India transformed from fragile five to top five economies under Modi: Shah

Claiming that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will determine the future of the nation for the next 25 years, the Union Minister said, “The next five years will decide where the nation will be in the next 25 years when Bharat will be celebrating its 100th year of independence.”

Referring to the UPA government led by Sonia Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh, Shah said, “The economy was in a shambles. The trust of the investors was lost. Scams worth Rs 12 lakh crore had shaken the confidence of the nation… crony capitalism was at its peak. Inflation was sky-rocketing, fiscal deficit was out of control, we were at the lowest rank in ease of doing business.”

Adding that the Modi regime through firm decisions put an end to cross border terrorism, the BJP leader said, “After three decades, India is seeing a stable government in Modi’s leadership with the country set to emerge as the third largest economy by 2047.”

He said the average inflation rate from 2004 to 2014 was 8.2 per cent and in double digits between 2010-11 and 2013-14. “Today the inflation rate is below 5 per cent,” he said, adding that the BJP government has reformed banks, corrected forex mismanagement and started a different kind of politics.

“If I have to talk about our economy then I will have to point out the PLI Policy, National Policy on Electronics, Make in India, Start-Up India, Stand Up India, Skill India, GST, DHRUV, Digital India, Quantum Mission, New Education Policy, Skill Policy, Space Policy, Drone Policy, Green hydrogen Mission Policy, Govardhan and Green India. All these policies have shaped our economy and shown the best example of a policy-driven state,” said Shah.

According to Shah, the capital expenditure increased in railways from Rs 2 lakh crore to Rs 5.22 lakh crore, and doubled in sports and tourism. The fund allocated as capital expenditure by the last budget of the Manmohan Singh government was Rs 2 lakh crore which Prime Minister Modi increased to Rs 11 lakh crore.

Reiterating the government’s promise of making the country a USD 5 trillion economy by 2027, he said, “Since 1947, Bharat has received FDI worth USD 1,000 billion, of which USD 600 billion was received in the past nine years. Now every state gets investments symmetrically. FDI used to come from a few nations but now it comes from 160 nations… Indian industries need to enhance their scale and size to take advantage of this new growth.”