Economic Survey 2022 – Summary, Theme, Economic Survey 2022 UPSC

What is the Economic Survey 2022?

The Economic Survey discusses all the major government initiatives and analyses and gives reasons for many issues happening around. The issues highlighted in the Economic Survey 2022 and with the reforms suggested are often implemented by the government in future initiatives. Volume 1 of the Economic Survey deals with conceptual and analytical issues, whereas Volume 2 highlights the state of the economy and sectors of the economy in detail with a focus on immediate issues and statistics.

Economic Survey 2022 UPSC Notes

The Economic Survey 2021-22 has shifted from the two-volume format of recent years to a single volume plus a separate volume for statistical tables. Along with the traditionally covered sectoral chapters, this year’s survey introduces a new chapter that demonstrates the use of satellite and geospatial images to gouge various economic phenomena such as urbanization, infrastructure, environmental pollution, farming practices, and so on.

Read: Economic Survey 2023

Economic Survey 2022 Summary

The theme of Economic Survey 2022 relates to the art and science of policy-making under conditions of extreme uncertainty. It seeks to provide an alternative model to policy making. From the traditional Waterfall Approach, upfront analysis of the issue, detailed planning, and finally meticulous implementation, to the Agile Approach based on feedback loops, real-time monitoring of actual outcomes, flexible responses, and safety-net buffers.

Sectors	Analysis
Global liquidity tapering	A combination of high foreign exchange reserves, sustained foreign direct investment, and rising export earnings will provide an adequate buffer against possible global liquidity tapering in 2022-23.
Industrial Sector	The growth of the industrial sector has been estimated at 11.2 percent in FY22.
Capital Spending	According to the Economic Survey, there can be a sharp increase in capital spending by the government as a demand and supply-enhancing measure.
Monetary Management	The repo rate was maintained at 4 percent in 2021-22, The Gross Non-Performing Advances ratio of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) declined from 11.2 percent at the end of 2017-18 to 6.9 percent at the end of September 2021, Capital to risk-weighted asset ratio of SCBs continued to increase from 13 percent in 2013-14 to 16.54 percent at the end of September 2021.
Startups	Startups in India have grown remarkably over the last six years. India has now become the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world after the US and China.
Growth Estimates	The Indian economy is estimated to grow by 9.2 percent in real terms in 2021-22.
Agriculture	Agriculture in India and allied sectors remained the silver lining during the Covid-19 pandemic and are expected to grow by 3.9 percent in 2021-22 after growing 3.6 percent in the previous year.
Imports-Exports	Exports are estimated to grow by 16.5 percent in 2021-22,  Imports are expected to grow by 29.4 percent in 2021-22.
Consumption	Total consumption is estimated to have grown by 7.0 percent in 2021-22, with significant contributions in the form of government spending.
Agile Policy Framework	The government’s flexible and multi-layered response is partly based on an “Agile” framework that uses feedback loops and the use of eighty High-Frequency Indicators (HFIs) in an environment of extreme uncertainty.
Economic Survey 2022- Sustainable Development	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.
Infrastructure	The top five sectors of the Indian economy which capture around 83 percent of the aggregate pipeline value include Roads (27 percent) followed by Railways (25 percent), Power (15 percent), oil & gas pipelines (8 percent), and Telecom (6 percent).
Climate Finance	As per the Economic Survey 2022, climate finance will remain critical to successful climate action for India to achieve its Net Zero Carbon Emission target by 2070.
Strong revenue	The Economic Survey 2022 pointed out that revenues have witnessed a strong revival in FY22, This means that the government has fiscal room to provide support if necessary.
Prices and Inflation	The average headline CPI-Combined inflation moderated to 5.2 percent in 2021-22 (April-December) from 6.6 percent in the corresponding period of 2020-21,  The decline in retail inflation was led by the easing of food inflation, Food inflation averaged at a low of 2.9 percent in 2021-22 (April to December) as against 9.1 percent in the corresponding period last year.
GDP Estimates	GDP is projected to grow by 8-8.5 percent in real terms in 2022-23, It also noted that the GDP growth rate contracted by 7.3 percent in 2020-21.
Forest Area	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 2020, the forests covered 24% of India’s total geographical area, accounting for 2% of the world’s total forest area.
Service Sector	The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the services sector the hardest. This sector is projected to grow by 8.2 percent this financial year, following the previous fiscal’s 8.4 percent contraction.
Air India Privatization	The Economic Survey has highlighted that the privatization of Air India was a significant step in terms of boosting the privatization drive and gathering disinvestment proceeds.

