V. Narasimha Rao-led Congress government in the early 1990s. India's GDP growth increased substantially during the tenure of the NDA. The 2004 campaign slogan India Shining was based on the party's belief that the free market would bring prosperity to all sectors of society. After its unexpected defeat, commentators said that it was punished for neglecting the needs of the poor and focusing too much on its corporate allies.
Economic policies
Bharatiya Janata Party
Bharatiya Janata Party | Economic policies
Introduced significant deregulation and privatisation of government owned enterprises. It also introduced tariff-reducing measures. These reforms built off of the initial economic liberalisation Its election manifesto recommended increasing foreign investment in priority sectors, while restricting it in others. The BJP's economic policy has changed considerably since its founding. There is a significant range of economic ideologies within the party. In the 1980s, like the Jana Sangh, it reflected the thinking of the RSS and its affiliates. It supported "swadeshi" (the promotion of indigenous industries and products) and a protectionist export policy. The 2004 campaign slogan India Shining was based on the party's belief that the free market would bring prosperity to all sectors of society.
who is the leader of ruling party in india
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Narendra Modi
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which political party does he currently belong to?
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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
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when was this party established?
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1980
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mention a few of their social policies.
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It is committed to Hindutva, an ideology articulated by Indian independence activist Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
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what are some of their economic policies?
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The BJP's economic policy has changed considerably since its founding. There is a significant range of economic ideologies within the party. In the 1980s, like the Jana Sangh, it reflected the thinking of the RSS and its affiliates. It supported "swadeshi" (the promotion of indigenous industries and products) and a protectionist export policy. However, it supported internal economic liberalisation, and opposed the state-driven industrialisation favoured by the Congress. During the 1996 elections, the BJP shifted its stance away from protectionism and towards globalisation; its election manifesto recommended increasing foreign investment in priority sectors, while restricting it in others. When the party was in power in 1998, it shifted its policy even further in favour of globalisation.
Bharatiya Janata Party | Economic policies
The tenure of the NDA saw an unprecedented influx of foreign companies in India. This was criticised by the left parties and the BJP's affiliates (the RSS and the Swadeshi Jagran Manch). The communist parties said that the BJP was attempting to appease the World Bank and the United States government through its neoliberal policies. Similarly, the RSS stated that the BJP was not being true to its "swadeshi" ideology. The two NDA governments in the period 1998–2004 introduced significant deregulation and privatisation of government owned enterprises. It also introduced tariff-reducing measures. These reforms built off of the initial economic liberalisation introduced by the P.
Bharatiya Janata Party | Economic policies
The Janata government had lesser success in achieving economic reforms. It launched the Sixth Five-Year Plan, aiming to boost agricultural production and rural industries. Seeking to promote economic self-reliance and indigenous industries, the government required multi-national corporations to go into partnership with Indian corporations. The policy proved controversial, diminishing foreign investment and led to the high-profile exit of corporations such as Coca-Cola and IBM from India. But the government was unable to address the issues of resurging inflation, fuel shortages, unemployment and poverty. The legalisation of strikes and re-empowerment of trade unions affected business efficiency and economic production.
Janata Party | Economic policy
V. Narasimha Rao-led Congress government in the early 1990s. India's GDP growth increased substantially during the tenure of the NDA. The 2004 campaign slogan India Shining was based on the party's belief that the free market would bring prosperity to all sectors of society. After its unexpected defeat, commentators said that it was punished for neglecting the needs of the poor and focusing too much on its corporate allies.
Bharatiya Janata Party | Economic policies
Since 1991, when India undertook a series of reforms in the face of a balance-of-payments crisis, the nation has been governed by a broad agreement about its economy. Starting in 2012, India entered a period of more anaemic growth, with growth slowing down to 4.4%. Other economic problems also became apparent: a plunging Indian rupee, a persistent high current account deficit and slow industrial growth. Hit by the US Federal Reserve's decision to taper quantitative easing, foreign investors had been rapidly pulling out money from India though this has now reversed with the Stock market at near all-time high and the current account deficit narrowing substantially.
Bharatiya Janata Party campaign for the 2014 Indian general election | Economy
Economic issues like poverty, unemployment, development are main issues that influence politics. "Garibi Hatao" (eradicate poverty) has been a slogan of the Indian National Congress for a long time. The well known Bharatiya Janata Party encourages a free market economy. The more popular slogan in this field is "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas" (Cooperation with all, progress of all). The Communist Party of India (Marxist) vehemently supports left-wing politics like land-for-all, right to work and strongly opposes neoliberal policies such as globalisation, capitalism and privatisation.
