Highlights of CEA Subramanian press meet on Economic Survey: from 'wealth creation' to ‘Thalinomics'

Mr. Subramanian stressed that India’s aspiration to become a $5 trillion economy depends critically on promoting “pro-business” policy and moving away from “pro-crony” policy.

The theme for the 2019-20 Economic Survey is 'wealth creation', said Chief Economic Advisor CEA Krishnamurthy Subramanian on Friday, soon after the Survey was tabled in the Lok Sabha on the eve of the Union Budget.

This year’s Economic Survey introduces ‘Thalinomics’ in an attempt to quantify what a common person pays for a Thali [a plate of food] across India, he said.

Mr. Subramanian stressed that India’s aspiration to become a $5 trillion economy depends critically on promoting “pro-business” policy and moving away from “pro-crony” policy.

"We have a slowdown in the Indian economy, and part of it is because of the global economy slowing down in 2019," Mr. Subramanian said at the press conference.

"India’s aspiration to become a $5 trillion economy depends critically on promoting “pro-business” policy that unleashes the power of competitive markets to generate wealth, and weaning away from “pro-crony” policy that may favour specific private interests, especially powerful incumbents."

Government intervention, sometimes though well intended, he said, often ends up undermining the ability of the markets to support wealth creation and leads to outcomes opposite to those intended.

"For example, frequent and unpredictable imposition of blanket stock limits on commodities under Essential Commodities Act distorts the incentives for the creation of storage infrastructure by the private sector, movement up the agricultural value chain and development of national market for agricultural commodities.

"Exports of network products, which is expected to equal $7 trillion worldwide in 2025, can contribute a quarter of the increase in value-added for the $5 trillion economy by 2025. This can also enable India to create 4 crore well-paid jobs by 2025 and 8 crore by 2030."

The CEA said that ease of doing business is key to entrepreneurship, innovation and wealth creation.

"India has risen significantly in the World Bank’s Doing Business rankings. However, India lags in some aspects such as – starting a business, registering property, paying taxes and enforcing contracts."

The CEA recommended a health index that can be used as an early warning system to anticipate liquidity crisis in an NBFC.