Economic Survey 2022: Major Highlights

The Economic Survey 2021-22 was tabled by the Finance Minister after the President of India addressed both Houses of Parliament. The key highlights of the Economic Survey are discussed below in a chapter-wise format.

Chapter 1 Economic Survey 2022: State of the Economy

• The Indian economy is estimated to grow by 9.2% in real terms in 2021-22 (as per first advance estimates), subsequent to a contraction of 7.3% in 2020-21.
• The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is projected to grow by 8-8.5% in real terms in 2022-23.
• Repeated waves of infection, supply chain disruptions, and, inflation have created particularly challenging times for policy-making.
• There was a significant increase in capital expenditures on infrastructure.

Chapter 2 Economic Survey 2022: Fiscal Developments

• The revenue receipts of the central government from April to November 2021 have gone up by 67.2% (YoY), as against the expected growth of 9.6% in the 2021-22 Budget Estimates.
• The gross tax revenue during this period has registered a growth of over 50% in YoY terms.
• From April -November 2021, Capex has grown by 13.5% (YoY) with a focus on infrastructure-intensive sectors.
• The expenditure policy of the central government during 2O21-22 has a strong emphasis on capital expenditure.

Chapter 3 Economic Survey 2022: External Sector

• External trade recovered strongly in 2021-11 after the pandemic; however, the downside risks of global liquidity tightening and continued volatility of global commodity prices, high freight costs, coupled with the fresh resurgence of COVID-19 with new variants may pose a challenge for India during 2022-25.
• Despite weak tourism revenues, there was a significant pickup in net services receipts during April-December, 2021 on account of robust software and business earnings, with both receipts and payments crossing the pre-pandemic levels.
• Balance of Payments- India’s current account balance turned into a deficit of 0.2% of GDP in the first half (H1) of 2021-22, largely led by a deficit in the trading account.

Chapter 4 Economic Survey 2022: Monetary Management and Financial Intermediation

• RBI engaged in rebalancing liquidity from passive absorption under fixed-rate reverse repo under its Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) to market-based reverse repo auctions (like Variable Rate Reverse Repo (VRRR)).
• RBI undertook various measures such as G-Sec Acquisition Programme (GSAP) and Special Long-Term Repo Operations (LTRO) to provide further liquidity.
• The Repo rate was maintained at 4% in 2021-22.
• The economic shock of the pandemic has been weathered well by the commercial banking system. The Gross Non-Performing Advances ratio of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) declined from 11.2% at the end of 2017-18 to 6.9% at the end of September 2021.

Chapter 5 Economic Survey 2022: Prices and Inflation

• In 2021, inflation picked up globally as economic activity revived with the opening-up of economies.
• The average headline CPI-Combined inflation moderated to 5.2% in 2021-21 (April-December) from 6.6% in the corresponding period of 2020-21.
• The decline in retail inflation was led by the easing of food inflation. Effective supply-side management kept prices of most essential commodities under control during the year.
• Reduction in central excise and subsequent cuts in Value Added Tax by most States helped ease petrol and diesel prices.
• Wholesale inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) rose to 12.5% during 2020-21 (April to December).

Chapter 6 Economic Survey 2022: Sustainable Development and Climate Change

• India’s overall score on the NITI Aoyog SDG India Index and Dashboard improved to 66 in 2020-21 from 60 in 2019-20.
• 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 to fight climate change.
• In 2020, the forests covered 24% of India’s total geographical, accounting for 2% of the world’s total forest area.
• India has leap-frogged from BS-IV to BS-VI norms for fuel and vehicles since April 2020.
• Stringent emission norms for coal-based thermal power plants have been introduced. Six waste management rules have also been notified.

Chapter 7 Economic Survey 2022: Agriculture and Food Management

• The Agriculture sector experienced buoyant growth in the past two years, accounting for a sizeable 18.8% (2021 22) in Gross Value Added (GVA) of the country, registering a growth of 5.6% in 2020-21 and 5.9% in 2021-22.
• The Minimum Support Price (MSP) policy is being used to promote crop diversification through price signaling in crops. The share of the net irrigated area accounts for about 49% of the total net sown area in the country, and out of the net irrigated area, about 40% is irrigated through canal systems and 60% through groundwater.

