Following are the highlights of the Economic Survey 2012-13 presented in Parliament today by Finance Minister P Chidambaram:
*Economic growth pegged at 6.1-6.7 per cent in 2013-14
*March 2013 inflation estimated at 6.2-6.6 per cent
*Priority will be to rein in high inflation
*FDI in retail to pave the way for investment in new technology and marketing of agriculture produce
*Survey calls for widening of tax base and prioritising expenditure to bridge fiscal deficit
*Calls for curbing gold imports to contain current account deficit
*Aadhaar-based direct cash transfer scheme can help plug leakages in subsidies
*With subsidies bill increasing, danger of missing fiscal targets is real in FY13
*Survey pitches for hike in prices of diesel and LPG to cut subsidy burden.
*Foreign Exchange reserves remains steady at $295.6 billion at December, 2012-end
*At present, overall energy deficit is about 8.6 per cent and peak shortage of power is about 9 per cent.
*Infrastructure bottlenecks affecting industrial sector performance
*Prospects for world trade as well as of India are still uncertain.
*Pitches for further opening of sectors for FDI