Economic Survey 2000-01 highlights
FOLLOWING are the highlights of the Economic Survey 2000-01 tabled in Parliament on Friday.
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High on morality, low on delivery?
| THE ECONOMIC Survey for 2000-01 has not minced words. It is pretty transparent on the country's difficult economic situation, and lists out measures which should be adopted by the government. High on the agenda is cutting fiscal deficit and increasing the pace of reforms. |
External sector takes a knock, deficit up .6%
| FOR A government, which had taken credit for a strong external sector even during the post-Pokhran phase, developments on the external front have not been as promising during 2000-01. |
Direct tax rates at par with global level
| HERE’S A sign of the times to come. There’s nothing like a free lunch no more. All those sops that went into your advance tax planning, may no longer be available. |
Begin exercise to cut flab
| WHEN you get on the weighing scales the next time, dump unneccessary hand baggage first. At least that’s what the Economic Survey seems to be telling a central government whose rosters are tipping the scales at 37 lakh employees. |
Receipts up by a mere 1.34% againt 15.6% target
| IT’S AN oil slick all right. The midterm excise and Customs rationalisation carried out last September has bled the exchequer by Rs 4,000 crore. |
Setting up of rail tariff body mooted
| EVEN AS railway minister Mamata Banerjee gears up to present her second budget in a row, the government has, in line with scores of expert committee reports, suggested the setting up of a rail tariff authority. |
Capital mkt fund mobilisation down by 26%
| WHEN the beat is off, it’s difficult to tango. So, reflecting the overall slowdown in the economy, corporate India’s resource mobilisations through the capital market route showed a sharp decline in the current fiscal. |
Shore up derivative trading
| THE ECONOMIC Survey has stressed the need for reforms in derivatives trading and debt instruments for further development of the capital markets. |
FII investment up, MFs net sellers
| THE CAPITAL markets witnessed divergent investment trends from its two largest institutional players — FIIs and mutual funds. According to the Economic Survey, while the first turned buyer, the second flashed the sell signal. |
Dhaba culture to fuel highway dream
| Here’s hope laced with some concern. Private sector investment in the prime minister’s dream Rs 54,000-crore highway project has begun. But money’s only trickling in. |
Reforms in Contract labour Act stressed
| EVEN AS the labour ministry continues to play stick in the mud, pressures for amending the Contract Labour Law are mounting on the government. |
Power subsidy burden to be a staggering Rs 41,238 crore
| WHEN policymakers start popping idea bulbs, the system can blow its fuse. Wonder what we are talking about? According to the status revealed in the Economic Survey, India’s power subsidy burden is expected to be a staggering Rs 41,238 crore in 2001-02. |
Social services spend up four-fold in 8 yrs
| THE Centre may well pat itself on its back that total expenditure on various social sector services actually increased from Rs 9,608 crore in 1992-93 to Rs 36,270 crore in 2000-2001. That’s a cool four-fold increase but the question uppermost in the people’s mind is, about the status of state spending |
Sugar sector must be removed from PDS
| PARTING may be sweet sorrow for some but the Economic Survey says that the country’s sugar sector should be deregulated and removed from the PDS system. |
Finally, fair sex gets a better deal
| THE SHADOWLINES are lifting. After years of criticism about women being the invisible sex in the entire economic data gathering process, the Economic Survey has bowed to common sense. |
Time to do away with retention price scheme
| THE proposal to reduce fertiliser subsidy by dismantling the retention price scheme and increased urea imports to top up any shortfall in availability reflects the government’s continued inability to get to the root. |
Oilseed output dip to hit exporters
| A SUBSTANTIAL overall decline in oilseed production is likely. But consumers may not be affected as cheap imported edible oil continues to flow in. |
Survey seeks drastic measures to hasten reforms
| PAINTING a difficult economic situation, the pre-budget Economic Survey warned of a continued slowdown in growth rate in the coming fiscal, and sought drastic measures in the upcoming budget to cut fiscal deficit and hasten reforms. |
Survey casts shadow over markets
| THE STOCKMARKETS barometer BSE Sensex plunged soon after the government tabled the Economic Survey for 2000-01 around noon. |
Public sale of State-run firms suggested
| INDIA'S nearly 250 State-run companies should be privatised to make them more efficient and competitive, the Economic Survey urged on Friday. |
Industry chambers call for growth-oriented Budget
| INDUSTRY chambers have called for growth-oriented Budget to counter the economic slowdown as highlighted in the Economic Survey. The measures to kick start growth in the economy include reforms to be carried out in infrastructure, public finance and the financial sector among others. |
Indian masses suffer 6-yr high 8.2% inflation
