Page 16 - Budget 2024

Revenue per room up over 150% from FY21, says Economic Survey

Occupancy rates are over 60 per cent for the third year in a row

From Rs 97k cr in FY14 to Rs 3.1 trn in FY25, gender Budget raised: Survey

From Rs 97,134 crore in Financial Year 2014, the gender budget has consistently increased, reaching Rs 3.1 lakh crore in FY 2025, the Economic Survey said on Monday. This marks a 38.7-per cent rise compared to FY24 and a 218.8-per cent increase over FY14, now constituting 6.5 per cent of the total Union Budget. In a transformative move, India is shifting from women's development to women-led development, according to the Economic Survey presented in Parliament. The survey underscores the government's legislative interventions and provisions to ensure women's participation in various professions. India's G20 presidency in 2023 also highlighted "women-led development" as a priority amid increasing global attention on women's workforce participation, it said. Addressing the various issues affecting women, the survey emphasises the need for a comprehensive and pragmatic approach. This includes improving access to basic necessities, such as sanitation, piped water and menstrual hygiene

One-third of food inflation came from vegetables in 2023-24: Eco Survey

It became the second biggest contributor after cereals during the year, shows data from the Economic Survey

Cong calls Eco Survey 'cherry-picked' view, says India in precarious state

The Congress alleged on Monday that the Economic Survey released by the government presented a "cherry-picked" view of the economy and claimed that India is experiencing its "most precarious and difficult" economic situation in many years. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Economic Survey 2023-24, along with the statistical appendix, in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The Economic Survey is an annual document presented by the government ahead of the Union Budget to review the state of the economy. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the need of the hour is a right to apprenticeship, protections for gig workers and unorganised sector workers, minimum wage hikes to Rs 400 per day, an end to "tax terrorism" and an expansion of social-protection schemes like the one for anganwadis. "The Economic Survey of 2023-24, released in advance of tomorrow's Budget, must have been a difficult document for the non-biological PM's spin doctors to produce.

AI poses both risks and opportunities for youths, says Economic Survey

Puts onus on pvt sector to make sure jobs aren't replaced but reshaped

Stressed debt worth Rs 1.25 trillion on NARCL's radar: Economic Survey

Incorporated in 2021, with majority stake held by public sector banks and the balance by private sector banks, NARCL has the mandate to acquire fully provisioned stressed assets from banks

Fast capacity, energy efficiency among focus areas for Railways: Eco Survey

Fast capacity augmentation, modernisation of rolling stock, and energy efficiency are among the key focus areas for Railways, the Economic Survey 2023-24 said, highlighting Outlook's for Railway, on Monday. "In line with this, investments are prioritised in areas like dedicated freight corridors, high-speed rail, modern passenger services like Vande Bharat, Amrit Bharat Express, Aastha Special Trains, high-capacity rolling stock and last-mile rail linkages," the Survey said. It said that the Railways is planning projects for three major corridors -- High-traffic density corridors, Energy, Mineral and Cement Corridors, and Rail Sagar (port connectivity) corridors -- to reduce logistics cost and carbon footprint. The survey said that the Railways has planned to reduce its carbon footprint primarily through sourcing its energy requirements through renewable energy sources. "The expected requirement of installation of renewable capacity by 2029-30 is around 30 Giga Watts. Other strateg

Better utilisation of land will bring fixed cost of production: Survey

MSMEs are the backbone of the Indian economy, contributing approximately 30 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP)

Govt's initiatives for cleaner coal need to be promoted: Economic Survey

The initiatives of the government for cleaner fuel such as coal gasification mission and exploring coal to hydrogen need to be promoted to reduce emission and increase environmental sustainability, the Economic Survey on Monday said. While phasing in renewables to the extent possible is crucial, in the short to medium term, the focus should also be on actively adopting clean coal technologies. With the arrival of ultra super-critical technologies for coal-fired power plants, it would be possible to bring down emissions and achieve higher efficiency, the Economic Survey 2023-24 tabled in Parliament said. "In exploring the landscape for ensuring energy security, it has become evident that risks are not merely obstacles but also harbingers of opportunities. While uncertainties loom, they present avenues for innovation, adaptation, and growth for India. While phasing in renewables to the extent possible is imperative, in the short to medium term, the focus should also be on actively ...

