Tag: Economic survey

Delhi’s per capita income up 22% in 2 years, shows its Economic Survey

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Delhi’s per capita income increased 22% in two years to ₹4.61 lakh in 2023-24, according to the latest Economic Survey presented by the state’s finance minister Atishi on Friday. While presenting the survey in the state assembly, she said despite obstructions created in the functioning of the city government, Delhi witnessed a rise in per capita income.

She said the state budget for the financial year 2024-25 will be presented before the Assembly on March 4. Reading out details, she said the GSDP (gross state domestic product) of Delhi at current prices during 2023-24 is likely to reach ₹11,07,746 crore, registering a growth of 9.17% from 2022-23.

The GSDP of Delhi in 2022-23 was ₹10.14 crore. In post-Covid times, our real GSDP grew at 8.76% in 2021-22 and 7.85% in 2022-23, faster than the rest of the country.

“Delhi’s population constitutes 1.5% of India’s population, while GSDP contributes nearly 3.9% to India’s GDP,” she noted. The per capita income of Delhi was ₹3,76,217 in 2021-22, which increased to ₹4,61,910 in 2023-24. This is an increase of 22% in two years, she said. Delhi’s inflation rate was at 2.81% in Jan-Dec 2023, national inflation rate was 5.65% in the same period, she said.

Delhi gives free electricity, water, health, education, bus rides for women, teerth yatras for elderly, and still has a growing economy with a revenue surplus, the minister said.

Also Read: India’s GDP growth surprises again

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Explained: Here’s why there won’t be an Economic Survey this year ahead of the interim budget

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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This year, the Centre is not going to present the Economic Survey—a document prepared by the Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) and presented by the Finance Minister in Lok Sabha, typically a day ahead of the Union Budget on February 1 each year. This is because 2024 is an election year and the regular Budget process may be disrupted if there is a change in government.

Instead, the Centre has come out with a report on India’s journey from the past 10 years titled ‘Indian Economy–A Review’. The report, which also shares glimpses of the outlook for the economy in the coming years, has been prepared by the office of the CEA V Anantha Nageswaran.

The report clearly mentions that it is not an Economic Survey of India, which it says will be presented before the full Budget after the general elections.

The report ‘Indian Economy—A Review’ says the country will become a $5 trillion economy in the next three years and can aspire for $7 trillion by 2030.

Previous Economic Survey

The last Economic Survey pegged India’s GDP growth for fiscal 2023–24 in a broad range of 6-6.8%, depending on the trajectory of economic and political developments globally. The survey’s baseline forecast for real GDP growth is 6.5%. The Economic Survey 2021–22 projected India to grow by 8–8.5%.

The country’s first Economic Survey was presented in 1950–51. Until 1964, the Economic Survey and the Union Budget were presented together.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Delhi Economic Survey: AAP govt’s tax collection rises 36%, per capita income up 14.18%

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The per capita income of Delhi rose by 14.18 percent to Rs 4,44,768 in 2022-23 at current prices compared to Rs 3,89,529 in 2021-22, according to the Delhi’s Economic Survey tabled in the Assembly on Monday.

The per capita income of Delhi has been around 2.6 times higher as compared to the national average, both at current and constant prices. It was Rs 3,31,112 in 2020-21.

The tax collection of the Delhi government registered a “tremendous” growth rate of 36 percent during 2021-22 (provisional) as compared to the negative growth of 19.53 percent in 2020-21 due to COVID-19 pandemic, the survey tabled by state finance minister Kailash Gahlot said.

However, the AAP government’s outstanding debt rose to Rs 41,481.50 crore as of March 31, 2022, from Rs 29,608.27 crore in 2011-12, the survey stated.

Also Read: White collar hiring in Feb sees 5% jump, tech freshers are highest paid: Survey

“Overall economic activity in Delhi has recovered faster compared to the national level, past the pre-pandemic levels. In the years 2021-22 and 2022-23, a sharp recovery of real GSDP of Delhi with a growth of 9.14 percent and 9.18 percent, respectively is based on a low base effect and inherent strengths of the economy,” it said.

