Economic Profile
GDP(constant market prices) in 2014-15: Rs. 10656925 crore( Est.)
Per Capita Income (constantprices 2011-12) in 2014-15: Rs.88533 crore (Est.)
Per Capita Income (currentprices) in 2014-15: Rs.74,193 (Est.)
GAV composition by sectorduring 2014-15 (2011-12): Services 49.6%,
Agriculture 18.7%, and Industry 31.7%
Forex Reserves: US$328.7 billion (for the end of Jan,2015)
Exports:US $ 310533.87 (April-March,2014-2015)
Imports: US$ 447548.33 million (April- March 2014-15) Cumulative FDI Inflows: US$350.9 Billion (April 2000 to November 2014)
Top Investing Countries: Mauritius,Singapore, U.K, Japan, Netherlands, U.S.A, Cyprus, Germany, France and Switzerland. Top Sectors Attractinghighest FDI inflows: Services, Construction, Telecommunication, computer Software and Hardware,Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, Automobile industry, chemicals and power.
Economic Snapshot
Introduction
India is set to become the world's fastest-growing major economy by 2016 ahead of China, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its recent latest forecast. India is expected to grow at 6.3 per cent in 2015, and 6.5 per cent in 2016 by when it is likely to cross China's projected growth rate, the IMF said in the latest update of its World Economic Outlook. India's macro-economic prospects have strengthened and the country is best positioned among emerging market economies, gaining global investor's attention, says a report by ICICI Bank. The improvement in India's economic fundamentals has accelerated in FY2015 with the combined impact of a strong Government mandate, RBI's inflation focus supported by benign global commodity prices.
Market size
The government, engineering an economic rebound with a slew of reforms, has unveiled a new statistical method to calculate the national income with a broader framework that turned up a pleasant surprise: GDP in the past year 2013-14 grew 6.9 per cent instead of the earlier 4.7 per cent.
The revision in base year of India's national accounts will increase the size of the economy to Rs 111.7 trillion (US$ 1.8 trillion) in FY14, according to India Ratings. The size of the Indian economy was at about Rs 93.89 trillion (US$ 1.51 trillion) in 2012-13. Also, Capital Economics (CE), an independent macro-economic research company, released its India Watch research report recently, cataloguing its interpretation and expectations on the upcoming Budget 2015. It sees Indian economy expanding by 5.5 per cent in 2015, owing to the fall in crude oil prices and interest rates. Stating that its great time to invest in India, Minister of State for Finance Mr Jayant Sinha said the Indian economy has potential to become a US$ 4-5 trillion economy in the next 10-12 years.
Investments/Developments
With the improvement in the economic scenario, there has been quite a few investments in various sectors along with M&A in India. Some of them are as follows: India has emerged as one of the strongest performers in the deal-street across the world as mergers and acquisitions (M&A). M&A activity increased in 2014 with deals worth US$ 38.1 billion being concluded, compared to US$ 28.2 billion in 2013 and US$ 35.4 billion in 2012
The combined index of eight core industries stood at 166.2 in November 2014 - 6.7 per cent higher compared to the index of November 2013. Its cumulative growth during April to November, 2014-15 was 4.6 per cent. India and Germany have decided to set up two working groups-one on circular economy and other on water management-after a meeting with German Environment Minister Ms Barbara Hendricks. After a recent meeting, the two sides announced that the focus of the working groups would be on restoration of water bodies, waste management and more efficient use of water resources. The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to enter into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism, between the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and the Ministry of Tourism, Government of the Sultanate of Oman India's consumer confidence continues to remain highest globally and showed improvement in the fourth quarter of calendar year 2014 (Q4), riding on positive economic environment and lower inflation. Nielsen's findings reveal that the consumer confidence of urban India increased by three points in Q4 from the preceding quarter. With a score of 129 in Q4, urban India's consumer confidence is up by 14 points from the corresponding period of the previous year (Q4 of 2013) when it stood at 115.
India's foreign exchange reserves touched a record US$ 322 billion, surpassing the previous high of almost US$ 321 billion in September 2011. Latest data released shows an accretion of US$ 2.7 billion during the week ended January 16, 2015, essentially due to a rise in foreign currency assets. Market players said RBI has been buying dollars to ensure that the rupee stays strong. At current levels, reserves are sufficient to cover imports for eight-and-a-half months.
The government has announced that foreign investors can put in as much as Rs 90,300 crore (US$ 14.55 billion) in India's rail infrastructure through the FDI route, according to a list of projects released by the Ministry of Railways. The Rs 63,000 crore (US$ 10.15 billion) Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed corridor project is the single largest. The other big ones include the Rs 14,000 crore (US$ 2.25 billion) CSTM-Panvel suburban corridor, to be implemented in public-private partnership (PPP), and the Rs 1,200 crore (US$ 193.46 million) Kachrapara rail coach factory, besides multiple freight line, electrification and signalling projects.
