Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey based on the past financial year in Parliament on Monday. It summarises the government’s economic performance and development programmes, as well as policies. The tone of the survey is, at first glance, upbeat and positions India as having achieved much of what it has targeted to do.
The Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran, later, elaborated on the nitty-gritty of the Survey – its policy imperatives as well as specific achievements as against declared objectives. It will be for domain experts to comment on the claims and statistics, even as people look forward to how this will go on to shape the coming budget on Tuesday. It can be expected that much of the Survey and the Budget will be open to interpretation based on the political inclination of Members of Parliament. It will be more important how business and industry look at the economic situation and respond to the opportunities and challenges. This is not just in India but also across the world, as the intention is to invite large scale investment in crucial sectors so that some of the long-standing shortcomings may be overcome. These include the causes for the deficit in trade with China, a major subject in itself.
Of increasing importance in the context of economic policy also is the adherence to international norms regarding conservation of the environment. Considering the stage it is at vis-à-vis the developed countries, India has done quite well in this regard, while also adopting a pragmatic approach that prevents having policies foisted on it. The gains made in this sector have been reported in the Survey, as also the road ahead.
There is also the nitty gritty of sectors like Agriculture, MSME, Services, Education, Health, etc., whose policy and financial requirements must be met in accordance with existing situations, the obstacles faced, the potential for growth and restructuring. Although India is relatively in a healthier financial situation compared to the past and despite serious challenges like the Covid period, it still requires savvy financial management to ensure continuing growth.
Also crucially important is further improvement in the Government’s delivery mechanism in a system where the states too need to perform in sync with the Centre. The confrontationist approach that is being adopted in the present political scenario does not augur well for effective implementation. The Survey and Budget will need to be objectively understood if any good is to come from the exercise.