The advance estimate of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Delhi at current prices during 2022-23 is likely to attain a level of Rs 10,43,759 crore, showing a growth rate of 15.38 percent over 2021-22.

The Advance Estimate of GSDP of Delhi at constant prices during 2022-23 was recorded at Rs 6,52,649 crore, showing a growth rate of 9.18 percent over 2021-22, it said.

The city’s economy is predominantly service sector-oriented with its share of contribution to Gross State Value Added (at current prices) at 84.84 percent during 2022-23 followed by the contribution of the secondary sector at 12.53 percent and the primary sector at 2.63 percent.

Delhi has maintained its revenue surplus that increased to Rs 3,270 crore during 2021-22 (provisional) as compared to Rs 1,450 crore in 2020-21, stated the economic survey. Delhi’s revenue surplus was 0.36 per cent of GSDP during 2021-22 and 0.73 percent during 2022-23 (budgetary estimate), it said.

Delhi government has been working with an aim to transform Delhi to a world-class city and to fulfil the aspiration of its citizen by making it an inclusive, equitable and livable global city, said the report.

The transport sector has been allocated a major share of about 20 per cent of the total budget allocation of schemes, programmes and projects, followed by Education, 17 per cent on water supply and sanitation, 15 percent and medical and public health, 13 per cent, in 2022-23, it added.

Also Read: These are the cities where freshers have high scope in blue & grey collar jobs in India

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Eco Survey calls for continued fiscal stimulus through reforms and higher investment

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The 2023 Economic Survey has leaned in favour of the Centre sticking to the fiscal glide path set out so far. It says being fiscally prudent will “ensure more significant fiscal space for policy action in uncertain times .”

The Survey observes that sticking to fiscal glide path will bring interest rates down and ultimately will lower the cost of capital for sectors across the board and put more money in the hands of people.

The survey said that, “in reality, fiscal discipline translates into a fiscal stimulus for all sections of the economy through lower interest rates.”

According to the survey, “as governments make their fiscal situations sustainable and stick to that path, the risk premium embedded in their interest rates comes down, thus lowering the cost of capital for all sections of society – on their educational loans, housing loans, car loans and business loans – and putting more money in their hands.”

The Survey also makes a strong pitch for Centre to keep incentivising states on capex. It says , “The Centre should continue incentivising the States for reforms and higher capital spending to ensure a stronger General government.”

The capex-led growth strategy will ensure sustainable debt levels in the medium term, the Survey observes.

Also read: India is on the cusp of a growth boom last seen 20 years ago, says CEA | Economic Survey 2023

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Economic Survey optimistic, but need to raise private capex, says industry

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Economic Survey 2023 is quite optimistic despite the global challenges that persist for the economy, said experts after the financial document was presented a day before the Union Budget in a Special Show on Economic Survey 2023 on CNBC-TV18.

Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Group CEA, SBI, noted that the Survey is betting on the possibility of certain factors being favourable in the coming year as against last year.

“Yes, the survey is a little bit optimistic but my sense is that the survey is actually banging on the hope that next year the factors will be far more good active than what they have been last year. Inflation is likely to cool down significantly. Our exports and goods and services in April November has expanded by 16%. The external factors which are very unfavorable this year could turn more favorable,” he said.

Subhrakant Panda, President, FICCI, MD, IMFA, stressed on the need for private sector to increase capital expenditure in projects.

“The government has done a great job of providing both stimulus to the economy during the lean period of the pandemic as well as doing so by investing in infrastructure which has a significant impact going ahead on both the ease of doing business as well as the, as the cost of doing business,” he said.

“But clearly private sector does have to step in. There has been a steady increase quarter on quarter in terms of public, private sector announcements of new projects. Generally I think private sector capital private sector capital expenditure is showing signs of picking up. It’s more than a trickle. I believe it is gathering momentum and going ahead while this will be the year where there is a transition from substantially government led capex to private sector,” Panda said.

