The annual Economic Survey, the tabling of which precedes the annual Union Budget in Parliament, throws hints on the nature of budget proposals. The latest Survey 2009-10 was no exception.

Presented by the Finance Minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee, the Survey was euphoric over the prospects of Indian economy reaching double digit growth by 2014. It took note of the fact that the impressive growth maintained by India even after the global slowdown since September 2008 was due to the economy's strong fundamentals as well as the stimulus packages given to industry.

The optimism on the economic growth front, no doubt, flows from the revival in investment and private consumption demand, the impressive growth in exports in November and December 2009 and a remarkable turnaround in the core infrastructure sector. After a setback, agriculture is gradually getting back to the projected path.

The turnaround came in the second quarter of 2009-10 when the economy grew by 7.9 per cent, year-on-year basis. The CSO estimates forecast 7.2 per cent growth in GDP with industrial output growing at 8.2 per cent and service sector at 8.7 per cent. The recovery is particularly impressive despite a decline of 0.2 per cent in agriculture output primarily due to sub-normal monsoon.

The Survey notes with satisfaction that several factors that have emerged from the performance of the economy in the last 12 months augur well for the Indian economy. The gross domestic savings as a percentage of GDP stands at 32.5 per cent in 2008-09 while the gross domestic capital formation stands at 34.9 per cent.