New Delhi, Feb. 1 -- The Economic Survey on Friday cautioned private firms against underpaying employees and asked them to strike a balance between capital and labour in their own interest because fairer income distribution would boost consumption, accelerate growth and help businesses thrive.

Private sector plays "a very big role" in a large economy, said chief economic adviser V Anantha Nageswaran, the architect of the survey. Pointing at "huge disparity" between growth in corporate profits and growth in wages, he said: "This has been highlighted by several private sector themselves in the last few months," he said underscoring corporate profitability at 15-year high in March 2024.

"In some sense, raising wage and salary growth for wo...