New Delhi, July 22
The Economic Survey tabled in Parliament conservatively projects India's real GDP growth of 6.5-7 per cent, cognizant of the fact that market expectations are on the higher side.
Real GDP growth is the reported economic growth minus inflation.
India's economy carried forward the momentum it built in 2022-23 into 2023-24 despite a gamut of external challenges.
"The focus on maintaining macroeconomic stability ensured that external challenges had minimal impact on India's economy," the Economic Survey said today.
India's real GDP grew by 8.2 per cent in 2023-24, exceeding the 8 per cent mark in three out of four quarters.
According to official data of the Indian government, the country's GDP grew at an impressive 8.2 per cent during the financial year 2023-24. India's economy grew 7.2 per cent in 2022-23 and 8.7 per cent in 2021-22 respectively.
"Indian economy has recovered and expanded in an orderly fashion post-pandemic. The real GDP in FY24 was 20 per cent higher than its level in FY20, a feat that only a very few major economies achieved," the Economic Survey read.
As per the Economic Survey, the central government's timely policy interventions and the Reserve Bank of India's price stability measures helped maintain retail inflation at 5.4 per cent - the lowest level since the pandemic - in 2023-24.
The Survey noted that the Indian economy is on a strong wicket and stable footing, demonstrating resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges.
The Indian economy has consolidated its post-Covid recovery with policymakers - fiscal and monetary - ensuring economic and financial stability, the 476-page Economic Survey document said in its initial remarks. It asserted that the economy continues to expand.
The Economic Survey document, prepared by the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance and formulated under the supervision of the chief economic adviser, gives insights into the state of the economy and various indicators of 2023-24 (April-March) and some outlook for the current year.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget for 2024-25 in Parliament tomorrow. With this Budget presentation, Sitharaman is set to surpass the record set by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai, who presented five annual budgets and one interim budget between 1959 and 1964 as finance minister. Sitharaman's upcoming budget speech will be her seventh.
The Economic Survey for 2023-24 tabled in the Parliament on Monday has identified six key policy focus areas for the government to achieve sustained economic growth.
Those six areas where the government would focus are generating productive employment; skill gap, tapping the full potential of the agriculture sector, easing the compliance requirements and financing bottlenecks confronting MSMEs, managing India's green transition, and the persistent China challenge.
India is poised to remain the fastest-growing major economy in 2024-25, Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran said in a press conference after the tabling of the Economic Survey.
Global institutions, including IMF, OECD, World Bank, S&P, ADB, and Fitch, have projected India to grow in a range of 6.6-7.2 per cent.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its latest outlook, has raised India's growth projections for 2024 from 6.8 per cent earlier to 7 per cent, with the country maintaining the fastest-growing status in emerging markets and developing economies.