The Economic Survey (2022-23) was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, kicking off the Budget 2023 session. As per the report, India’s GDP growth is said to be the lowest in three years, at 6-6.8 per cent. Inflation was pegged at 6.8 per cent for the current fiscal. The Survey also noted that Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has seen a great boost in recent years, registering a growth in value as well as volume, in turn leading to global adoption.
The survey noted that between 2019 and 2022, UPI-based transactions grew 121 per cent in value and 115 per cent in volume. Developed by the National Payments Corportation of India (NPCI), the instant real-time payment service was first introduced by former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan on April 11, 2016.
ALSO READ: Centre's MSP Boost For Crops Powered Agriculture Sector To Robust Growth
In terms of digital public goods, the Survey noted that several government schemes have transformed the country’s marketplace, enabling citizens to access services across multiple sectors. These schemes include the likes of MyScheme, TrEDS, GEM, e-NAM, and UMANG.
The Survey went on to note that the consent-based data sharing framework — Account Aggregator — is presently live across over 110 crore bank accounts. Additionally, the Open Credit Enablement Network looks to democratise lending operations while allowing end-to-end digital loan applications.
The Survey also noted that legislations are being introduced to ensure better user privacy, creating an ecosystem for standard, open, and interoperable protocols underlining robust data governance.
ALSO READ: Current Account Deficit May Continue To Widen Due To Rising Commodity Prices
Furthermore, as per the Economic Survey, the total telephone subscriber base in India stands at 117.8 crore, as of September 2022. Out of this, 44.3 per cent subscribers are based out of rural India.
As of March 2022, the overall teledensity stood at 84.8 per cent.
Between 2015 and 2021, the Survey noted that Internet subscriptions in rural areas saw a whopping 200 per cent increase.
Sitharaman will be presenting the Union Budget in Parliament tomorrow.