New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said policy consistency, political stability and decisive leadership are essential for the growth and making India the third largest global economy in the years to come.
Speaking at the annual day celebrations of the Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), the minister said that ‘flip-flop’ policies affect economic performance as happened in the past when India became one of the fragile five economies of the world.
“We need political stability, consistency and decisive political decision-making” for growth, the Minister said while recalling the achievements of the NDA government in the past nine years.
India has moved up the ladder from the tenth-largest economy in 2014 to the fifth-largest economy currently, she said.
“To say that it is a fait accompli and India will become the third largest economy on its own is to undermine the efforts of the entrepreneurs, farmers and other sections that are pushing India upwards,” she added.
Talking about the impact of policies pursued by the Modi government, Sitharaman said that out of the total FDI inflow of USD 919 billion during the past 23 years, nearly 65 per cent or USD 595.25 billion came during the last nine years.
She further said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the Nudge Theory of renowned economist and Nobel Laureate Richard Thaler as a tool to promote economic activity tailored to India’s requirements.
The usage of the Nudge Theory, she said, could be seen in “the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ Scheme, which has improved the sex ratio; subsidised loans to women under Stand-up India; and for nudging people to give up their LPG cylinder subsidy”.
Similarly, the minister said, the PM SVANidhi Scheme was launched to give credit facilities to street vendors to reduce their dependence on middlemen and added the same principle has been applied in the PM Vishwakarma Yojana.
Prime Minister Modi, Sitharaman said, “strongly believes in ‘Empowering’ people, giving them the choice of what they want to do, spending on fundamental things that give them the power to decide where they want to be, and providing them with access to resources and essential facilities like housing, roads, drinking water, toilets, etc.”
