Stock markets have given a big thumbs up to the Narendra Modi-led government with a 448-point salute, pushing Sensex to a new peak at 30750 on the eve of the government’s third anniversary. India is riding the fastest economic growth by any country. As the government celebrates three years in office, it claims the country has seen an overall growth in most macroeconomic indicators since the time it came to power. What is more, the country is all set to implement the long-awaited goods and services tax by July 1.

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As the PM himself claimed, the fiscal deficit, balance of payments deficit and inflation have all come down while the GDP growth rate, forex reserves and public capital investments have increased. PM Modi has cited two crucial factors behind India’s growth — universal banking and universal biometric identification Aadhar. The biggest banking revolution since Independence, Jan Dhan Yojana has seen over 280 million new bank accounts. Data from the Department of Financial Services says that the average deposit per account has increased from Rs 1,064 in March 2015 to Rs 2,235 in March 2017.

While almost every Indian family has got a bank account, Aadhar has prevented undeserving people from claiming benefits illegally, which has led to large fiscal savings.

Surely, it is a long way for India ahead. While some mega projects such as ‘Digital India’ and ‘Make-in-India’ have produced excitement, the government needs to focus more on job creation for the youth, and lift millions of poor above the poverty line through sustained programmes.