Fast forward, to 1991, when Bharat was about to go bankrupt (the Indian rupee collapsed, forex reserves were just left for 13 days to cover essential imports, the fiscal deficit went up to 9.4 per cent of the GDP, Bharat had to take its gold to the Bank of England and pawn it to raise the forex reserves), the then late Prime Minister of Bharat Shri PV Narasimha Rao rescued and forced the reforms ending the License Raj and freeing up blocked capital of the banks. By 1991, Bharat’s contribution to the world GDP had fallen to a mere 2 per cent which was 4 per cent at the time of Independence. Unfortunately, after the first set of reforms, the Prime Minister’s party itself didn’t allow further reforms and the result was again a failed decade. Vajpayee Government in 1999– 2000 with strong will and little support from coalition partners for the first time, thought and acted to take Bharat on the global stage. Big spending was done on the creation of world class infrastructure and Bharat started to shine again. Unfortunately, humble and honest Vajpayee Ji fell into the trap of politics and lost elections in 2004. The next ten years, 2004- 2024) Bharat saw limited to no reforms with a silent Prime Minister who only acted on the words of the High Command. Corruption, minority appeasement, unsafe cities, unsafe borders, enabled a regime change and since then there has been no looking back. 
“It is the collective drive, relentless in nature, which has transformed a dream into a powerful movement. The impact of ‘Make in India’ shows that Bharat is unsoppable”: Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
Present Day Fact
In the last decade under the strong willed and strong execution leadership, Bharat has seen immense progress. The last 10 years have seen a change that couldn’t even be envisaged in 2014. Some of them are being highlighted here, though the list is long.
GDP: Bharat was ranked 10th largest in Nominal GDP terms and was considered among the fragile five in 2014. In 2024, it is the 5th largest economy in the World, poised to become 3rd largest in the next couple of years.
Safety of Citizens and Safety of Borders: In the last 10 years, communal riots and terrorist attacks have more than halved and the number of casualties has been reduced by more than three-fourths. China’s and Pakistan’s aggression has been retaliated with an iron hand, with both countries getting a tough lesson.
Alleviation Of Poverty: Between 2015 and 2021, poverty was reduced in Bharat from 24.85 per cent to 14.96 per cent. Also, 27 crore people were pulled out from absolute poverty in the last 10 years.
World Class Infrastrure: In March 2014, (~67 years from independence), Bharat had a National Highway Network of ~ 91,287 KMs. Whilst the same jumped by 60% in last 10 years to 146,126 KMs. Post-COVID-19, when the Western world was doling out cash to drive demand, Bharat emptied pockets to build world-class infrastructure, igniting growth across sectors, and taking Bharat to emerge as the fastest growing major economy in the world.
Most Economists speak and give reference of the US Capitalists; model of growth and speak about infrastructure creation as one of the reasons for the US economy’s progress. “Did the US create Highways, or Highways created the US” Today Bharat with its Ekatamik approach has the second largest road network with 6,700,000 KMs, whilst the US still leads with 7,044,453 KMs of road network. Bharat will supersede the US in the road Network by 2030. The Government is spending a whopping 44.3 lakh crores from 2019 to 2025 whilst the same figure for 2009 to 2014 stood at 1.57 Lakh crore, a 28X jump in a decade in creating a circular multiplier effect, giving a boost to the economy and households in an uncertain chaotic world around.
Entrepreneurial Expansion: As the economy opened up, corporate and Government slavery gave way to animal instincts in entrepreneurship. In the last 10 years, there has been a significant jump in the emergence of startups and their success due to friendly Government policies. In 2014, there were a mere 3 Unicorns (a disgraceful situation, in a large country like Bharat) whilst that number in a decade stands at 117, third after the US and China. In 2014, there were a mere 350 startups in India and today that number is over 140,000, an exponential jump. In 2015, Bharat was ranked 81 st on the Home of Innovators list and today, it has moved up to 39 th rank in 2024 as per the rules and criteria set by the West, not by Bharat.
Booming and Sturdy Banking System: Good intent and earnest approach with no scams brought the banking NPA (Non- Performing Assets, Bad Debts, Default on Loans) down from 11 per cent in 2014 to 0.6 per cent in 2024. There was a famous quote that was used often by Bankers before 2014. “A promoter of the Company comes on a cycle to borrow money in the form of a loan from a Public Sector Bank. And after a few years, he comes back to the same bank in a Mercedes to give reasons why he is unable to pay back the loan.” Corporate taxes were reduced from 35 per cent to 25 per cent, whilst tax-exemption income for individuals jumped from Rs 2 lakh rupees per annum to Rs 7.75 lakhs in 2024. Despite the reduced tax, fiscal prudence has remained intact and improved through the years sequentially. The list continues but sectors that were unheard of a decade back, fighter planes, semiconductors, Apple smartphones, Drones, Geospatial Infra manufacturing, today are a reality. For Bharat’s juggernaut to continue it is critical that Bharat’s natives believe in Bharat’s cause and Bharat’s story, else history will continue to repeat every time, where Bharat’s own Jaichands will keep backstabbing Bharat’s Prithviraj Chauhan for their own petty, selfish and egomaniacal reasons.
Comments