Agriculture investment growth signals increased capital formation, but further strengthening needed to double farmers' income.
The Economic Survey records a substantial rise in Gross Capital Formation (GCF) in agriculture in 2022-23, attributing growth mainly to increased public investment while stressing the need for further investment to achieve doubling of farmers' income. It details expanded institutional credit-including Kisan Credit Card outreach, higher collateral-free limits, and rapid Joint Liability Group growth-and outlines the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund's use of interest subvention and credit guarantees to finance post-harvest and supply-chain projects.

Agricultural investment drives sector growth; policy promotes private investment, MSPs, insurance, farmer pensions and market reforms.
The Economic Survey records sustained agricultural growth and recommends smallholders move to high-value agriculture, while urging enhanced private sector investment in technology, production, marketing and post-harvest infrastructure. It highlights high returns to agricultural research, continued increases in Minimum Support Prices, expansion of e-NAM and Farmer Producer Organizations with financial support, the farmer pension scheme offering a monthly pension at age 60, broad crop insurance coverage under the national scheme, and incentives to reduce chemical fertiliser use through alternative fertilisers.

Allied agricultural sectors growth boosts policy focus on livestock, fisheries and food processing through targeted infrastructure funds.
Allied agricultural sectors are emerging growth centres with policy emphasis on livestock and fisheries expansion, supported by targeted finance and infrastructure schemes. The Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund offers interest subvention and credit guarantees to encourage investment in dairy and meat processing, feed plants and breed improvement; sanctioned projects have generated employment and farmer benefits. Fisheries support combines a production oriented scheme with a dedicated concessional infrastructure fund recommending projects for financing. The food processing sector's rising GVA and export share underpin continued focus on value addition and infrastructure financing.

Goods and Services Tax creates single market enabling scale manufacturing, reducing compliance bottlenecks and boosting competitiveness.
Manufacturing led industrial expansion with sustained PMI readings and a decade-average growth above five percent, supplying and consuming about half of inter-industry inputs and contributing materially to gross value added and output. Structural impediments-physical infrastructure, logistics and compliance-have eased, and the Goods and Services Tax has created a single market that enables manufacturing at scale. The Survey stresses deregulation and private-sector investment as key to enhancing competitiveness, capacity creation, and semi-skilled employment.

Government social sector spending rises, with sustained increases in social welfare and health allocations affecting fiscal composition.
Government social sector spending has risen since 2016, with social welfare expenditure growing at a CAGR of 12.8% and health expenditure at a CAGR of 15.8% between FY18 and FY24. In the 2023-24 budget estimates, expenditure on social services increased to 7.8% of GDP and health expenditure to 1.9% of GDP, while social services rose to 26% of total expenditure and health constituted 6.5% of total expenditure.

Social expenditure increase linked to substantial multidimensional poverty reduction and narrower rural urban consumption gaps.
Increased public spending on social services and targeted implementation, including pension and last mile delivery schemes, coincided with the National Multidimensional Poverty Index nearly halving from 0.117 to 0.066 between 2015-16 and 2019-21, with an estimated 13.5 crore people escaping multidimensional poverty; concurrent declines in rural and urban Gini coefficients and a narrowing rural urban consumption gap are reported.

Universal access to quality healthcare expanded through insurance, affordable medicines, outreach and interoperable digital health services.
The Economic Survey 2023 24 promotes universal access to quality healthcare by expanding health insurance via Ayushman Bharat PMJAY, increasing availability of affordable medicines through Jan Aushadhi and AMRIT, and scaling outreach under Ayushman Bhav; simultaneously it advances interoperable digital health infrastructure through the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission and telemedicine services to integrate primary, secondary and tertiary care.

Primary healthcare investment rises, improving affordability and access while social security and reduced OOPE reshape public health financing.
Government health financing has shifted toward greater public investment in primary and secondary care, increasing social security funding and reducing out-of-pocket expenditure, which the Survey links to improved affordability, access, and better infant and maternal health indicators; it recommends emphasis on primary healthcare, healthy diets, mental health, and strengthened State and local governance to deliver national programmes effectively.

Mental health as an economic priority requires scaling services, workforce, and community integration to reduce productivity losses.
The Economic Survey treats mental health as an economic priority, linking disorders to productivity losses and documenting national initiatives-community and primary care upgrades, a multilingual tele-mental-health programme, expanded training centres and adolescent interventions-while urging improved implementation, workforce expansion to meet international norms, standardized guidelines, user-informed evaluation, community-based supports, NGO partnerships, and school- and preschool-level integration to de-stigmatize disorders and enhance service reach.

Gender Budget expansion underpins strengthened fiscal and programmatic support for women's empowerment and expanded participation.
The Economic Survey 2023-2024 reports a substantial increase in the Gender Budget Statement and gender-targeted allocations, framing a policy shift toward women-led development. It links enhanced fiscal commitment to improvements in sex ratio at birth, maternal mortality, institutional delivery and girls' education, credits targeted programmes for health and nutrition reformulation, and highlights rising female participation in skilling and STEM initiatives as integral to expanding women's access to education, employment and public-health services.

