Indian Finance Minister to present country's state of economy ahead of national budget

The government is expected to boost public infrastructure to stimulate economic growth and create jobs

India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman prepares to present her interim budget to Parliament on February 1. The Economic Survey is to be presented on Monday July 22, a day before the national budgShow more

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present India's Economic Survey on Monday, an annual report that provides indicators of possible policy changes in the 2024-2025 budget scheduled to be submitted to Parliament on Tuesday.

The annual government report reviews gross domestic product growth and inflation over the previous year and provides data on industry, agriculture, employment, prices and exports.

A brief economic review tabled in January, before the general election held from April to June, said that India could become a $7 trillion economy by 2030.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to speed up economic growth after winning a third consecutive term.

However, his policy decisions could be influenced by partners in the National Democratic Alliance government after his Bharatiya Janata Party failed to win a majority.

Many commentators have said unemployment, high taxes, inflation and growing economic disparity are reasons for the BJP's poor performance after sweeping back-to-back polls in 2014 and 2019.

Ms Sitharaman, who will be presenting her seventh budget on Tuesday, is under pressure to introduce income tax relief for the salaried class, lower the cost of housing loans, announce a cash transfer scheme for poor urban women and increase spending on welfare schemes.

She presented an interim budget on February 1.

Mr Modi's government is expected to continue building public infrastructure to stimulate economic growth and create jobs, with billions of dollars spent since 2014 on upgrading motorways, waterways, airports and railways.

In the past four years, the government has opened freight corridors and launched high-speed train services, opened seven airports and laid the foundations for 15 new airport terminals and more than 35 million homes for the poor.

However, Mr Modi had failed to deliver on economic promises made during the 2019 election, including the creation of 10 million jobs.

The country of 1.4 billion people is facing a job crisis, with the unemployment rate hovering around 8.1 per cent in April, according to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.