Dr Anish Shah, Vice President, FICCI & Managing Director & CEO, Mahindra & Mahindra, reiterated the fact that the survey was a very optimistic one.

“It (Survey) also gives certain very specific magnets growth and these are real because India is positioned very well in the world today. And if you look at a specific number on the survey, our core debt to GDP is down 9% since 2008. This compares to the global average which is up 38%,” he said.

He too stressed on the need for the private sector to step up capacity to create a position of strength not just for India but for the world.

Highlighting the optimism in the Survey, Sanjiv Puri, Vice President, CII Chairman & MD, ITC, said that the enablers have been articulated and the confidence of business leaders has jumped significantly.

He appreciated the government’s initiatives has helped strengthen the economy and that the agriculture sector has been resilient.

Appreciating the lower debt in the Survey, Janmejaya Sinha, CMD – BCG, India, Chairman – Financial Inclusion, CII, stressed on the need to use money judiciously.

“I feel that there is a lot of money that is available which this government can now actually cash in on.

And we have been doing that, you know, we’ve been building roads, we’ve been building on the lane, you know,

“When we build infrastructure, we improve long term productivity and for us to borrow. If we use the borrowing to improve our productivity, (that) is the only way we get out from being an emerging country to building it,” he said.

Also read: Economic Survey 2023: Education GER, infrastructure on a rise but data suggests scope for improvement

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

‘Not a survey but an economic story backed by evidence’: CEA

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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A few years of meaningful nominal growth will make a significant difference to fiscal consolidation, said Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran, adding that there was no reason to believe the government is deviating from the fiscal consolidation path.

Nageswaran was speaking to CNCB-TV18 in the backdrop of the Economic Survey 2023 being tabled in the Parliament earlier in the day on January 31. The survey document, which is prepared under the CEA’s administration, holds key highlights of India’s macroeconomic landscape and government policies as well as reforms that can be ushered in.

Talking about the survey, the CEA said, “I told my team we are not presenting a survey, but an economic story backed by evidence. Everything has to be backed by evidence.”

Nageswaran also spoke about how India needs to create more space for welfare and social  development.

According to the survey report, the CEA combined government initiatives such as health and education and other facilities and has started a conversation on the ‘quality of life’ — a first of its kind approach in India, which is still an emerging economy.

On economic growth

Nageswaran said if additional reforms are undertaken, it is possible for the country’s growth to go beyond 7 percent in the remaining decade.

The Economic Survey 2023 estimated the FY24 GDP growth to be at 6-6.8 percent. The survey’s baseline forecast for real GDP growth is 6.5 percent.

“Given the uncertainties we face, a difference of a few basis points on GDP estimates is not big,” the CEA said.

The RBI in its MPC meeting in December estimated the GDP to grow 6.8 percent, paring the projection for FY23 for the third time in the month.

Earlier this month, the National Statistical Office (NSO) estimated the Indian economy to grow at 7 percent in 2022-23, as against the expansion of 8.7 percent in the previous fiscal.

On growth risks and inflation

The CEA said the downside risk is higher compared to the growth estimates in the global context. He did not see any domestic risks to India’s growth estimates.

The COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, sanctions on Russia and China’s zero-COVID policy, caused a disruption in supply chains, causing prices of commodities to shoot up. To combat inflation, central banks across the world hiked interest rates, following the US Fed’s cue. Now, the world is staring at a possible global slowdown as well as possible recession.

Also Read: Economic Survey 2023: India to remain fastest growing major economy in the world — A look at key highlights

“We face political and economic uncertainty from the global situation and my best assessment is that risks are dominantly from global events,” he said.

Capital expenditure

Nageswaran felt that India has to continue with both government as well as private sector capex. “There is room for both to grow,” he said, adding that India needs to work on the quality of expenditure with higher capital expenditure.

“The quality of expenditure is more important than the headline deficit,” he said, adding that it has seen quite a lot of improvement as well. Talking about India’s debt sustainability, the CEA said it is not in serious doubt.