| INDIAN masses had to bear the brunt of higher price pressures with inflation shooting to a six-year high of over eight per cent during the current fiscal owing to a spurt in energy costs which more than neutralised the easy trends in food items and manufactured products. |
Software amongst fastest growing sectors in economy
| THE ECONOMIC Survey on Friday complimented the government for taking major policy initiatives to promote knowledge-based industries to realise its export potential and said software industry has emerged one of the fastest-growing sectors in the economy. |
Foodgrain production may decline by 4.7%
| THE ECONOMIC Survey warned that India's foodgrain production would decline by 4.7 per cent in the current fiscal, and asked the government to remove all restrictions on agriculture-related products -- including reservation for small-scale sector. |
Negative export credit pattern reversed
| THE EXPORT credit has registered a growth of 2.6 per cent during April-October, 2001, compared to a decline of 1.8 per cent in this lending, the Economic Survey for 2000-01 said. |
Survey concerned over slowdown, blames bureaucracy
| THE ECONOMIC Survey on Friday expressed concern over slowdown in industry, mainly due to poor showing of the manufacturing sector, and asked the government to cut bureaucracy and ensure easy and affordable finance to industry. |
High global oil prices jolt economy
| HIGH international crude oil prices, which consumed one-third of India's foreign exchange outgo to meet energy needs, jolted the country as consumers shelled out 30 per cent more for their fuel requirement since October 1999, the Economic Survey said on Friday. |
Large borrowing needs led to broad money growth
| THE ECONOMIC Survey has attributed the sudden spurt in money supply during the year to "unsterilised" foreign exchange intervention by the Reserve Bank of India through purchase of State Bank's India millennium Deposits Scheme for meeting large borrowing requirements of government. |
Enhance capacity of railways, regain bulk traffic share
| THE ECONOMIC Survey asked the Railways to regain its share of bulk traffic, which had gradually shifted in favour of roads, through tariff rationalisation and suggested creation of a "rail tariff authority" for the purpose. |
Sebi lauded for pushing ahead with reforms
| DESPITE despite volatility and a dip in resource mobilisation from the market, the Economic Survey spoke highly of the Securities & Exchange Board of India for pushing ahead with capital market reforms -- including introduction of index futures, rolling settlement and internet trading on Indian bourses. |
Lower employment growth cause for concern
| THE ECONOMIC Survey on Friday warned that employment growth in the organised sector was waning with the spread of reforms and is a major cause of concern in the face of growing population. |
Centre fails to buoy private sector in telecom
| PRIVATE sector participation in telecom services failed to take off in the country as various policy issues -- such as tariff rebalancing and opening of internet telephony -- remained unaddressed, according to the Economic Survey. |
Survey sees rise in power losses
| THE ECONOMIC Survey on Friday said commercial losses of state power utilities could climb to Rs 28,445 crore ($6.1 billion) in 2001/02 and reiterated the need to rationalise tariffs. |
Government draws flak for regulatory bodies
| THE ECONOMIC Survey on Friday criticised the government for "differing approaches" of the ministries on regulators, saying immediate steps be taken to ensure long-term finances for infrastructure projects for guaranteeing higher economic growth. |
Widen service tax net, lower Customs
| EXPRESSING concern over the high fiscal deficit that threatens to raise borrowings and interest rates, the Economic Survey has asked the government to widen the scope of service sector, phase out tax exemptions and lower Customs duties. |
A-I makes operating profit after 5 years
| FOR THE first time in five years, Air-India has turned around its loss-making financial performance and recorded an operating profit of Rs 76 crore. |
India ranks 9th heavily-debted nation
| INDIA figures among the top-ten heavily-debted countries, but the Economic Survey says this was not a cause of concern now as its indebtedness has improved to 20.7 per cent of the gross domestic product so far during the current fiscal from 21.9 per cent last year. |
Consumer electronics records 22% growth
| THE PRE-BUDGET Economic Survey noted that the consumer electronics sector continues to consolidate its production base and achieved Rs 11,200 crore worth of output in 1999-2000, growing at 22 per cent. |
Is Life Beautiful?
| THE MOST comprehensive way to measure the quality of life is to ask, "How long can a person born in India today expect to live?" The answer to this, called life expectancy at birth, takes into account the effects of nutrition, healthcare, environmental quality -- everything that goes to improve health and longevity. |
The Kids Aren't All Right
| INDIA'S neglect of basic health and hygiene standards extracts a terrible toll. It has one of the highest incidences of infant mortality -- the number of children who die in infancy -- among all nations today. |
Teach Your Children
| INDIA is supposed to be building a knowledge economy. But is there enough education going around? |
Cough, choke, wheeze
| GROWING at an average of 6 per cent every year for nearly 20 years, India's economy might choke its environment. | More Updates | | ||
