ECONOMIC SURVEY

2014-2015
1. The Central Statistics office has recently revised the national accounts aggregates
by shifting to the new base of 2011-2012 from the earlier base of 2004-2005.
2. Growth rate measured by GDP at constant market prices is an international
practice.
3. Gross Value Added (GVA) is a measure in economics of the value of goods and
services produced in an area, industry or sector of an economy.
a. GVA at basic prices = CE + OS/MI + CFC + Production taxes less
production subsidies.
CE
OS
MI
CFC

Compensation of employees
Operating Surplus
Mixed income
Consumption of fixed capital

Examples of production taxes are land revenues, stamps and registration fees
and tax on profession.
Examples of production subsidies are subsidies to Railways, input subsidies to
farmers, administrative subsidies to corporations etc.
GVA at Factor Cost =

GVA at basic prices Production taxes less

Production subsidies.

4. The difference between Gross Value of Output (GVO) and Gross Value Added
(GVA) is intermediate consumption.
5. Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF).
It refers to the net increase in Physical assets (investment minus disposals)
within the measurement period.

6. Incremental Capital Output Ratio (ICOR):

It is the additional Capital required to increase one unit of output. This
ratio is used to measure the efficiency of an industrial unit or country as an
economic unit lesser the ICOR, more efficient the organization.

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For example, if the 10% additional capital is required to push the overall
output by a percent, the ICOR will be 10.

7. Finance Minister Arun Jaitely in his 2014-15 budget announced the constitution
of an expenditure management commission (EMC). Former RBI Governor Bimal
Jalan headed the EMC. EMC mandated with the trask of suggesting an overhaul
for reducing the food, fertilizer and oil subsidies and other ways of controlling
Indias fiscal deficit.
8. Headline Inflation measured in terms of the wholesale price Index (WPI) (Base
year 2004-2005) is at an average of 3.4% in 2014-15.
9. Outlining the roadmap for fiscal consolidation, the budget for 2014-15 envisaged
a fiscal deficit target at 4.1% of GDP and sought to reduce it further to 3% of
GDP by 2016-17.
10. The Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill which provides for levy of a Goods and
services tax (GST) on all goods and services except those specified.
11. Goods & Service Tax
The introduction of the GST would be a significant step in the field of
indirect tax reforms in India.
It would mitigate cascading or double taxation in a major way.
The main features of the proposed GST model are as follows.
A. GST would be applicable on supply of goods or services.
B. GST would be a destination based tax.
C. It would be a dual GST with the centre and the states simultaneously
levying it on a common base.
D. An integrated GST would be levied on inter State supply.
E. Central GST, State GST and integrated GST would be levied at rate
recommended by the Goods and Services Tax Council (GSTC), which will
be chaired by the Union Finance Minister are will have Finance Ministers
of State as its members.
Federal countries like Canada, Newzealand and Australia have
successfully adopted the GST.
12. Non Tax revenue mainly consists of interest and dividend receipts and the
receipts from services provided by the central government.

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13. Recoveries of loans and disinvestment are the two main constituents of non-debt
capital receipts.
14. The two pillars of fiscal reforms are
a. Revenue augmentation.
b. Expenditure rationalization
15. In 2014-15, the centrally sponsored schemes were restructured into 66
programmes.
16. RBI adopted the new consumer price index (combined) as the measure of the
nominal anchor for policy communication.
17. RBI has tightened the norms for asset reconstruction companies where by the
minimum investment in security receipts should be 15%, as against the earlier
norm of 5%.
18. The objective of Financial inclusion is to ensure the excluded sections, i.e weaker
sections and low income groups, access to various financial services such as basic
savings bank account, need based credit, remittance facility, insurance & pension.
19. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was launched on 28th August 2014.
The PMJDY envisages universal access to banking facilities with one basic
banking account for every houseold. The beneficiaries receive a Rupay Debit
Card having inbuilt accident insurance cover of Rs. 1 Lakh. The PMJDY has
entered the guiness world records for opening most bank accounts.
20. The union cabinet has approved a proposal allowing Public Sector Banks (PSBs)
to raise capital from public markets through FPO(Follow on Public Offer) or QIP
(Qualified Institutional Placement) by diluting GOI holding upto 52% in a phased
manner.
21. With the commencement of the foreign portfolio investment (FPI) regime from
June 2014, the erstwhile foreign institutional investors (FIIs), sub accounts and
qualified foreign investors (QFIs) have been merged into a new investor class
termed Foreign Portfolio Investors.
22. GOI has promulgated the Insurance laws (Amendment) ordinance 2014 to
enhance the foreign equity investment cap in an Indian insurance company from
26 to 49%.
23. Securities Laws (Amendment Act, 2014, enhanced powers were conferred upon
SEBI, including explicit power to disgorge ill gotten gains, power to conduct
search and seizure, explicit power for settlement, attachment and recovery.