On nominal GDP & FDIs

The government expects the nominal GDP to continue to be ahead of cost of borrowing and the same would help achieve fiscal consolidation.

He said India also needs more investments on the automatic route.

Talking about foreign direct investments (FDIs), Nageswaran said they have shifted to a higher level. “We are on the right track to attract FDI,” he said, adding that it is a work in progress.

Also Read: Economic Survey 2023: India aims 45% reduction in emission intensity of its GDP by 2030 from 2005 levels

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Economic Survey 2023: Tourism rebound post Covid raised industry’s profitability

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Economic Survey 2023 has stated that India’s tourism sector is showing signs of revival following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions and the waning of the pandemic. It also noted foreign tourist arrivals in India in FY23 have been growing month-on-month with the resumption of scheduled international flights. However, the arrivals are still below the pre-pandemic level.

The survey also points out that the profitability ratios of tourism industry is heading towards a strong rebound in the June 2022 quarter. Travel returned to normal levels in March 2022 given the higher vaccination rate and overall effective management of the COVID-19 pandemic. The hotel occupancy rate in November 2022 was around 68% to 70%, reaching the average pre-pandemic level of 2019-20.

The survey further highlighted the fact that medical tourism is on the rise due to the government’s initiatives like Ayush visa for medical tourists, the launch of the National Strategy for Sustainable Tourism and Responsible Traveller Campaign, the introduction of the Swadeshi Darshan 2.0 scheme and Heal in India.

Also Read: Economic Survey 2023 | Government expects inflation to cool off but slowly

According to the Medical Tourism Index FY21, released by Medical Tourism Association, India stands in 10th  place out of the top 46 countries in the World.

Here’s the list of measures taken by the Ministry of Tourism to boost the Tourism in India:

NIDHI: The Ministry of Tourism is making efforts to register accommodation units in the country under its portal ‘National Integrated Database of Hospitality Industry’ (NIDHI). As per the survey, this database would also help in creating policies and strategies for the promotion and development of tourism.

SAATHI: System for Assessment, Awareness, and Training for Hospitality Industry (SAATHI) aims to restrict further transmission of the virus while providing accommodation and other services post-lockdown.

RCS UDAN3: The Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS- UDAN) aims to facilitate/stimulate regional air connectivity by making it affordable. In addition to this, around Rs 104.19 core has already been reimbursed to the Airport Authority of India in the form of Viability Gap Funding (VGF) during FY21 and FY22.

LGSCATSS: Under the Loan Guarantee Scheme for Covid Affected Tourism Service Sector (LGSCATSS), working capital/personal loans are provided to households that were impacted due to the Covid-19 pandemic to discharge liabilities and restart businesses.

In addition to these, the government also offered the first 5 lakh tourist visas for free for tourists of foreign nationals visiting India. The scheme was applicable until 31 March 2022 or until 5 lakh free visas were issued, whichever is earlier.

Also Read | Economic Survey 2022-2023 projects baseline real GDP growth of 6.5% in FY24

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Economic Survey says services export growth cushioning India’s trade balance

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Economic Survey 2022-23, highlighting India’s global position as the seventh largest service exporter occupying a pie of 4 percent in global exports, on Tuesday pointed to a 27.9 percent growth in year-on-year exports in the period of April-September in FY23 compared to FY22, implying robust services exports have cushioned the nation’s trade balance.

Contribution from non-software services’ categories to the net services exports has increased post-COVID, compared to the pre-COVID times when the maximum contribution was from software services.

Also Read: Economic Survey 2022-23 shows India has sufficient forex reserves to finance the CAD

In light of enforcement of 13 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and six Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs), the survey tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman cited an increase in market size across diversified markets like Brazil, South Africa and Saudi Arabia.

Merchandise exports have grown 9.11 percent year-on-year to $332.8 billion for April to December 2022 against $305 billion during the period April-December 2021. The survey further projects that fashion, grocery and general merchandise will capture nearly two-thirds of the Indian e-commerce market by 2027.