Chapter 8 Economic Survey 2022 : Industry and Infrastructure

• Industrial sector growth improved in 2021-22, with 22.9% growth in the first half of 2021-22 ageospatial to grow by 11.8% for this FY.
• The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew by 17.4% (YoY) during April-November 2021 as compared to (-) 15.3% in April-November 2020.
• The monthly Index of Eight Core Industries grew by 13.7% in April-November 2021-22 as compared to (-)11.1% in April-November 2020-21.
• Indian Railways Capital Expenditure has increased during 2009-14.

Chapter 9 Economic Survey 2022: Services

• The Services sector was worst affected by the pandemic and its share in India’s Gross Value Added (GVA) declined from 55% in 2019-20 to 53% in 2021-22. The services sector as a whole mostly recovered from nationalized lockdowns and grew by 10.8% in the first half of 2021-22.
• GVA of services crossed the pre-pandemic level in Q2 of 2021-22, and overall Services sector GVA is expected to grow by 8.2% in 2021-22. The GVA of contact-intensive sectors like trade, transport, etc., still remains below the pre-pandemic level.
• Corporates raised more money from capital markets rather than banking capital, with bank credit growth to the services sector decelerating to 3.6% YoY at the end of November 2021.
• During the first half of 2021-22, the service sector received over US$ 16.7 billion in FDI- accounting for almost 54% of total FDI inflows into India.

Chapter 10 Economic Survey 2022: Social Infrastructure and Employment

• India launched Indian National COVID Vaccination Program. There was a Budgetary allocation of ₹35,000 crores for the procurement of vaccines under the COVID-19 Vaccination Program to ensure free vaccination.
• Expenditure on social services (health, education, and others) increased from 6.2% in 2014-15 to 8.6% in 2021-22 (BE) by the Centre and States as a proportion of GDP.
• As per National Family Health Survey-5, the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) came down to 2 in 2019-21 from 2.2 in 2015-16; Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), under-five mortality rate, and institutions births have improved in 2019-21 over 2015-16.

Chapter 11 Economic Survey 2022: Tracking Development Through Satellite Images and Cartography

Introduced as part of the use of new forms of data and information for tracking economic activity and development. It uses geospatial data and cartographic techniques- to track, compare and represent longer-term developments.

Indicator	Now	Trend
National Highway Network Length	1,40,152 km (August 2021)	Almost doubled from 2011 to 2021.
Number of Operotianolised Airports in India	130 (December 2021)	More than doubled from 2016 to 2021.
Commercial Bank Branches	1,22,976 (//arch, 2021)	Grew 1.65 times from 2011 to 2021.
Net Sown Area in India	156.8 million ha (2020-21))	Grew 1.25 times from 2006 to 2021.

Economic Survey 2022 UPSC

The Economic Survey is an annual document that provides an overview of the performance of the Indian economy in the previous financial year. In the context of the Civil Services Exam, the Economic Survey is an important document that candidates must study in order to have a thorough understanding of the Indian economy. Economic Surver 2022 is a crucial part of Economics for UPSC. Questions related to the economy and economic policies are a regular feature of the UPSC exam, and candidates who are well-versed in the contents of the Economic Survey 2022 are better equipped to answer these questions. To prepare for this topic comprehensively, candidates must cover the notes, along with the best UPSC economics books.

Economic Survey 2022 UPSC Questions

Question: Which sector is expected to drive India’s economic growth in the coming years, according to the Economic Survey 2022? a) Agriculture b) Manufacturing c) Services d) Mining and Quarrying

Answer: c) Services

Question: What is the main focus of the Economic Survey 2022 in terms of policy recommendations? a) Fiscal consolidation b) Infrastructure development c) Employment generation d) Agricultural reforms

Answer: c) Employment generation

Question: Which of the following is a key highlight of the Economic Survey 2022? a) Increase in the number of taxpayers b) Decline in the poverty rate c) Improvement in the gender gap index d) All of the above

Answer: d) All of the above.

UPSC Notes
Electrol Bond	Sarkaria Commission
SEBI	Paris Agreement
Gaganyaan Mission	Mission Karmayogi
World Bank	Uniform Civil Code
Sagarmala Project	Tiger Reserves in India
International Solar Alliance	Biotechnology