Modi Slams Congress, Promotes Govt Schemes at Bloomberg Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at the Bloomberg India Economic Summit 2016.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking at the Bloomberg Economic Forum on Monday, 28 March 2016. (Photo Courtesy: Bloomberg India)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at the Bloomberg Economic Forum and used every opportunity to promote government schemes launched by his government.

His much-talked-about claim of doubling the income of farmers in the coming years formed a major part of the speech.

Speaking about efforts by his government in the direction of doubling farmers’ income, he said that the government has initiated various efforts in the direction. Listed below are few of the government efforts;

• Increase in budget for improved irrigation
  
• Holistic approach towards water conservation
  
• Provision of quality seeds
  
• Reduction of post-harvest losses
  
• Increase in budget for storage
  
• Establishment of national agricultural market
  
• Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna to control risks beyond farmers’ control at an affordable price
  

He then claimed that it has been one of the few rare years where the government has managed to lower the cost of production and still increase the net income of the farmers.

MS Swaminathan wrote to me expressing gratitude for the farmer-centric budget. On the whole, the budget has tried to be as pro-farmer as possible. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

FDI

Taking a dig at the critics of the rate of growth presented by the government, Modi presented a slew of statistics while addressing a gathering at the Bloomberg Economic Forum.

There are some who remain confused and have said the growth rate does not ‘feel’ right. Perhaps I can be of some assistance to them in reducing the confusion, by stating facts in place of feelings.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking at the Bloomberg Economic Forum on Monday, 28 March 2016. (Photo Courtesy: Bloomberg India)

Claiming that the FDI in the third quarter of the current financial year is at an all-time high, Modi said that the FDI in construction has increased by 316 percent and the hardware industry has seen 285 percent growth.

While credit off-take in the year to February increased by 11.5 percent, overall fund flow to the corporate sector through equity and borrowings rose by over 30 percent in the first three quarters of 2015-16.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

The FDI in fertiliser, sugar and agriculture machinery has increased manifold, he has said, repeatedly stressing in the farmer-friendly efforts of the government policies.

In insurance, Rs 9,600 crore of FDI in 12 companies from leading global insurers has already been approved.

Education and Employment Generation

Employment generation and improvement in the quality of education were two of the other points raised by Modi.

Promoting the government’s direct funds transfer scheme, Modi claimed that the MUDRA yojna sanctioned 31 million loans worth $19 billion to entrepreneurs.

For employment generation, Modi said the government has allowed 30 percent weighted tax deduction on extra wage cost for three years to companies increasing their workforce.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking at the Bloomberg Economic Forum on Monday, 28 March 2016. (Photo Courtesy: Bloomberg India)

With a view to empowering higher education institutions and help them attain the highest standards, an enabling regulatory architecture will be provided to ten public and ten private institutions to make them meet world-class standards, Modi said.

Their regulatory framework will be separate from existing structures like the University Grants Commission and All India Council for Technical Education. They will have complete autonomy on academic, administrative and financial matters. We will provide additional resources for the next five years for the 10 public universities. This will eventually allow ordinary Indians affordable access to world-class degree courses. This initiative is the beginning of a journey to restore the original mandate of higher education regulators.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

PM Modi also said that the government has taken the responsibility for paying pension contributions for three years for all new persons enrolling in the Employee Provident Fund. This will apply to those with wages up to Rs 15,000 per month.

Read his complete speech here.

(With PTI inputs)