The
performance of the manufacturing sector, in terms of its annual growth, has
been fluctuating during the last 10 years. After experiencing double
digit growth during 2005-06 to 2007-08 and in 2009-10, the growth of the
manufacturing sector slowed down considerably during 2012-13 and 2013-14. The
reasons for the decline in growth of manufacturing sector in recent years
inter-alia are moderation in domestic demand, inflationary pressures, increase
in input costs and slowdown in economies of other parts of the world etc.
Employment and unemployment estimates are
disseminated in the specific rounds of Survey by the National Sample Survey
Office (NSSO). Planning Commission, inter alia using the available NSSO Survey
results at that time etc. estimated in the Twelfth Plan document that
employment in manufacturing which had increased from 44.05 million in 1999-2000
to 55.77 million in 2004-05, had thereafter declined by 5 million to 50.74
million in 2009-10.
NSSO provides only
sector wise ‘Work participation rates’ (WPR), not sector wise number of people
employed. As per 61st and
68th rounds on
‘Employment and Unemployment’ by NSSO, the per thousand distributions of
usually employed persons in the manufacturing sector is as given in the table
below:
In response to persisting high level of
Current Account Deficit (CAD) at 4.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in
2012-13, the Government has taken a number of measures to control CAD and
improve the Balance of Payments situation. These include measures for boosting
exports, curtailing non-essential imports, measures for reducing gold imports,
improving capital inflows and reducing volatility in the foreign exchange
market.
As
noted in Reserve Bank of India’s Fiscal Stability Report June 2014, with modest
recovery in key partner economies and policy measures that had been taken, the
trade balance improved during 2013-14. Thus, the current account which had been
under stress since 2011-12 was brought to a sustainable level during 2013-14
and CAD fell from 4.7 per cent during 2012-13 to 1.7 per cent during 2013-14.
The
information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the
Ministry of Commerce & Industry Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in Rajya Sabha
today.
