The Economic Survey 2025 tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, projects a 6.3 – 6.8% growth rate for FY 26, ahead of the Union Budget 2025-26. But, what does it mean to the common citizens like us? While the survey acclaims as a means for development and inclusion, a closer look reveals a different story one where corporate interests take precedence over essential public welfare reforms.
In the name of “Getting out of the way”, it advocates for government stepping away from the path of business. The Survey prioritizes ‘Ease of Doing Business’ over much-needed structural interventions in healthcare, education, and employment security. It is high time for a GST 2.0 and the current scenario is all about tax terrorism, surprisingly the report remains silent on these issues. The government continues its deregulation drive, easing labour laws and decriminalizing business regulations—even at the cost of worker rights. The so-called labour reforms frame worker protections, such as overtime pay requirements, as barriers to job creation, when in reality, they erode decent employment opportunities. The celebratory note that the Survey strikes around the multi-year low NPA figures in fact has been achieved with huge write offs largely to corporates. And the provisions for these has meant lesser lending to priority sector. The Survey remains silent about these though.
As far as infrastructure is concerned, the Survey pats its back for the capex spending. But here again, the priority seems more on pomp than on people. When it comes to railways, for instance, it meant spending more on show than on safety. The fact that the govt had the money to spend lavishly on a 500 km strength for high speed Mumbai Ahmedabad railway but relatively pittance on railways safety like kavach shows the priorities.
The Survey paints a rosy picture of employment, citing a decline in unemployment from 6% in 2017-18 to 3.2% in 2023-24 and a rise in self-employment from 52.2% to 58.4%. But let’s be clear: this is not a sign of economic progress—it’s a reflection of precarity. The shift from salaried jobs to self-employment does not indicate a surge in entrepreneurship but rather a lack of stable, decent-paying jobs. Household income growth has slowed, rural wages are stagnant, and organized sector wage growth is decelerating. If this is “inclusive growth,” then where is the inclusion?
The impact is particularly stark for women. The proportion of women in regular wage jobs fell from 10.5% to 7.8% between 2017-18 and 2023-24 respectively, forcing many into unpaid or self-exploitative labour. Yet, rather than acknowledging this failure, Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya recently pushed for a ‘gender-sensitive’ redefinition of employment—one that conveniently counts unpaid domestic work as economic participation.
As far as Climate costs are concerned, the survey makes it clear than more than cutting down on coal, the emphasis would be more on “adaptation” than emission mitigation. It takes note that the climate action is integrally linked to global shifts which, it acknowledges, is moving towards an uncertain future. It takes note of the fact that the age of globalisation is drawing to a close, but it doesn’t seem to have a solid alternative charted out.
The Budget this year poses a crucial question: Will it bring people-first economic policies, or will it reinforce the corporate-led status quo that deepens existing inequities? The numbers may tell one story, but the reality of India’s working class tells another.
– Team CFA