Economic Survey 2017-18

KEY FOCUS AREAS : EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION & AGRICULTURE

• Employment : finding good jobs for the young and burgeoning workforce, especially for women.

• Education: creating an educated and healthy labor force. 

• Agriculture: raising farm productivity while strengthening agricultural resilience.

Above all, India must continue improving the climate for rapid economic growth on the strength of the only two truly sustainable engines—private investment and exports.

Chief Economic Adviser : Arvind Subramanian
Union Minister of Finance : Arun Jaitley(Gujarat Rajya Sabha)

Economic Survey presented by Finance Minister before Budget.


• For the fiscal year 2016-17, the real GDP growth was 6.75% and the Economic Survey predicts 7-7.5% growth in 2017-18.

• In 2017-18, the Gross Value Added (GVA) at constant basic prices is expected to grow at the rate of 6.1% as compared to 6.6% in 2016-17.
• Agriculture, industry and services sectors are expected to grow at the rate of 2.1%, 4.4%, and 8.3% respectively in 2017-18.
• India’s GDP growth is the highest among the major economies of the world having an average of 7.3% for the period from 2014-15 to 2017-18.
• India’s average growth during last three years is around 4% higher than global growth and nearly 3% higher than that of Emerging Market and Developing Economies.
• The next year’s agenda include stabilizing the GST, solving TBS problem and implementing necessary actions, privatizing Air India, and ensuring macroeconomic stability.

The survey underlines that due to the launch of transformational Goods and Services Tax (GST) reform on July 1, 2017, resolution of the long-festering Twin Balance Sheet (TBS) problem by sending the major stressed companies for resolution under the new Indian Bankruptcy Code, implementing a major recapitalization package to strengthen the public sector banks, further liberalization of FDI and the export uplift from the global recovery, the economy began to accelerate in the second half of the year and can clock 6.75 percent growth this year. 

• 50% increase in the number of indirect taxpayers has been recorded. Moreover, 18 lakh new individual income tax filers have been recorded since November 2016.
• India’s top 1% firms account only for 38% of exports, which is much lower compared to global standards.
• Exports of readymade garments (man-made fibers) have increased by about 16% due to Rebate of State Levies (ROSL).
• 5 states namely Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana account for 70% of India’s exports.
• India’s internal trade in goods and services is 60%of GDP.
• IBC mechanism is being used actively to resolve NPA problem.
• 2017-18 averaged the lowest inflation in the last six years.
• Rs20,339cr approved for interest subvention in 2017-18.
• The ratio of domestic saving to GDP reached 29.2% in 2013 to a peak of 38.3% in 2007, before falling back to 29% in 2016.

Some of the factors could have dampening effect on GDP growth in the coming year viz. the possibility of an increase in crude oil prices in the international market. However, with world growth likely to witness moderate improvement in 2018, expectation of greater stability in GST, likely recovery in investment levels, and ongoing structural reforms, among others, should be supporting higher growth. Country’s economic performance should witness an improvement in 2018-19.