Politics of India | Economic problems
The economic policies of Modi's government focused on privatisation and liberalisation of the economy, based on a neoliberal framework. Modi liberalised India's foreign direct investment policies, allowing more foreign investment in several industries, including in defence and the railways. Other proposed reforms included making it harder for workers to form unions and easier for employers to hire and fire them; some of these proposals were dropped after protests. The reforms drew strong opposition from unions: on 2 September 2015, eleven of the country's largest unions went on strike, including one affiliated with the BJP. The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, a constituent of the Sangh Parivar, stated that the underlying motivation of labour reforms favoured corporations over labourers.
Narendra Modi | Economic policy
In the spring of 2019, the party lauded the economic policies of the Modi government (BJP), stating that the centre had ushered in economic stability and made the country a "decisive player" in regional economics, and voiced support for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which had been opposed by their rival the DMK.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | Economy
Under Rajiv Gandhi, small steps were taken to liberalize the economy. In 1991, the new Congress-party government, led by P. V. Narasimha Rao, initiated reforms to avert the impending 1991 economic crisis. The reforms progressed furthest in opening up areas to foreign investment, reforming capital markets, deregulating domestic business, and reforming the trade regime. The goals of Rao's government were to reduce the fiscal deficit, privatize the public sector, and increase investment in infrastructure. Trade reforms and changes in the regulation of foreign direct investment were introduced in order to open India to foreign trade while stabilising external loans. Rao chose Manmohan Singh for the job.
Indian National Congress | Economic policy
The official philosophy of the BJP is "Integral humanism," a philosophy first formulated by Deendayal Upadhyaya in 1965, who described it as advocating an "indigenous economic model that puts the human being at center stage." It is committed to Hindutva, an ideology articulated by Indian independence activist Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. According to the party, Hindutva is cultural nationalism favouring Indian culture over westernisation, thus it extends to all Indians regardless of religion. However, scholars and political analysts have called their Hindutva ideology an attempt to redefine India and recast it as a Hindu country to the exclusion of other religions, making it a Hindu nationalist party in a general sense.
Bharatiya Janata Party | Social policies and Hindutva
The BJP supports a uniform civil code, which would apply a common set of personal laws to every citizen regardless of their personal religion, replacing the existing laws which vary by religious community. According to historian Yogendra Malik, this ignores the differential procedures required to protect the cultural identity of the Muslim minority. The BJP favours the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India, which grants a greater degree of autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir in recognition of the unusual circumstances surrounding its accession to the Indian Union.
Bharatiya Janata Party | Social policies and Hindutva
The economic policies of Modi's government focused on privatisation and liberalisation of the economy, based on a neoliberal framework. Modi liberalised India's foreign direct investment policies, allowing more foreign investment in several industries, including in defence and the railways. Other reforms included removing many of the country's labor laws, to make it harder for workers to form unions and easier for employers to hire and fire them. These reforms met with support from institutions such as the World Bank, but opposition from scholars within the country. The labour laws also drew strong opposition from unions: on 2 September 2015, eleven of the country's largest unions went on strike, including one affiliated with the BJP.
Premiership of Narendra Modi | Economic policies
The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, a constituent of the Sangh Parivar, stated that the reforms would hurt laborers by making it easier for corporations to exploit them. In his first budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley promised to gradually reduce the budgetary deficit from 4.1% to 3% over two years, and to divest from shares in public banks. Over Modi's first year in office, the Indian GDP grew at a rate of 7.5%, making it the fastest growing large economy. For this the basis was a revised formula introduced a year after he took office, which surprised a lot of economists. However, this rate of growth had fallen significantly to 6.1%, even by the revised metric, by his third year in office.
Premiership of Narendra Modi | Economic policies
The BJP has slightly moderated its stance after the NDA was formed in 1998, due to the presence of parties with a broader set of ideologies. The BJP's Hindutva ideology has been reflected in many of its government policies. It supports the construction of the Ram Temple at the disputed site of the Babri Mosque. This issue was its major poll plank in the 1991 general elections. However, the demolition of the mosque during a BJP rally in 1992 resulted in a backlash against it, leading to a decline of the temple's prominence in its agenda. The education policy of the NDA government reorganised the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and tasked it with extensively revising the textbooks used in Indian schools.
Bharatiya Janata Party | Social policies and Hindutva
In the 2019 Indian general election, unemployment in India was an issue. Economic issues like poverty, unemployment, development are main issues that influence politics. Garibi Hatao (eradicate poverty) has been a slogan of the Indian National Congress for a long time. The well known Bharatiya Janata Party encourages a free market economy. The more popular slogan in this field is Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas (Cooperation with all, progress of all). The Communist Party of India (Marxist) vehemently supports left-wing politics like land-for-all, right to work and strongly opposes neoliberal policies such as globalisation, capitalism and privatisation.