Female labour force participation grows, reflecting policy-driven expansion of women's financial inclusion and entrepreneurship support.
The document reports increased female economic participation tied to financial inclusion and entrepreneurship programmes: women constitute a majority of new bank account holders under the national inclusion drive; Self-Help Groups under the rural livelihood mission are linked to social and economic benefits; credit and start-up schemes have been predominantly allocated to women; digital literacy campaigns show a female plurality; and housing subsidy programmes include female ownership requirements to promote gender equity.

National Education Policy expands early childhood care, school infrastructure, teacher training and universal access to high quality education nationwide.
The National Education Policy establishes a multi tiered implementation framework: a mandated ECCE programme (Poshan bhi Padhai bhi) providing daily play based preschool instruction with state adoption of ECCE pedagogy and Master Trainer led upskilling of Anganwadi workers; conversion of district institutes into centres of excellence and expanded integrated teacher training and digital content; integration of inclusive, vocational and model school schemes; and coordinated infrastructure, meal, scholarship and community volunteer measures to operationalise access to high quality education.

National Credit Framework enables portable academic credits and digital lifelong learning, facilitating student mobility and credential verification.
The document explains the regulatory architecture for lifelong learning centred on the National Credit Framework, supported by digital public infrastructure: the Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) which issues unique lifelong academic identities, and the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) which stores credits in dematerialised form to enable credit recognition, accumulation, transfer and redemption, real time verification of credentials, student mobility across institutions, and linkage to scholarships, internships and loans.

Skill development linked to incentive schemes can upgrade workforce skills and support creation of productive non-farm jobs.
The Economic Survey 2023-24 prioritises expanded and revamped skilling initiatives, emphasising foundational literacy and numeracy, alignment between the National Education Policy and skill policies, strengthened industry engagement, quality assurance, technology use, and expanded apprenticeships. It proposes linking skill development with Production Linked Incentive and employment-linked incentive schemes in high-growth sectors to upgrade skills, urges industry leadership in skill creation, recommends convergence of programmes with employment-centric schemes, and calls for greater regulatory flexibility for apprenticeships to support faster growth of productive non-farm jobs.

Production Linked Incentive scheme boosts manufacturing and MSME formalisation, driving investment, output growth and export expansion.
Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes for fourteen key sectors are presented as the principal industrial policy tool to boost manufacturing, attract investment, and raise exports, with the Survey reporting associated investment, production/sales, employment impacts, and sectoral export gains. Complementary measures include large-scale Udyam Registrations to formalise MSMEs and expanded credit guarantees to enhance lending, alongside ODOP market initiatives such as Unity Malls, PM-Ekta Malls, and ODOP Sampark workshops to promote artisan access to domestic and international markets.

Deregulation of MSMEs urged to remove compliance bottlenecks and require sunset clauses for threshold incentives.
Deregulation of the MSME sector is urged to reduce licensing, inspection, and compliance burdens mainly imposed by sub national governments; threshold based concessions are said to incentivize capping enterprise size and therefore should carry sunset clauses. The Survey calls for institutional dialogue with states to implement regulatory changes and recommends measures to improve access to timely and affordable credit, connectivity, export strategies, and entrepreneur capacity building to boost productivity.

Patent grants surge signals innovation-led industrial growth and ANRF proposal to coordinate scientific research nationwide.
A pronounced expansion of India's innovation ecosystem is documented, with a sharp rise in patent grants and registered designs and rapid growth in recognised start-ups, over 45% of which originate in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Start-ups have filed substantial patent applications in advanced technology domains and attracted institutional investment, while the Bharat Startup Knowledge Access Registry convenes ecosystem stakeholders. The government proposes the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) as an apex body to provide strategic direction for scientific research in industry and to coordinate industrial R&D alongside private investment.

Services sector growth drives economic expansion, supported by high PMI, rising exports and increased domestic and external financing.
The services sector, contributing about 55% of the economy in FY24, grew an estimated 7.6% driven by financial, IT and professional services, stronger domestic demand and e commerce. High PMI readings and rising services exports-44% of total exports-along with increased domestic bank credit and substantial FDI and ECB inflows, underpinned sectoral expansion and supported net services receipts.

Technology-driven transformation reshapes services delivery, enabling diversified services exports and expanded digital infrastructure and start-up growth
Rapid technology-driven transformation and diversification of services exports are reshaping India's services landscape by expanding digital infrastructure and altering delivery mechanisms across two broad categories: contact intensive connectivity services (transport, tourism, real estate) and non contact intensive services (IT, GCCs, start ups). Government initiatives and infrastructure upgrades - digitised tolls, rail and airport capacity expansions, port integrations, telecom penetration and 5G rollout - underpin measurable sectoral growth, support start up proliferation and enhance the export orientation of services.

Rural development initiatives expand housing, employment guarantees and digital governance to strengthen livelihoods and financial inclusion.
The document reports government rural development outcomes: 2.63 crore houses constructed under PM AWAS Gramin, expanded sanitation and tap water coverage, RuPay card issuance under PMJDY, and strengthened health infrastructure. It highlights MGNREGS modernisation through geotagging and electronic payments to reduce leakages, increased person days and women participation, and the programme's evolution toward asset creation on individual land. It also notes initiatives to promote rural entrepreneurship and digital governance via SVAMITVA, e Gram SWARAJ and expanded internet subscriptions.