Highlights of Economic Survey 2024-25

Following are the highlights of the Economic Survey 2024-25 presented by minister of finance and corporate affairs Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament today:

India’s real GDP and GVA grew at an estimated 6.4 per cent in FY25 (First Advance Estimate);

Real GDP to grow at 6.3-6.8 per cent in FY26;

Grassroots-level structural reforms and deregulation to boost medium-term growth potential and global competitiveness;

Geo-economic fragmentation (GEF) replacing globalisation, leading to economic realignments and readjustments;

Focus on reforms and Ease of Doing Business 2.0 to create India’s Mittelstand, ie, the SME sector;

Private sector participation seen crucial in infrastructure development;

Capex saw continued improvement from FY21 to FY24 and after the general elections, it grew 8.2 per cent year-on-year;

Capital expenditure on key infrastructure sectors grew 38.8 per cent between FY20 and FY24;

Consumer price inflation eased from 5.4 per cent in FY24 to 4.9 per cent in April-December FY25 and RBI and IMF project it to be aligning with the 4 per cent target range in FY26;

Bank credit grew at a steady pace and is seen converging with deposit growth; 

Gross NPAs of scheduled commercial banks declined to a 12-year low of 2.6 per cent;

Debt resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code reached Rs3.6 lakh crore from 1,068 plans till September 2024;

Equity and debt issues managed to mop up Rs11.1 lakh crore till December 2024, which is a 5 per cent increase year-on-year;

BSE market capitalisation to GDP ratio stood at 136 per cent compared to China’s 65 per cent and Brazil’s 37 per cent;

Overall exports grew 6 per cent in the first nine months of FY25;

Unctad has ranked India as the world’s second-largest exporter of ‘Telecommunication equipment, Computer and Information services;

Forex reserves at $640.3 billion to cover 10.9 months of imports and 90 per cent of external debt;

Drastic reduction in smartphone imports, with 99 per cent manufactured domestically;

India ranks sixth in patent filings globally;

Self-reliant India Fund of Rs50,000 crore launched to provide equity funding to MSMEs;

India’s services exports grew 12.8 per cent in April–November FY25, up from 5.7 per cent in FY24;

Tourism sector’s contribution to GDP reached its pre-pandemic level of 5 per cent in FY23;

Agriculture and allied activities contributed nearly 16 per cent of India’s GDP for FY24 (PE) at current prices;

Kharif foodgrain production is expected to reach 164.71 million tonnes, up 8.94 million tonnes from the previous year;

Fisheries sector saw the highest CAGR of 8.7 per cent. Followed by livestock with a CAGR of 5.8 per cent;

Installed electricity generation capacity from non-fossil fuels now account for 46.8 per cent of total power capacity;

Additional carbon sink of 2.29 billion tonnes CO2 equivalent has been created between 2005 and 2023;

Social services expenditure grows 15 per cent between FY21 and FY 25;

Government health spending increases from 29 per cent to 48 per cent, while expenditure by people on health declines from 62.6 per cent to 39.4 per cent;

Unemployment rate declines to 3.2 per cent in 2023-24 from 6.0 per cent in 2017-18;

Growth of digital economy and renewable energy to create new opportunities while helping to achieve Viksit Bharat Vision;

PM-Internship emerges as catalyst for employment generation;

Need to lift barriers to large-scale adoption of AI, which calls for policy change;

Collaboration among government, industry and academia essential t minimise societal impact of AI-driven transformation.