<b>Economic Survey:</b> Return to realism

Demonetisation bites: 2016-17 GDP growth pegged at 6.5-6.75%

The Economic Survey for 2016-17, released on Tuesday, provided a refreshingly realistic assessment of the many challenges facing the Indian economy in the coming years. It outlined these challenges, including possible global economic turbulence and the after-effects of demonetisation, before discussing policies that could revive investment and restore growth. Launching India to a high-growth trajectory would take “shifts in the underlying vision”, the Survey said.

The estimates of growth in gross domestic product (GDP) were sobering. The Survey noted that first-half growth in the current financial year, at 7.2 per cent, was “on the weaker side” of last year’s Economic