Ever since a prominent industrialist used a public forum to express his angst against the government, sections of the media and the opposition are using his statements to target the government. Many others joined the chorus and charged that the government is averse to listening to criticism and does not want to address the concerns of the industry. The debate started after the government made public the last quarter GDP growth rate which has seen a decline. Manmohan Singh who presided over the worst economic slump used the opportunity to get back at the government saying the central government is not even ready to meet the industry leaders and take their suggestions.
On Dec 1st, another businesswomen from Bengaluru accused the government of not wanting to hear to criticism of the economy. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman then responded to the allegations and provided proof of all the meetings held with the representatives of the industry across various sectors during the last four months. FM’s response had laid to rest the accusation that the government is not meeting and hearing the industry. The fact that the government and the FM met numerous stakeholders from the industry over the last many months has exposed the fake controversy created over the issue by vested interests.
The list put out by FM indicates that she has met representatives from banks, MSMEs, automobile sector, CII, real estate, traders, construction, healthcare, mobile manufacturing, textile and FICCI. The meetings were held in different cities of India and in Washington DC too.
Economy to bounce back soon
Nirmala Sitharaman has also said that issues raised by industrialists are heard and answered/addressed. She has cautioned that in an effort to gain traction one should not spread one’s own impressions which can hurt national interest. As a metric the FM has also put out the GST collections which have witnessed a growth of 12 % during the year. GST revenue has crossed Rs. 1 trillion in November with the revenue growing by 6%. Allaying fears of FIIs not investing in India, the FM has said that Foreign investors remained net buyers for third month, investing Rs 22,872 crore in November.
Though the GDP growth rate has seen a decline, the Q3 GDP numbers are expected to be better said the FM at a award function on Nov 30. She said that the governemnt is actively moving forward on getting new industries to India which are moving out of China. A task force has already started contacting companies to shift back to India and already talks have been held with 12 such companies informed the FM.
She also informed that Rs.2.5 lakh crore worth of loans have been disbursed in loan outreach programmes held during the weeks of navratras and diwali. The govt alongside RBI has proved that there was no liquidity shortage in the system. Top 5 IT firms have seen 18% jump in hiring in the first half indicating that there was no job slump as it has been showcased, she said.
