Key Points
India's GDP growth projected at 6.4% for 2024-25
Economic Survey provides comprehensive economic insights
Budget session to run from January 31 to April 4
As is the convention, the Finance Minister tabled the pre-budget detailed state of the economy document in the Parliament, a day ahead of the Budget presentation for the next financial year - 2025-26.
What is the Economic Survey:
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 2024-25 (April-March) and some outlook for the next fiscal.
The Economy Survey document also typically gives some idea about the tone and texture of the actual Budget for 2025-26, to be presented on Saturday.
The first economic survey reportedly came into existence in 1950-51, when it used to be a part of the budget documents. In the 1960s, it was separated from the Budget documents and presented the day before the Union Budget.
State of the economy:
The Indian economy grew by 5.4 per cent in real terms in the July-September quarter of the current financial year 2024-25. The quarterly growth was quite lower than RBI's forecast of 7 per cent. In the April-June quarter too, India's GDP grew at a slower pace than was estimated by its central bank.The Reserve Bank in its latest monetary policy had cut India's growth forecast for 2024-25 to 6.6 per cent from 7.2 per cent. The government expects 6.4 per cent growth.
India's GDP grew by an impressive 8.2 per cent during the financial year 2023-24, and continued to be the fastest-growing major economy. The economy grew by 7.2 per cent in 2022-23 and 8.7 per cent in 2021-22.
Budget session 2025:
The budget session of parliament will begin on January 31 and, according to schedule, will end on April 4.The budget will be presented on February 1. On budget day, the Finance Minister will present the Union Budget in the Lok Sabha at 11 am. The budget speech will outline the government's fiscal policies, revenue and expenditure proposals, taxation reforms, and other significant announcements.
With this upcoming Budget Presentation, Sitharaman will have presented the eighth budget.
