Takeaways from Economic Survey 2023-24

The data from Economic Survey 2023-24 has several important pointers to consumption, labour and new growth avenues. Firstly, inflation in India, despite hovering at above average levels, seems to be contained compared to world inflation. The growth in consumption, which has been tentative, is showing promise with notable increases in vehicle sales. The female labour force participation rate, especially in rural areas, has improved, rising by 16.9 percentage points between 2017-18 and 2022-23. In new growth avenues, smartphone production and exports have surged since the 2020 PLI scheme, making India the world’s sixth-largest exporter in 2022.