what is indian economics
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Introduction
India has emerged as the fastest growing major economy in the world as per the Central Statistics Organisation (CSO) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) and it is expected to be one of the top three economic powers of the world over the next 10-15 years, backed by its strong democracy and partnerships. India’s GDP is estimated to have increased 6.6 per cent in 2017-18 and is expected to grow 7.3 per cent in 2018-19.
Market size
India's foreign exchange reserves were US$ 422.53 billion in the week up to March 23, 2018, according to data from the RBI.
Recent Developments
With the improvement in the economic scenario, there have been various investments in various sectors of the economy. The M&A activity in India increased 53.3 per cent to US$ 77.6 billion in 2017 while private equity (PE) deals reached US$ 24.4 billion. Some of the important recent developments in Indian economy are as follows:
India's Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows reached US$ 208.99 billion during April 2014 - December 2017, with maximum contribution from services, computer software and hardware, telecommunications, construction, trading and automobiles.
India has improved its ranking in the World Bank's Doing Business Report by 30 spots over its 2017 ranking and is ranked 100 among 190 countries in 2018 edition of the report.
India's ranking in the world has improved to 126 in terms of its per capita GDP, based on purchasing power parity (PPP) as it increased to US$ 7,170 in 2017, as per data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The World Bank has stated that private investments in India is expected to grow by 8.8 per cent in FY 2018-19 to overtake private consumption growth of 7.4 per cent, and thereby drive the growth in India's gross domestic product (GDP) in FY 2018-19.
Government Initiatives
The Union Budget for 2018-19 was announced by Mr Arun Jaitley, Union Minister for Finance, Government of India, in Parliament on February 1, 2018. This year’s budget will focus on uplifting the rural economy and strengthening of the agriculture sector, healthcare for the economically less privileged, infrastructure creation and improvement in the quality of education of the country. As per the budget, the government is committed towards doubling the farmers’ income by 2022. A total of Rs 14.34 lakh crore (US$ 225.43 billion) will be spent for creation of livelihood and infrastructure in rural areas. Budgetary allocation for infrastructure is set at Rs 5.97 lakh crore (US$ 93.85 billion) for 2018-19. All-time high allocations have been made to the rail and road sectors.
Some of the recent initiatives and developments undertaken by the government are listed below:
The Union Cabinet gave its approval to the North-East Industrial Development Scheme (NEIDS) 2017 in March 2018 with an outlay of Rs 3,000 crores (US$ 460 million) up to March 2020.
In March 2018, construction of 321,567 additional houses across 523 cities under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) has been approved by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India with an allocation of Rs 18,203 crore.
The Ministry of Power, Government of India has partnered with the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship to provide training to the manpower in six states in an effort to speed up the implementation of SAUBHAGYA (Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojna).
Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) will be continued with an outlay of Rs 5,500 crore (US$ 844.81 million) for three years from 2017-18 to 2019-20, according to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
In February 2018, The Union Cabinet Committee has approved setting up of National Urban Housing Fund (NUHF) for Rs 60,000 crore (US$ 9.3 billion) which will help in raising requisite funds in the next four years.
The target of an Open Defecation Free (ODF) India will be achieved by October 2, 2019 as adequate funding is available to the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), according to Ms Uma Bharti, Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India.