Government Initiatives
India has become a promising investment destination for foreign companies looking to do business here. Mr Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, has launched the 'Make in India' initiative with the aim to give the Indian economy global recognition. This initiative is expected to increase the purchasing power of the common man, which would further boost demand, and hence spur development, in addition to benefiting investors. The steps taken by the government in recent times have shown positive results as India's gross domestic product (GDP) at factor cost at constant (2004-05) prices for Q1 of 2014-15 is estimated at Rs 14.38 trillion (US$ 231.83 billion), as against Rs 13.61 trillion (US$ 219.42 billion) in Q1 of 2013-14, registering a growth rate of 5.7 per cent.
Based on the recommendations of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), the Government of India has approved 14 proposals of FDI amounting to Rs 1,528.38 crore (US$ 246.42 million) approximately. Out of the 14 approved proposals, six of them belonged to the pharmaceutical sector which was the highest number of approvals for any sector.
Road Ahead
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in a joint report have forecasted that India will register a growth of 6.4 per cent in 2015, due to renewed confidence in the market brought about by a series of economic reforms pursued by the government. Only India is anticipated to witness better growth momentum among the BRIC bloc whereas other member countries are expected to see stable growth momentum, according to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
India could become the world's seventh biggest nation in terms of private wealth, with a 150 per cent increase in total, from US$ 2 trillion in 2013 to US$ 5 trillion in 2018, as per a recent study by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
Furthermore, the new 'Make in India' initiative is expected to be a vital component in India's quest for achieving wholesome economic development.
Exchange Rate Used: INR 1 = 0.016 as on February 25, 2015
References: Press Information Bureau (PIB), Media Reports,Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
MACRO ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Population; 1,27 Million GDP at (Constant Market Price) in 2014-15): Rs.1,06,56,925 crore (Estimated)
Composition of GVA (2014-15)(est.)
Services: 52.6%
Industry: 31.2%
Agriculture: 16.2.1%
Industrial growth (April-February 2008-09): 2.8 Per cent
Broad Money (M3) growth (as of Aug 2014): Rs. 9920580 Crore
Forex Reserves (for the end of Jan,2015): US $ 328.7 billion
Cumulative amount of FDI inflows (April 2014 to Feb 2015): US$ 28.813 billion
Exchange rate INR/1 USD: 61.69 (as on Jan 22, 2015)
Food grain stocks(as on July 01, 2014): 61 million tonnes
Exports:
April-March, 2014-15: US$ 310.533 billion Imports:
April- March, 2014-15: US$ 447.548 billion
Average literacy rate (census 2011): 74.04%
Life expectancy for males (2013 est): 66.38 years
Life expentancy for Females(2013 est):68.7 years
Note: The financial year for India is April 1st - March 31st
Sectoral Overview
Agriculture
In India,Agriculture still remains the predominant sector in termsof employment and livelihood with more than half of India's workforce engagedin it as a principal occupation. Agriculture still contributes significantly toexport earnings and is an important source of raw materials as well as ofdemand for many industries. In 2013-14 India achieved a record food grain production of 264million tonnes (MT), beating the previous year's (2012-13) 257 MT, according todata provided by Department of Economics and Statistics (DES). The Indianagricultural services and the agricultural machinery sectors have umulativelyattracted foreign direct investment (FDI) equity inflows to the tune of US$365.79 million in the period April 000-September 2014, according to theDepartment of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the backbone of the economy. Global competitiveness in manufacturing fosters growth, productivity and employment and strengthens the agriculture and servicesectors. India has the potential to become a manufacturing hub for textiles,automobiles,steel, metals and petroleum products for the world market. The General Index for the month of February 2015 stands at 181.3,which is 5.0% higher as compared to the level in the month of February 2014.The cumulative growth for the period April-February 2014-15 over the corresponding period of the previous year stands at 2.8%. Some of the importantitems showing high positive growth during the financial year are leather goods,non metallic mineral products, basic metal and alloy industries, textile.
Services
Since thebeginning of the tenth five-year plan, industry and services have acted as twinengines propelling overall growth of the economy.Service sector growthcontinued to be broad based. Among the three subsectors of services, trade,hotels, transport and communication services continued to lead by growing atdouble-digit rates since 2003-2004. Impressive progress in the railwaypassenger network and production of commercial vehicles, rapid addition to theexisting stock of telephone connections, particularly mobiles, growth in thefinancial services (banking, insurance and real estate) and the constructionboom were some of the driving segments of the service sector. |