Table of contents | |
Introduction | |
High Frequency Indicators | |
Tourism and Hotel Industry | |
Real Estate | |
IT-BPM Services | |
Ports & Waterways |
The services sector has outperformed other sectors in the Indian economy, playing a crucial role in the country's integration with world trade and capital markets.
Liberalization of services faced challenges in various sub-sectors, but those integrating through trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) exhibited rapid growth with positive spillovers.
Sustainability concerns exist for a services-led growth process, primarily reliant on exports of skill-based services. There is a need to balance external demand with internal demand for sustained growth.
To ensure balanced, equitable, and employment-oriented growth, the services sector should experience more broad-based growth with backward and forward linkages to the rest of the economy.
Infrastructural and regulatory reforms and FDI liberalization can diversify growth sources within India’s services sector and provide the required momentum.
A debate arose regarding the sector leading the growth process in India, with services contributing over 62% to GDP during 2001-12. The Economic Survey 2014-15 favored the manufacturing sector.
Recent empirical studies highlight the interconnectedness between services and manufacturing sectors, emphasizing their role in creating employment and addressing issues related to skilled and unskilled labor force, formality, and informality.
The government's "Make in India" initiative is seen as a timely action to support the growth of the manufacturing sector.
The Economic Survey emphasizes the significance of expanding the railways and increasing public investment to support economic growth.
Findings align with several other recommendations for timely government actions in recent times.
Services sector activity, gauged by Services PMI, recovered swiftly after the waning of the Omicron variant in early 2022. However, setbacks occurred due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and a domestic demand slump.
PMI services rose to 58.5 in December 2022, indicating growth, following an easing of retail inflation (CPI-C).
Bank credit to the services sector experienced significant growth since October 2021, with a year-on-year growth of 21.3% in November 2022, the second-highest in 46 months.
World services trade volume surpassed its pre-pandemic peak in the second quarter of 2022. However, the WTO's Services Trade Barometer Index fell to 98.3 in October 2022, slightly below its baseline, suggesting a moderation in growth in real commercial services in the third quarter of 2022.
Service Sector
India's major trading partners may face a slowdown, potentially leading to a contraction. Conversely, India's services exports could improve due to high inflation in advanced economies, driving up wages and making local sourcing expensive.
India's significant role in services trade is expected to increase, with services exports growing by 27.7% in April-December 2022.
India was the 7th largest recipient of FDI among the top 20 host countries in 2021, receiving the highest-ever FDI inflows of US$ 84.8 billion in 2021-22, according to the World Investment Report 2022 by UNCTAD.
The Covid-19 pandemic had a crippling impact on the services sector. However, with the easing of movement restrictions, near-total vaccination, and the waning of the pandemic, the sector has shown a speedier recovery.
Global tourism is gradually recovering post-pandemic, reaching 63% of the pre-pandemic level in January-September 2022, as per UNWTO's World Tourism Barometer (November 2022).
Hotel occupancy in India, affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, declined to 33-36% in 2020 but recovered to 42-45% in 2021.
A study by the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with NCAER revealed a 32% decline in Tourism Direct Gross Value Added (TDGVA) in 2020-21.
Tourism & Hotel Industry
India is ranked 10th in the Medical Tourism Index 2021, with Medical Value Tourism (MVT) expected to grow to USD 13 billion by 2022. Factors include world-class hospitals, skilled medical professionals, lower treatment costs, and global demand for wellness services.
Government initiatives to make India an attractive destination for specialized tourism include AYUSH Visa for medical tourists, the National Strategy for Sustainable Tourism & Responsible Traveller Campaign, the Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme, and "Heal in India."
The G20 presidency provides a unique opportunity to promote India as a major tourism destination.
The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the real estate sector, leading to project delays, deferment of big-ticket purchases, stagnation of property prices, and scarce funding for developers.
By early 2023, the real estate sector exhibited the following trends:
The hybrid work mode allowed for working from anywhere, encouraging first-time home buyers to move away from conventional metros, resulting in a pent-up demand in the residential real estate markets of Tier II and III cities.
Real Estate Sector
During 2022-23 (April-September), the housing sector surpassed the pre-pandemic level, and the inventory overhang decreased from 44 months in the previous year to 33 months.
Volatility in international markets and a rise in prices of construction materials forced developers to halt ongoing construction works. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for 'cement, lime, and plaster' increased from 127.1 in December 2021 to 137.6 by December 2022.
Recent government measures, including the reduction in import duties on steel products, iron ore, and steel intermediaries, aim to cool off price pressures in the coming times.
According to the Global Real Estate Transparency Index-2022, India's real estate market transparency is among the top ten most improved globally. The composite transparency score improved from 2.82 in 2020 to 2.73 in 2022, credited to increased institutional investment, a growing number of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), regulatory initiatives like RERA and the Model Tenancy Act, and digitization of land registries and market data through platforms like Dharani and Maha RERA.
The IT-BPM (Information Technology and Business Process Management) sector has been the primary driver of India’s exports for the past two decades.
The period between 1999 and 2009 is acknowledged as a decade of growth, while the subsequent decade focused on consolidation, successfully decoupling revenue and employee growth.
The pandemic presented an opportunity for the sector, accelerating digital transformation across various end-user industries.
This acceleration was witnessed through increased investment, adoption of more complex technology, and a strategic shift towards cloud adoption.
Key Developments in the IT-BPM Sector:
As per NASSCOM's Annual Report-2022:
The sea and seashores have historically been crucial sources of opportunity and gateways to prosperity for India.
Ports play a vital role in the economy, handling around 90% of international trade by volume and 79.9% by value.
Recent Developments in the Ports Sector:
Ports & Waterways
Inland Waterways:
The Government enforced the new Inland Vessels Act 2021 to make inland waterways user-friendly, quicker, cost-effective, seamless, with a uniform application of rules and regulations.
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