Economic Survey 2020-21 to be tabled today. All you need to know

The Budget session of the Parliament is all set to commence with the presentation of the Economic Survey of India today. The chief economic advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian will be the main architect behind the Economic Survey 2020-21. The survey will provide a glance at how Indian economy has progressed in the last 12 months.

Like every year, the Economic Survey 2020-21 will feature the performance of major development programmes and highlight the policy initiatives of the government. It will also note the prospects of the economy in the short to medium term.

This year's Economic Survey is expected to provide a detailed assessment of the impact of coronavirus pandemic on the Indian economy. Serving as a prequel to Budget, the survey will analyse the trends in agricultural and industrial production, infrastructure, prices, jobs, exports, imports, foreign exchange reserves, money supply as well as other relevant economic factors.

Economic Survey 2020-21: When is it?

Presenting Economic Survey before the Union Budget is a longstanding tradition in India. It was first presented in 1950-51 and submitted in the Lok Sabha along with the Union Budget until 1964. In 1964, the ministry started to release the survey a day before budget day. This practice has continued till last year. However, this year's Economic Survey will be tabled three days before the Budget, which is scheduled for 1 February.

In his first Economic Survey in 2019, Subramanian had set an agenda of achieving 8% sustained Gross domestic product (GDP) growth to make India a $5-trillion economy by 2024-25, as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Coronavirus pandemic has severely impacted the economy in 2020. Indian economy contracted by a massive 23.9% year-on-year (YoY) in the April-June quarter. This was the first GDP contraction in more than 40 years. For the July-September quarter, India's GDP contracted 7.5% year-on-year, as per estimates released by the National Statistical Office.

Economic Survey 2020-21 may outline the path to put the economy back on track.