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24. SEBI amended clause 49 of the equity listing agreement with provisions such as
exclusion of nominee director from the definition of independent director and
compulsory whistle blower mechanism.
25. The securities contracts (Regulation) Rules 1957 were amended to require a
minimum public share holding of 25% of the total number of issued shares of
public sector units within 3 years.
26. IMF projected the global economy to grow from 3.3% in 2014 to 3.5% in 2015.
27. The WEO update projects Indias GDP growth at market prices to be 6.3% in
2015 and for the year 2016, projected growth is 6.5%.
28. Indias share in global exports and imports is 2.5% in 2013.
29. The top 7 product groups accounting for nearly 80.9% of Indias total exports in
2014-15 were:
1. Petroleum
2. Gems & Jewellery
3. Agriculture & Allied Products
4. Textiles
5. Chemicals
6. Transport equipment
7. Machinery
30. One of the major items in Indias import basket is of the POL group, which
accounted for 36.6% of Indias total imports in 2013.14.
[ POL : Petroleum, Oil and Lubricants ]
31. To boost the performance of the export sector various schemes were strengthened,
viz.
i. Focus Product Scheme (FPS)
ii. Focus Market Scheme (FMS)
iii. Market linked Focus Product Scheme (MLFPS)
iv. Vishesh Krishi & Gram Udyog Yojana (VKGUY)
32. To diversify Indias exports, 7 new markets
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.

Algeria
Aruba
Austria
Cambodia
Myanmar
Netherlands Antilles
Ukraine

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have been added to the Focus Market Scheme.

33. Indian trade portal (www.indiantradeportal.in) was launched to provide vital
information to Indian industry.
34. The Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) indices are used as indicator of
external competitiveness of the country over a period of time.
35. The nominal effective exchange rate (NEER) is the weighted geometric average of
the bilateral nominal exchange rate of the home currency in terms of foreign
currencies.
36. REER is defined as a weighted geometric average of nominal exchange rates of
the home currency in terms of the foreign currencies adjusted for relative price
differential.
37. The share of agriculture in total GDP is 18% in 2013-14.
38. With effect from 2014-15, the mission of integrated Development of Horticulture
(MIDH) has been operationalized by bringing all ongoing schemes on
horticulture under a single umbrella.
39. Neeranchal, a new programme to give additional impetus to watershed
development in the country.
40. India ranks 1st in milk production accounting for 17% of world production.
41. Fisheries constitute about 1% of the GDP of the country.
42. National livestock mission has been launched in 2014 with the objective of
sustainable development of the livestock sector, focusing on improving availability
of quality feed and fodder, risk coverage, effective extension.
43. The commission for Agricultural costs and prices (CACP) recommends Minimum
support prices at national level for 23 crops.
44. A high level committee was set up by GOI in August 2014 under the chairmanship
of Shri Shanta Kumar to suggest inter alia restructuring or unbundling of the
Food Corporation of India with a view to improve its operational efficiency and
financial management.
45. A monthly index of eight core industries viz.
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.

Fertilizer
coal
Electricity
Crude Oil
Natural Gas
Refinery product
Steel

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viii. Cement
Comprising 38% of the weight of the items in the IIP, is released to gauge the
impact on overall economic activity.
46. India accounts for 1.8% of the worlds manufacturing output.
47. MSMEs contribute 37.5% of the countrys GDP.
48. A total of 290 Central Public Sector enterprises existed under the administrative
control of various ministries.
49. FDI upto 49% through the government route has been permitted in the defence
industry.
50. Power Sector:

The electricity (Amendment) Bill 2014 has been introduced in the Lok
Sabha to usher in reforms in the power sector, promote competition
and efficiency in operation, and improve the quality of supply of
electricity.

A new scheme, the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS)

which subsumes the restructured accelerated power development and
reforms programme (R-APDRP), has been launched to reduce
aggregate technical & commercial losses, establish IT enabled energy
accounting/auditing, and improve collective efficiency.

In 2013-2014, 967.15 billion units of power was generated.

