By: ICN Bureau
Last updated : January 31, 2022 5:10 pm
Agriculture and allied sectors are expected to grow by 3.9 percent and industry by 11.8 percent and services sector by 8.2 percent in 2021-22
The Indian economy is estimated to grow by 9.2 percent in real terms in 2021-22 (as per first advance estimates) subsequent to a contraction of 7.3 percent in 2020-21 and GDP projected to grow by 8-8.5 percent in real terms in 2022-23 according to the Economic Survey 2021-22 tabled by the Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament today.
Agriculture and allied sectors are expected to grow by 3.9 percent and industry by 11.8 percent and services sector by 8.2 percent in 2021-22. India’s external debt rose to US $593.1 billion at end-September 2021, from US $556.8 billion a year earlier, reflecting additional SDR allocation by the IMF, coupled with higher commercial borrowings. Foreign Exchange Reserves crossed US $600 billion in the first half of 2021-22 and touched US 633.6 billion as of December 31, 2021.
Capital expenditure for the Indian railways has increased to Rs. 155,181 crore 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 crore in 2021-22, a five times increase in comparison to the 2014 level. 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 percent.
Economic Survey 2021-22
Fiscal Deficit: The data on Government accounts for April to November 2021, released by the Controller General of Accounts, show that the fiscal deficit of the Central Government at end November 2021 stood at 46.2 per cent of the Budget Estimate compared to 135.1 per cent during the same period in 2020-21 and 114.8 per cent during the same period in 2019-20.
Revenue collection: Revenue receipts have grown at a much higher pace during the current financial year (April to November 2021) compared to the corresponding periods during the last two years. This performance is attributable to considerable growth in both tax and non-tax revenue. Net tax revenue to the Centre, which was envisaged to grow at 8.5 per cent in 2021-22 BE relative to 2020-21 PA, grew at 64.9 per cent during April to November 2021 over April to November 2020 and at 51.2 per cent over April to November 2019.
Direct Taxes: Within direct taxes, personal income tax has grown at 47.2 per cent over April-November 2020 and at 29.2 per cent over the April-November 2019. The corporate income tax registered a growth of 90.4 per cent over April-November 2020 and 22.5 per cent over April-November 2019.
Indirect Taxes: The indirect tax receipts have registered a YoY growth of 38.6 per cent in the first eight months of this fiscal year. The revenue collection from customs during April to November 2021 has registered a growth of almost 100 per cent over April to November 2020 and over 65 per cent compared to April to November 2019. The revenue from excise duties has registered a YoY growth of 23.2 per cent during April to November 2021. The GST collections for the Centre were 61.4 per cent of BE during April to November 2021. Gross GST collections, Centre and States taken together, were Rs. 10.74 lakh crore during April to December 2021, which is an increase of 61.5 per cent over April to December 2020 and 33.7 per cent over April to December 2019.
Non-tax revenue: The non-tax revenue collections up to November 2021 registered an YoY increase of 79.5 per cent. This increase was driven by dividends and profits, which stood at Rs. 1.28 lakh crore against BE of Rs. 1.04 lakh crore. The key component of dividends and profits during this period was Rs. 0.99 lakh crore surplus transfer from RBI to the Central Government.
Expenditure: The total expenditure of the Government increased by 8.8 per cent during April to November 2021 and stood at 59.6 per cent of Budget Estimate. While the revenue expenditure has grown by 8.2 per cent during the first eight months of 2021-22 over the same period in 2020-21, the non- interest revenue expenditure grew by 4.6 per cent over April to November 2020.
Capital expenditure: During April to November 2021, capital expenditure registered a growth of 13.5 per cent with focus in infrastructure-intensive sectors like roads and highways, railways, and housing and urban affairs. This increase is particularly substantial given the high YoY growth in capital expenditure registered during the corresponding period of the previous year as well. In addition, the Centre has also put in place several incentives to boost the capital expenditure by the states.
New Public Sector Enterprise Policy and Asset Monetisation Strategy: The New Public Sector Enterprise Policy and Asset Monetisation Strategy introduced by the government reaffirm its commitment towards privatization and strategic disinvestment of Public Sector Enterprises. The privatization of Air India has been particularly important, not only in terms of garnering disinvestment proceeds but also for boosting the privatization drive.