The Economic Survey said India in a better position in terms of a relatively low levels of total debt as a percentage of Gross National Income and short-term debt as a percentage of total debt, terming the current stock of external debt as “well shielded by the comfortable level of foreign exchange reserves.”

Also Read: Economic Survey makes a case for startups to shift domicile to India, calls it ‘reverse flipping’

As of December 2022, India’s forex reserves are $563 billion which have been termed as sufficient by the survey for 9.3 months of imports. Citing World Bank estimates on India being the world’s top recipient of remittances at $100 billion during 2022, the survey has termed remittances as the second largest major source of external financing after service exports.

Reducing the cost of logistics in India as comparable to global benchmarks and a rank among the top 25 countries on Logistics Performance Index by 2030 have been listed as the targets for the National Logistics Policy. The policy also aims to create a data-driven decision support mechanism for an efficient logistics ecosystem to be implemented through the Comprehensive Logistics Action Plan (CLAP).

Also Read: Economic Survey 2023 | ‘India has made significant progress in gender equality’

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Budget 2023 | Bring down commodities exchange transaction cost, say experts

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Expectations from the budget 2023 in the agriculture and commodities space would be whether the government would revise the commodity transaction tax, which led to a fall in commodity derivative trade volumes.

The Economic Survey tabled in Parliament today by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and released by Chief Economic Advisor Anantha Nageswaran lays emphasis on ensuring certainty of returns to farmers through price support. As per the Survey, the government aims to promote crop diversification and to augment crop and livestock productivity.

Siraj Hussain, Senior Visiting Fellow at Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, also Former Agriculture Secretary and Kunal Shah, Head of Commodities and Currency Research at Nirmal Bang shared their views.

“It is high time where we come to a point where the transaction cost on the commodities exchanges in India should be brought down,” said Shah.

Also Read | Economic Survey | India’s credit initiatives boost agri growth — A look at key schemes

As for the agriculture sector, there has been mention of fund allocation for post-harvest logistics, digitisation and cattle insurance among others.

FM is set to present the Budget on February 1 at 11 am. This year’s Budget comes against the backdrop of intense geopolitical tensions, rising inflation and national elections nearing.

Also Read | Budget 2023: Wishlist of India Inc. and individual taxpayers

The global commodity space has started 2023 in a good way. Gold prices are heading for the third monthly gain in January. Metals like zinc, aluminum and copper and commodities like sugar and rubber are also seeing a positive start of the year. But few commodities like silver are seeing a decline and trading in the negative. With major meetings like the US Fed meet, monetary policy meetings in major banks ahead, how will the global commodity markets get affected? What is the outlook for Indian commodity sector, ahead of the Indian Budget session on February 1? Peter McGuire, CEO at XM Australia discussed this in detail.

For more, watch the accompanying video

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Economic Survey 2023: 5G rollout can unleash new economic avenues, help overcome traditional barriers to development

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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According to this year’s Economic Survey, the introduction of 5G services could open up new economic prospects and assist India in overcoming its long-standing development challenges while encouraging corporate and startup innovation.

The Economic Survey 2022–23, which was presented to Parliament on Tuesday, said that both conventional and new-age sectors have benefited from the tremendous surge of digitisation, increasing smartphone penetration, and use of technology.

According to the report, “the introduction of 5G services can unlock new economic prospects and assist the country leapfrog the old development hurdles, promote innovations by startups and business enterprises, and further the ‘Digital India’ agenda.

The trip is “far from over, and there is still much to be done to realise our ultimate potential.”

The survey mentioned the interstate gap in teledensity, where rural areas lagged behind urban areas in the penetration of telecom, but said in the same breath that the rural areas’ catch-up is “heartening.”

Also Read: 5G infra to cost Rs 3 lakh crore in next 4-5 years amid elevated debt levels: ICRA

It highlighted the fact that, for the majority of the states, the shift in internet subscribers from year to year is bigger in rural than in metropolitan areas.