A new scheme, the Deendayal upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana

(DDUGJY) has been launched with the objectives of:
a) Separating agriculture and non agriculture feeders to facilitate
distribution companies (discoms) in the judicious rostering of
supply to agriculture & non agricultural consumers.
b) Strengthening and augmentation of sub transmission and
distribution infrastructure in rural areas.
c) Metering in rural areas.

o The existing Rajiv Gandhi Grameena Vidyutikaran Yojana is

subsumed under the DDUGJY.
51. Petroleum and Natural Gas:
a. GOI approved the new gas pricing formula on 18 October 2014.

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b. Commercial production of Coal Bed Methane in India has now become a

reality with current production of about 0.60 million metric standard cubic
metre per day.
52. Two new schemes were announced in December 2014 to provide a big push to
solar energy.
i. Scheme for Development of Solar parks and Ultra Mega Solar
Power Projects.
ii. Pilot cum demonstration project for Development of Grid
connected Solar PV Power Plants on Canal Banks and Canal
Tops.
53. The salient features of the Mines and Minerals (Development regulations)
(Amendment ordinance 2015) include:
a. Auction for realization of fair value.
b. Dispensing with discretion and addressing possible disruption
c. Boost to exploration
d. Easy transferability to encourage private sector participation.
e. Timely disposal of cases.
f. Deterrents against illegal mining.
54. The National highways with a total length of 96,214 KM serve as the arterial
network of the country.
55. The National highways and infrastructure development corporation ltd has been
created to expedite development of highways in the north eastern region and
Border areas.
56. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is managing 125 airports in the country.
57. The Department of Telecommunications (DOT) has planned to connect all
2,50,000 Gram Panchayats in the country with minimum 100 Mbps bandwidth
under the National optical fibre network project (NOFN).
58. Three new schemes have been announced for development of urban
infrastructure.
i. Swachh Bharat Mission
ii. Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY)
iii. Smart City Scheme.
59. Services sector contribute about 72.4% of the growth in Indias GDP in 2014-15.

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60. Shipping is an important indicator of bothe commodity and services trade of any
country.
61. India had a fleet strength of 1209 ships.
62. As per NASSCOM report, software development and IT enabled services sector
directly employed 3.5 million people.
63. Real estate and ownership of dwelling constitute 7.8% of Indias GDP in 2013-14.
64. Budget 2014-15 announced setting up of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS).
65. India is worlds third lrgest TV market after China & US
66. There are about 826 satellites TV Channels, 86 teleports, 243 FM radio channels
and 179 community radio stations, operating in India.
67. Indias broadcasting distribution network comprises 6000 multi system operators
(MSDs), 60,000 local cable operators (LCOs) and 7 direct to Home (DTH)
operators.
68. 100% FDI is permitted in the film sector.
69. The Intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) in its 5th Assessment
report (ARS) observed that there has been an increasing trend in the
anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG).
70. Indias contribution to cumulative global CO2 (1850-2011) was just 31%.
71. Indias total renewable power installed capacity has reached 33.8 GW.
72. NABARD is Indias National implementing Entity (NIE) for the adaptation fund
created under the UNFCCC.
73. National Adaptation Fund with an initial corpus of Rs.100 crores has been set up
to support adaptation actions to combat the challenges of climate change.
74. 20th session of conference of parties to the UNFCCC (COP-20) was held at lima,
Peru in and came out with a lima call for climate action.
75. The UN conference on sustainable development (Rio + 20) held in 2012 at Rio
came out with a set of 17 Sustainable Development goals in 2014.
76. Population projections indicate that in 2020 the average age of Indias population
will be lowest in the world around 29 years.
77. Only 73% literacy has been achieved as per census 2011.
i. Male literacy

80.9%

ii. Female literacy

64.6%

78. The Deen dayal upadhaya grameen Koushalya Yojana (DDU GKY) is a
placement linked skill development scheme for poor rural youth.

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79. Nai Roshini Leadership training programme for women.

80. MANAS Programme for upgrading entrepreneurial skills of minority
Youths.
81. National manufacturing policy 2011 has set a target of creating 100 million jobs
by 2022.
82. The Department of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha &
Homeopathy) has been elevated to a full fledged ministry in 2014.
83. The UN declared 21 June International Yoga Day.
84. The 2014 Human Development report positioned India at 135 out of 187
countries.
85. India is a signatory to the convention on the elimination of all forms of
discrimination against women (CEDAW), which is often described as an
international bill of rights for women.
86. A new Scheme, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) programme, for promoting
survival, protection & education of the girl child was launched on 22nd Jan, 2015
at Panipat, Haryana.

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