117,254 DPIIT-recognised startups created 1.2 mn direct jobs: Eco Survey

Startups soar from 300 to over 100k in 7 years

Households not in distress, investing more in financial assets: CEA

Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran on Monday said that households are investing more in financial assets and their market value are not captured in the national income data. The Economic Survey 2023-24, tabled in Parliament, said that registered investor base at NSE has nearly tripled from March 2020 to March 2024 to 9.2 crore as of March 31, 2024, potentially translating into 20 per cent of the Indian households now channelling their household savings into financial markets. Addressing reporters, Nageswaran said, "households are not in distress" and they are investing in financial assets which have done very well. Also, savings in physical assets have improved and gone up from 10.8 per cent in fiscal 2020-21 to 12.9 per cent in 2022-23. "Especially in last 4 years the foray of retail investors into stock market through SIPs and mutual funds has been quite prolifically documented. Our national income data do not record this at market prices and that is the reason why there

Apprenticeship framework must provide flexibility in work hours: Eco Survey

Such reform and better compensation will improve employability of vocational students, it says

Telecom technology needs capital, govt to allocate 5% of USOF for R&D

The government has decided to allocate 5 per cent of Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF) for research and development of telecommunications technology, said the Economic Survey 2023-24 tabled in Parliament on Monday. At present, the government has a corpus of around Rs 80,000 crore collected under USOF which has now been renamed as Digital Bharat Nidhi. "Telecommunication technology development requires significantly large and patient capital for R&D and commercialisation. To address this, the government has decided that an allocation of 5 per cent of annual collections from Universal Services Obligation Fund would be made available for funding R&D in the telecom sector," the survey said. According to the survey, the Telecom Technology Development Fund formulated in 2022 has seen significant participation from startups, MSMEs, academia and industry. The survey said the government dedicated '5G Test Bed' to the nation in 2022, providing an end-to-end testing facility, ...

Primary mkt was robust amidst favourable investment climate: Eco Survey

Debt issuances dominated fundraising in the last fiscal year, constituting 78.8 per cent of the total funds raised

Modi slams opposition, says undemocratic attempt to throttle voice of PM

Asserting that Parliament is not for 'dal' but for 'desh', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday hit out at the opposition, saying that some parties have practised "negative politics" and "misused" Parliament to hide their political failures. Speaking with the media ahead of the start of Parliament session, Modi said the Union Budget, which will be presented on Tuesday, will set the direction for the journey of the next five years and lay the foundation for fulfilling the dream of 'Viksit Bharat' in 2047. Modi said people have given their verdict in the Lok Sabha polls and now all political parties must fight together for the country for the next five years. "I want to tell all MPs, they may be of any party, that from January onwards we fought a pitched electoral battle, we conveyed to the people what we wanted to convey, some showed the way while others misled, but that period is over now. The people have given their verdict," he said. "Now it is the responsibility of all elected

Remove food from inflation-targeting framework, explore options: Eco Survey

The Reserve Bank should stop looking at food inflation in deciding interest rates and the government should explore giving coupons or direct cash transfer to poor to deal with higher food prices, the pre-Budget economic survey said on Monday. While the inflation rate has moderated in recent months, the RBI has refrained from cutting benchmark interest rates -- which decide the rate at which home, personal and corporate loans are given by banks -- citing elevated food inflation. India introduced the inflation-targeting framework in 2016 under which the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is mandated to keep retail inflation at 4 per cent, with a margin of 2 per cent on either side. The benchmark policy rates are decided bi-monthly by the RBI on the basis of movement in consumer price index, which includes food, fuel, manufactured goods and select services. "India's inflation targeting framework should consider targeting inflation, excluding food. Higher food prices are, more often, not ...

Healthcare has become more affordable and accessible: Eco Survey

As such, out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) as a percentage of THE has come down from 64.2 per cent in FY14 to 47.1 per cent in FY20

Eco Survey on cap goods: Potential expansions in industrial capacities seen

The report also anticipated the UAE could become a hub for sourcing India's capital goods and intermediates for further value-added exports to other African and European destinations

Employment generation is 'real bottom line' for private sector: Eco Survey

The Economic Survey notes that businesses have an obligation to themselves to strike the right balance between deployment of capital and deployment of labour

Economic Survey calls upon India Inc to step up hiring, compensation

"It is worth reiterating that job creation happens mainly in the private sector," the survey released on Monday said