New Delhi:

The Economic Survey, a pre-budget document detailing the state of the economy over the last fiscal year, will be presented in Parliament at 12 p.m. on Friday by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The presentation comes a day before the much-anticipated arrival of the Union Budget 2025-26.

The survey will be tabled in Lok Sabha at 12 pm and in Rajya Sabha at 2 pm.

The Economic Survey is prepared under the supervision of the Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran and includes insights into the economy prepared by the economic division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance.

The document not only details the current state of the economy but also provides an outlook for the upcoming fiscal year. It can also be an indicator of the tone and texture of the Union Budget.

The presentation of the Economic Survey will kickstart the Budget Session of Parliament, which concludes on April 4. Parliament will have an inter-session break from February 14 and will resume on March 10.

The theme of the Economic Survey also holds significance. In 2024, the theme was economic resilience. The theme sets the tone for the policies which are proposed in the Union Budget as well.

Before the budget is presented, conventionally a Cabinet meeting headed by the Prime Minister is also held, where Ministers are briefed about the Budget and Cabinet approval is taken.

Ahead of the Union Budget presentation, President Droupadi Murmu will also address a joint seating of Parliament on Friday.

The Union Budget will be presented on February 1.

President Murmu will address the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha at 11 a.m. on Friday.

After the President’s address, Finance Minister Sitharaman will table the Economic Survey in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha separately.

Finance Minister Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on Saturday for the eighth consecutive time.

The Budget Session will be held from January 31 to April 4 in two phases. The first part of the Session will end on February 13 and the second phase will begin on March 10.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran speaks during the India Exim Bank International Economic Research Annual Citation 2023 Presentation Ceremony, in New Delhi on Monday, January 20, 2025.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Even a good government policy requiring timely payments to the key MSME sector faces resistance from large business entities, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V. Anantha Nageswaran said on Monday (January 20, 2025).

Speaking at an event organised by India Exim Bank of India, he said the government came up with a very thoughtful behavioural nudge to alleviate the working capital issue of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

“The amended law gives enough leeway to make the payment within a given financial year and claim the deduction, but yet, even for this kind of a small nudge, there is resistance from the large corporate entities in this country, and the association that represents them are asking for doing away with 45-day payment ceiling for MSMEs,” Mr. Nageswaran said.

“Look at some of the political economy and behavioural resistance that continues to prevail in this country, where large enterprises still look at micro and small enterprises as sources of working capital for them, rather than them being sources of working capital for micro and small enterprises,” he said.

According to Section 43B (h) of the Income Tax Act, introduced through Finance Act 2023, if a larger company does not pay an MSME on time – within 45 days in case of written agreements – it cannot deduct that expense from its taxable income, leading to potentially higher taxes.

Mr. Nageswaran also spoke on the importance of agriculture, saying it is the sector of the future.

He further said that manufacturing and services are going to face global headwinds.

“Manufacturing will face issues because of the dominance of one large country, while the services sector faces technological developments and international trade-related resistance,” he said.

He also said the Economic Survey may dwell upon land use by corporates.

The CEA noted that land is already a very scarce resource in India and is subject to so many regulations.

“Enterprises do not get to use the full land that is available to them for productive purposes,” he added.

Women counting money at a garment sewing machine unit.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Observing that India is transitioning from women’s development to women-led development, the Chief Economic Advisor on July 22 said there has been a 218.8% increase in budgetary allocation for schemes for the welfare and empowerment of women even as it acknowledged that women in India face the “’motherhood penalty” with a drop in female labour force participation rate around childbearing years.

“The share of the Gender Budget in the total Union Budget has increased to 6.5% in Financial Year 2025, the highest since the introduction of Gender Budgeting Scheme in Financial Year 2006,” the Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) said in the Economic Survey, which was tabled in Parliament.

Economic Survey 2023-24 highlights

This shows that India is shifting from women’s development to women-led development. He also underscored the government’s commitment towards ensuring employment opportunities for women in various fields.

The survey said that skilling schemes have put a dedicated emphasis on covering women, and the number of women trained under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) has increased from 42.7% in financial year 2016 to 52.3% in financial year 2024. Under the Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) scheme, women constitute about 82% of the total beneficiaries and in institutes like ITIs and National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs), the participation of women has gone up from 9.8% in FY16 to 13.3% in FY24.

With rural India propelling the trend, the survey observed that the female Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) rose to 37% in 2022-2023 from 23.3% in 2017-2018. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has facilitated the opening of 52.3 crore bank accounts, of which 55.6% account holders are women, as of May 2024.

Read the full document of Economic Survey 2023-24

Delving on the crucial aspect of care economy, the survey estimated that direct public investment equivalent to 2% of the GDP has the potential to generate 11 million jobs in the sector, nearly 70% of which will go to women.

It flagged international models of Australia, Argentina, Brazil, and the U.S. in this sector to get insights for India.

“The economic value of developing a care sector is two-fold — increasing female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) and promoting a promising sector for output and job creation. According to International Labour Organisation (2018), the care sector is one of the fastest-growing sectors globally, and investments in the care services sector are estimated to generate 475 million jobs globally by 2030,” it said.

