KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF THE ECONOMIC SURVEY 2021-22 // 2022 Current Affairs //

KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF THE ECONOMIC SURVEY 2021-22:

The Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the Economic Survey 2021-22 in Parliament today. The Central Theme of this year's Economic Survey is the "Agile Approach".The key highlights of the Economic Survey are as follows:

• GDP IS ESTIMATED TO GROW 8.0-8.5 PERCENT FROM 2022-23

• Agriculture and allied sectors are expected to grow by 3.9 per cent; industry by 11.8 per cent and the services sector by 8.2 per cent in 2021-22.

• The economic impact of the “second wave” was much smaller than that during the full lockdown phase in 2020-21, though the health impact was more severe.

• Foreign Exchange Reserves crossed US$ 600 billion in the first half of 2021-22 and touched the US $ 633.6 billion as of December 31, 2021.

• Rs. 89,066 crores were raised via 75 Initial Public Offering (IPO) issues in April-November 2021, which is much higher than in any year in the last decade.

• CPI-C INFLATION MODERATES TO 5.2 PERCENT IN 2021-22 (APRIL-DECEMBER)

• • India’s overall score on the NITI Aayog SDG India Index and Dashboard improved to 66 in 2020-21 from 60 in 2019-20 and 57 in 2018-19.
• India has the tenth largest forest area in the world.

• In 2020, India ranked third globally in increasing its forest area from 2010 to 2020.

• In August 2021, the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, was notified which is aimed at phasing out single-use plastic by 2022.
• Movement ‘LIFE’ (Lifestyle for Environment) urging mindful and deliberate utilization instead of mindless and destructive consumption was underlined.

• Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew at 17.4 per cent (YoY) during April-November 2021 as compared to (-)15.3 per cent in April-November 2020.

• Capital expenditure for the Indian railways has increased to Rs. 155,181 crores in 2020-21 from an average annual of Rs. 45,980 crores during 2009-14 and it has been budgeted to further increase to Rs. 215,058 crores in 2021-22 – a five times increase in comparison to the 2014 level.

• The extent of road construction per day increased substantially in 2020-21 to 36.5 Kms per day from 28 Kms per day in 2019-20 – a rise of 30.4 per cent.

• India has become 3rd largest start-up ecosystem in the world after US and China. The number of new recognized start-ups increased to over 14000 in 2021-22 from 733 in 2016-17.

• 44 Indian start-ups have achieved unicorn status in 2021 taking the overall tally of unicorns to 83, most of which are in the services sector.

SPECIAL NOTES FOR ASPIRANTS:

• The first Economic Survey was presented in the year 1950-51

• No mention of Economic Survey on Constitution.

• The Economic Survey document is prepared by the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) under the guidance of the Chief Economic Advisor.

• Venkatraman Anantha Nageswaran is the current Chief Economic Advisor.

• Finance Secretary of India- T. V. Somanathan