schooling.

Initiative to education

• PRAGYATA guidelines on digital education have been developed with a focus on online/blended/digital education for students who are presently at home due to closure of schools.
• Vocational courses will be introduced phase-wise in schools for classes 9 to 12 to expose students to skill development avenues.
• It will part of the Centre's flagship skilling scheme Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 3.0.

BNI

• Bare necessities have improved across all States in the country in 2018 as compared to 2012.
• Bare Necessities Index (BNI) based on the large annual household survey data can be constructed using suitable indicators and methodology at district level for all/targeted districts to assess the progress on access to bare necessities.

• The BNI summarises 26 indicators on five dimensions viz., water, sanitation, housing, micro-environment, and other facilities.

Social development and others

• The combined (Centre and States) social sector expenditure as Per Cent of GDP has increased in 2020-21 compared to last year.
• India’s rank in Human development Index (HDI) 2019 was recorded at 131, out of a total 189 countries.
• Government has given incentive to boost employment through Aatma nirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana and rationalization and simplification of existing labour codes into 4 codes.
• Females are spending disproportionately more time on unpaid domestic and caregiving services to household members as compared to their male counterparts (Time Use Survey, 2019).
• Both inequality and per-capita income (growth) have similar relationships with socio-economic indicators in India, unlike in advanced economies.

Work for SDG

• Voluntary National Review (VNR) was presented to the United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development.
• The localisation of SDGs is crucial to any strategy aimed at achieving the goals under the 2030 Agenda.
• Eight National Missions under National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) focussed on the objectives of adaptation, mitigation and preparedness on climate risks.
• India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) states that finance is a critical enabler of climate change action.
• World’s largest COVID-19 vaccination drive was commenced on 16th January 2021 using two indigenously manufactured vaccines.

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