Economic Survey 2022 The press conference on Economic Survey 2021-22 has been hosted by Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran. This year’s economic survey is already presented by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the parliament on 31.01.2022 after the President’s address to both the houses of Parliament. The Chief Economic Advisor Nageswaran took the charge recently and this was his economic survey representation. Principal Economic Advisor Sanjeev Sanyal said that the Economic Survey 2022 was centred on the theme of four pillars. The government has focused this time on short-term support to the economy, especially targeting the vulnerable sections, while maintaining fiscal or economic stability in the medium term. As per the PEA Sanyal, the agriculture sector GVA now stands 7.7% higher than the pre-covid levels. Sanyal further added that the Government consumption has reasonably been strong but the private consumption still needs to recover it. “Exports have been a major growth driver, and imports too strong. GDP is 1.3% above pre-pandemic level” PEA further added.

The two years of COVID-19 pandemic accompanied by mutant variants uncertainties have hit the global economy very differently. The COVID-19 is the reason why many advanced and emerging economies are facing the return of inflation. These times have been very much difficult for the global economy. It is not about the disruptions and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 with different waves in the short term, but it is related to longer-term uncertainty about the post-covid period. Therefore the theme of this Economic Survey relates to the art and science of policymaking under such disturbing conditions of extreme uncertainty. India’s GDP is expected to grow at the rate of 8.0-8.5 per cent in 2022-23. In the current fiscal, the economy is expected to grow by 9.2 per cent. Since the second half of 2020-21, the Indian Economy is recovering sustainably. The second wave in the month of April-June 2021 was more severe than the first wave, but it had a more negative impact on the national economy. As per the reports of the survey, the growth in 2022-23 will be accompanied by wide vaccination drives, gains from the supply-side, and easing of regulations will add on to the recovery of the economy and capital spending will be increased.

The agriculture sector was the least affected sector of the economy. This sector is estimated to grow at the rate of 3.9 per cent in 2021-22. In the previous two years, the growth rate was 3.6 per cent and 4.3 per cent respectively. The industrial sector has witnessed a major swing in the last two years. As per the figures, this sector contracted by 7 per cent in 2020-21 and then expanded by 11.8 per cent in this fiscal year. This sector is estimated to grow by 8.2 per cent in 2022-21. The most important factor which was discussed in the survey was the growth of start-ups in India. This subsequent growth in the number of start-ups will create many job opportunities and will benefit the economy significantly. This remarkable growth in start-ups has helped India to become the world’s third-largest start-up ecosystem after US and China. The fast recovery of the economy is expected in the fiscal year 2022-23 with the relaxation of government regulations and various relaxations.