India saw 92 lakh foreign tourist arrivals in 2023, signifying a positive post-pandemic revival, the Economic Survey said.
| Photo Credit: M.A. SRIRAM

India saw 92 lakh foreign tourist arrivals in 2023, signifying a positive post-pandemic revival, the Chief Economic Advisor has said in the Economic Survey released on July 22.

The survey, which was tabled in Parliament, said India’s tourism industry showed positive signs of revival post-pandemic with an year-on-year increase of 43.5%. The hospitality industry has also met the needs of the increasing numbers of tourists successfully. “In 2023, the highest amount of new supply was created with the addition of 14,000 rooms, bringing the total inventory of chain-affiliated rooms to 183,000 in India,” the survey said.

The survey observed that the tourism sector represents relatively low hanging fruit for job creation amid a challenging environment in services and manufacturing industries due to the rise of Artificial Intelligence, protectionism, and supply concerns. “India needs to seize the opportunity,” the survey said.

The Union Tourism Ministry has initiated the Incredible India Tourism Facilitator Certificate Programme to formalise employment within the sector and aims to create a skilled cadre of tourist facilitators nationwide through a digital platform that offers online learning opportunities and certification courses, the survey said.

The Economic Survey further said that India has significantly earned foreign exchange receipts amounting to over ₹2.3 lakh crore through tourism. The country’s share of foreign exchange earnings in world tourism receipts increased from 1.38% in 2021 to 1.58% in 2022.

Hotels are also adopting innovative operational strategies, including leasing or managing external restaurant, spa, and lounge brands, to capitalise on established concepts that attract hotel residents, thereby boosting revenue, the survey said.

In the financial year 2023-24, the average daily rate increased from ₹6,704 to ₹7,616, marking year-on-year growth of 13.6%, the survey said.

V. Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor. File.
| Photo Credit: Bijoy Ghosh

Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran on March 14 said he is “worried” over retail investors’ play in risky Futures and Options (F&O) segment in search of instant profits.

Speaking at a conference organised by capital markets regulator Sebi and NISM, Nageswaran said the biggest threat to sustainable capital formation and also sustainable economic growth is the “short-termism” in attitudes that the country is afflicted with.

Bemoaning the “furore” caused every time, there is a discussion on allowing corporate groups to promote banks despite the need for capital in a growing economy, Mr. Nageswaran said India Inc needs to reflect on the state of corporate governance practices and analyse its own conduct.

“The biggest risk for sustained capital formation and sustained economic growth is… in our short-termism,” he said.

He added that it is “puzzling” to see that a country otherwise blessed with a “deep spiritual heritage and wisdom” is actually interpreting mindfulness and living in the present in the wrong ways.

Mr. Nageswaran rued that even now, people are mentioning handsome growth in F&O volumes, despite SEBI’s own studies suggesting that 90% of trades in the riskier segment leading to losses for investors.

“Our actions make me worry that we may be interpreting mindfulness and living in the present as being myopic,” he said, making it clear that those two concepts stress on performing one’s duty and obligations without thinking about the fruits of the actions.

He said there is a need to change the outlook from a behaviourial perspective to achieve goals like long-term capital formation and growth.

Mr. Nageswaran rued that there is an “adversarial” attitude among many stakeholders when it comes to regulators, wherein people overlook the fact a regulator’s job is to have a long-term view of things and “providing counterbalance for instant gratification or myopia”.

“The underline focus that the regulators have is to ensure that we stay stronger for longer rather than get caught up in the immediate euphoria of our growth rates, market valuations,” he said.

Amid concerns that the activity in the F&O segment is fuelled by those seeking quick profits, he said the rising exposure of small investors in the segment “is a worry because we don’t want to go through boom and bust cycles again and again”.

Mr. Nageswaran said the economy is likely to grow 7% in FY25 as well, which will make it the third year in a row when the GDP has grown at over 7%.

Stating that capital formation and economic growth are interdependent, wherein one feeds into another, he said the only mantra for policymakers in such times is not to be conventional and described India’s prudent response to the Covid crisis as a case in point.

However, sustaining high growth performance has been “elusive” for India, which has had short periods of high growth that are typically followed by a long period of balancesheet repair, dud loan cleaning for lenders, etc, he said, reminding that “we need to keep in mind that China grew around double digits for three decades”.

“There is a need to ensure that we don’t indulge in excess lending or excess borrowing in the current cycle as well”, he said, adding that we need to make detailed plans with projections on growth, capital required, how it will come, how much as debt and how much as equity.

Banks also need to be adequately capitalised to fund the growth needs of the economy, and corporate ownership of banks will have to be allowed if the banks are to get the capital, he said.

“Why is it a taboo to even discuss corporate ownership of banks? The fact that a mere discussion of the idea of licensing of banks to corporate houses creates such a backlash or a furore is indeed a cause for reflection on the part of the corporates too,” he said.

“It is also unfortunately a reflection on the overall state of corporate governance in the country,” Mr. Nageswaran said.