Budget Session 2025 Highlights: A look at PM Modi, President Murmu's speeches to key points in the Economic Survey

The Economic Survey 2024-25 warned that India needs to steer clear of entering a pension crisis like those in Greece and Italy.

The 480-page document has highlighted that India needs a pension system that is designed to be both sustainable and scalable based on its unique demography and labour market.

The survey said, the traditional “Pay-As-You-Go” (PAYGO) schemes do not ensure that funding from the younger workforce that pays pensions to retirees changes with a change in demography.

Inflation also plays a crucial role– small differences in how pensions are adjusted for inflation can lead to significant variations in payments over time.

Read more about what can be done to solve these challenges here.

Over the long term, FDI inflows into India have exceeded $1 trillion from April 2000 to September 2024, reinforcing the country’s status as a significant global investment hub, according to the Economic Survey 2024-25.

According to the survey, citing the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), cumulative FDI inflows, including equity, reinvested earnings, and other capital, reached $1,033.4 billion during this period.

Read more about this here.

The Economic Survey 2024-25 flagged unsecured credit in the form of personal loans and credit cards as an area of concern within the banking system. The document tabled in the Parliament on Friday said that over half (51.9 per cent) of the fresh addition to the stock of non-performing assets (NPAs) in the retail loan portfolio emanated from the slippages in the unsecured loan book.

“The RBI FSR (December 2024) notes that nearly half of borrowers with credit card and personal loans also have another active retail loan, often substantial, such as a housing or vehicle loan. When a borrower defaults on any loan category, financial institutions classify all loans of that borrower as non-performing. Hence, their larger, secured loans face delinquency risks due to defaults in smaller personal loans,” the document said.

“India is a majorly services driven economy, with a significant share of the IT. Workforce is employed in low-value added services, which are most susceptible to automation, as firms to cut costs may substitute labour for technology,” Chief Economic Advisor of India V Anantha Nageswaran said while speaking to the press.

He pointed out that India is a consumption-based economy. A fall in consumption, resulting from the displacement of workforce, is bound to have macroeconomic implications. If the worst-case plays out, it can send growth trajectory off course.

“India is a majorly services driven economy, with a significant share of the IT. Workforce is employed in low-value added services, which are most susceptible to automation, as firms to cut costs may substitute labour for technology,” Chief Economic Advisor of India V Anantha Nageswaran said while speaking to the press.

He pointed out that India is a consumption-based economy. A fall in consumption, resulting from the displacement of workforce, is bound to have macroeconomic implications. If the worst-case plays out, it can send growth trajectory off course.

Addressing a joint session of Parliament, President Murmu emphasised that the Ayushman Bharat Scheme is set to provide health insurance to six crore senior citizens aged 70 years and above.

She also spoke of the Lakpati Didi scheme, suggesting that it has empowered women who will lead economic growth. She said there are plans to create 3 crore Lakpati Didis.

Read more about it here.

The Economic Survey is likely to project a 6.3-6.8 per cent GDP growth for the next fiscal year, PTI reported citing sources.

The survey, authored by Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageshwaran and his team, will be tabled in Parliament soon. India’s GDP is projected to grow at a 4-year low pace of 6.4 per cent in the current fiscal. This is being attributed to weak manufacturing and investments.

Read more about the projection here.

President Murmu said that due to the efforts of her government in recent years, India has become a global leader when it comes to the cultural stage of the world.

She also spoke about the role of ‘Vishwabandhu’ that the country has played, extending a helping hand to nations overcome by mnatural calamities.

President Murmu delivered high praise to the country’s progress in terms of infrastructure development in railway networks, aviation and metro connectivity.

She pointed out that India’s metro network has now crossed the 1,000-km milestone. The country’s aviation sector is progressing rapidly with the airline companies placing orders of 1700 new aircraft. Moreover, railways will now connect Kashmir in the northernmost part of the country to Kanyakumari in the South with the completion of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link, she said.

1. Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)
2. Ayushman Bharat
3. Ude Desh ka Aam Nagarik (UDAAN)
4. PM Ujwala Yojana
5. Jal Jeevan Mission
6. Lakhpati Didi
7. PM Kisan Samman Nidhi (KISAN)

Follow President Droupadi Murmu’s speech in the Budget session live here:

#BudgetOnFirstpost: Ahead of India's budget session 2025-26, President Droupadi Murmu addresses a joint sitting of both the Houses of the Indian parliament. https://t.co/dHgLIFQD3P

— Firstpost (@firstpost) January 31, 2025