From: Capt.(Dr.) S G Naravane
I compiled these points after an argument with one of my friends who said that all this government is doing is marketing and cheap politics. I did not have a definite answer at the top of my mind then, but given the scores of reports I had read as part of my official work, I had a fair bit of an idea that he might be off the mark on that comment.
One request I have from you before you read on – please keep an open mind. For the duration of this answer, forget about what you've been hearing in the media and just focus on the facts below (these have been accumulated from various sources, including other answers on Quora after verification).
Here we go…
· We know about the whole story around our strong GDP etc.; here are few details about the same which are not being discussed on news panels as they are busy with beef and intolerance stories:
- The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index which details out the growth of various sectors in an economy such as mining, electricity and manufacturing. If you say Make in India is not working: IIP as of 25 sept 2015 stands at 2.8% (was -0.1% in 2014 under UPA). Make in India is a first of its kind initiative which encourages companies to manufacture products in India. I would go ahead and attribute some of this stupendous growth in indices to this initiative – feel free to disagree and please let me know if you think otherwise
- Manufacturing, the most neglected sector in our country for decades, is now one of the biggest contributor to GDP growth; Read online to understand why a fledgling economy would always need a dominant agriculture and manufacturing sector (This should help you get started:Manufacturing very important to India: Willy C Shih)
- Fiscal deficit target retained at 4.1 pc of GDP for current fiscal and 3.6 pc in FY 16
- Control over the double digit inflation figures, fall in the customer price inflation to less than 5%, a drastic cut in the current account deficit on trade, fall in the commodity prices etc.
- Fuel price deregulation to avoid subsidies in the future and also to avoid sudden increase/decrease leading to artificial gaps and pressure on the market (read: common people) — if you think subsidies are good (as certain state governments would make you believe), please consult someone with an economics background to understand how subsidies actually hurt people in the long run and are a mechanism by which governments make popular, mass-pleasing decisions while actually hurting the economy – all the while making you believe that you are paying less when the balance actually comes out of your own pocket
EDIT: based on a comment on this answer, I'm including a couple of articles for your reference on this point: 1. https://www.imf.org/external/pub… , and 2. IMF applauds India for cutting fuel subsidy; and just to add some more facts:- Fact 1: Decontrolling or deregulating the petrol prices mean that, the government will no longer be subsidizing petrol prices and the prices will be purely linked to the international crude prices. However, perfect deregulation won't/can't happen overnight and you have to bring some sort of sanity back into the system in small steps.
- Fact 2: India's total fuel subsidy has fallen to Rs 22,000 crore in April-December from Rs 76,000 crore in the year-ago period (India's crude oil import bill for current fiscal may fall 45% – The Economic Times ).
- Fact 3: And just to elaborate on what UPA did and did not do –Spending on subsidies surged, education and health lagged during 10 years of UPA – Times of India ; to quote- "Much higher on the list, at number three, is petroleum as higher fuel subsidies have pushed up the allocation more than 18 times to around Rs 65,200 crore in 2013-14, compared with Rs 3,567 crore in the revised estimates for 2004-05"
- PSUs in profit (BSNL reporting operating profit after almost a decade; others doing well too)
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