Regarding the next-generation connectivity services, it was noted that 5G use cases developed by telcos and startups in the fields of education, health, worker safety, and smart agriculture are now being implemented across the nation. 5G is also expected to have a direct impact on consumers through faster data transfer speeds and lower latency.

Telecom reforms and clear policy direction led to the spectrum auction of 2022 garnering the highest-ever bids, the survey observed.

As a major reform measure, the Indian Telegraph Right of Way (Amendment) Rules, 2022, will facilitate faster and easier deployment of telegraph infrastructure to enable speedy 5G rollout.

“The government has brought in procedural reforms in wireless licensing, including delicensing of various frequency bands to promote innovation, manufacturing and export,” it said.

Also Read: Reviewing 5G network in Delhi NCR: Good, better, best?

According to the report, the country has come a long way from the days when having a mobile connection was considered a luxury to the present.

According to the report, this was the result of coordinated efforts by telecom companies to increase network bandwidth, a supportive climate created by the government, and consumer outreach for smartphones.

The number of telephone subscribers in India as of November 2022 was 117 crore. While 83.7 crore people had internet connections as of June 2022, more than 97 percent of all users (114.3 crore at the end of November 2022) were linked wirelessly.

The overall tele-density in India stood at 84.8 percent, with wide differences across states. It ranged from 55.4 per cent in Bihar to 270.6 percent in Delhi. Eight licence service areas, namely, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka had a tele-density of above 100 percent.

“Apart from the interstate disparity in tele-density, in rural areas the tele-density continues to be at much lower levels compared to urban areas. However, the catch-up by the rural areas is heartening as the year-on-year change in internet subscribers is greater in rural (for the majority of the states) than in urban areas,” it said.

Also Read: HPL Electric and Power gets first formal order for the supply of 5G electric products

Telecom services provided a cushion to the rural economy during the initial phase of the Covid-19 when many went back to rural India for their livelihood.

“The digital infrastructure created over the years ensured not just the continuous transmission of information but also added economic value when businesses went digital,” it said.

During the challenging times of the pandemic, the telecommunication sector continued to provide seamless connectivity for the smooth functioning of critical activities and services remotely. This was supported by the significant increase in affordable smartphones, which became more than a communication device.

“It emerged as the key enabler of Digital India initiative with various new services and applications like digital payments, e-governance, e-commerce, e-health, and e-education. Acting as the backbone, these services have boosted the overall economic growth of the country,” the Economic Survey observed.

Also Read: Shift to 5G: India looks to boost equipment production to remove bottlenecks

Service delivery through digital tools has come a long way, it said adding, before 2014, access to digital services was perceived as a prerogative of urban households.

“We have added more internet subscribers in rural areas in the last 3 years (2019-21) than in their urban counterparts (95.76 million vis-a-vis 92.81 million in rural and urban areas respectively). This has been a result of dedicated digital drives across rural areas through ambitious government schemes…,” it said.

The survey cited flagship BharatNet Project Scheme, Telecom Development Plan, Aspirational District Scheme, initiatives in North-Eastern Region through Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan (CTDP) and initiatives towards areas affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in this regard.

The survey highlighted that digital growth in rural India was the major shock absorber during the COVID-19 pandemic when both businesses and consumer demand were impacted.

Also Read: Nokia says is gaining market share, sees 2023 growth

“As schooling went online for a considerable period even post pandemic, the increase in internet subscriptions in rural areas helped mitigate learning loss significantly. This even facilitated the successful rollout of mass vaccination in rural areas,” it said.

The 200 per cent increase in rural internet subscriptions between 2015 and 2021 as compared to 158 per cent in urban areas, reflects the increased government push to bring rural and urban digital connectivity to the same level.

Government schemes like Production Linked Incentive (PLI) for telecom and networking products will promote domestic mobile manufacturing as well as network installation.

Continuous proliferation of measures such as Bharat Net Project will continue to improve accessibility, affordability, connectivity, and inclusivity pan-India, it said. 

(With PTI inputs)

Also Read: 5G rollout to drive telecom hiring in 2023, says staffing company NLB Services

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow