Economic Survey 2019: Major highlights from past economic surveys

Economic Survey 2019: The first Economic Survey of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government's second tenure has been tabled in the Parliament today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Econimic Survey 2019 has outlined a vision to help India achieve its target of becoming a $5-trillion economy. The survey also predicted that the GDP will grow at a rate of 7 per cent during FY 2019-20. The Economic Survey, which is tabled in the Parliament ahead of the Union Budget, reviewes developments in the economy. It also summarises the performance of a government on key development programmes, and give insights on policy initiatives and its prospects of the economy in short and medium term. Here are some key highlights of the previous economic surveys.

1. The Economic Survey 2017-18, which was presented by the then chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian, said demonetisation had led to Rs 2.8 lakh crores less cash and Rs 3.8 lakh crores less high denomination notes in the Indian economy. The survey said the fight against corruption, which led to steps such as GST implementation and demonetisation, had affected cash-intensive sectors in the economy.
2. The Economic Survey 2017-18 glaringly pointed out that the size of the formal sector (defined here as being either in the social security or GST net) is a mere 13% of total firms in the private non-agriculture sector, and that it accounted for 93% of their total turnover.
3. The Economic Survey 2017-18 in its report captured the footprints of climate change on the Indian territory and its impact on agricultural productions. "Extreme temperature increases and deficiency in rainfall have been captured on the Indian map and the graphical changes in agricultural yields are brought out from such data," the Survey stated. According to the Survey, the impact was found to be twice as large in un-irrigated areas as in irrigated ones.        
4. The Economic Survey 2017-18 said that the tax authorities' success rate in tax dispute is below 30 per cent. "About 66 per cent of pending cases accounted for only 1.8 per cent of value at stake. It further stated that 0.2 per cent of cases accounted for 56 per cent of the value at stake," the Survey found.
5. The Economic Survey 2016-17, presented by the then Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, stated that Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), having primary responsibility for the development and service provisioning of cities, face major and inextricably linked problems like large infrastructure deficits, inadequate finances, and poor governance capacities. The survey stated every Indian city faces serious challenges related to water and power supply, waste management, public transport, education, healthcare, safety, and pollution.