Unemployment in India | Politics
The Janata government had lesser success in achieving economic reforms. It launched the Sixth Five-Year Plan, aiming to boost agricultural production and rural industries. Seeking to promote economic self-reliance and indigenous industries, the government required multi-national corporations to go into partnership with Indian corporations. The policy proved controversial, diminishing foreign investment and led to the high-profile exit of corporations such as Coca-Cola and IBM from India. But the government was unable to address the issues of resurging inflation, fuel shortages, unemployment and poverty. The legalisation of strikes and re-empowerment of trade unions affected business efficiency and economic production. The Janata government tried to curb forgery and black money in India by demonetising notes of 1000, 5000 and 10000 Rupees on 16 January 1978.
Premiership of Morarji Desai | Economic policy
The historical stance of the BJP towards foreign policy, like the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, was based on an aggressive Hindu nationalism combined with economic protectionism. The Bharatiya Jana Sangh was founded with the explicit aim of reversing the partition of India; as a result, its official position was that the existence of Pakistan was illegitimate. This antagonism toward Pakistan remains a significant influence on the BJP's ideology. During the Cold War, the party and its affiliates strongly opposed India's long standing policy of non-alignment, and instead advocated closeness to the United States. The Vajpayee government's foreign policy in many ways represented a radical shift from BJP orthodoxy, while maintaining some aspects of it.
Bharatiya Janata Party | Foreign policy
The GDP growth which was at 3.9% in October 1999, stood between 6.6%—9% and successfully privatised all state-owned corporations and state enterprises before completing his term. However, Aziz's strategy failed deal with underlying problems deeply in country's economy. The global financial crises in 2008 led the sharp dropped in country's economy while acute electricity shortage in the country revealed the incompetence by the Peoples Party's government, but also the failure of his government to developed the necessary energy infrastructure on time.
Shaukat Aziz | Economic policy
The Vajpayee government expanded the process of economic liberalisation initiated by the P.V. Narasimha Rao government (1991–1996). His government initiated the privatisation of most state corporations, including the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. His government also began the establishment of special export processing zones, Information Technology and Industrial Parks across the country to bolster industrial production and exports. In its third term (1999–2004), his government launched the National Highway Development Project, with the first phase being the Golden Quadrilateral. In 2003, the government launched the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (Honouring of Non-Resident Indians) and initiated plans to establish an Overseas citizenship of India to enable NRIs to invest and do business freely in India.
Premiership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee | Economic policy
On July 24, 1991, Manmohan Singh presented the budget alongside his outline for broader reform. During the speech he laid out a new trade policy oriented towards promoting exports and removing import controls. Specifically, he proposed limiting tariff rates to no more than 150 percent while also lowering rates across the board, reducing excise duties, and abolishing export subsidies. In August 1991, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor established the Narasimham Committee to recommend changes to the financial system. Recommendations included reducing the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) and cash reserve ratio (CRR) from 38.5% and 15% respectively to 25% and 10% respectively, allowing market forces to dictate interest rates instead of the government, placing banks under the sole control of the RBI, and reducing the number of public sector banks.
Economic liberalisation in India | Liberalization of 1991
The United Front government attempted a progressive budget that encouraged reforms, but the 1997 Asian financial crisis and political instability created economic stagnation. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)–Atal Bihari Vajpayee administration surprised many by continuing reforms, when it was at the helm of affairs of India for six years, from 1998–99 and from 1999–2004. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance Coalition began privatizing under-performing government-owned business including hotels, VSNL, Maruti Suzuki, and airports. The coalition also began reducing taxes, a fiscal policy aimed at reducing deficits and debts and increased initiatives for public works. Towards the end of 2011, the Congress-led UPA-2 Coalition Government initiated the introduction of 51% Foreign Direct Investment in retail sector.
Economic liberalisation in India | Later reforms
Though he was a socialist, Shastri stated that India cannot have a regimented type of economy. His government passed the National Agricultural Products Board Act and was responsible for setting up the Food Corporation of India under the Food Corporation's Act 1964.
Lal Bahadur Shastri | Economic policies
"Bloomberg" highlighted India's slowing economy amidst a record high current account deficit and a falling rupee in summer 2013. It pointed out to a lack of infrastructure investment and a government increasingly likely to give subsidies the national finances cannot afford just before the election. Other points it mentioned were stagnant policymaking and an inefficient bureaucracy. The economy was the main issue in the campaign. The lack of a clear mandate as a result of the election could lead to an increase in the price of gold in the country.
Bharatiya Janata Party campaign for the 2014 Indian general election | Economy
Singh's ministry enact a National Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in 2005. Singh's government has continued the Golden Quadrilateral and the highway modernisation program that was initiated by Vajpayee's government. Singh has also been working on reforming the banking and financial sectors, as well as public sector companies. The Finance ministry has been working towards relieving farmers of their debt and has been working towards pro-industry policies. In 2005, Singh's government introduced the value added tax, replacing sales tax. In 2007 and early 2008, the global problem of inflation impacted India.
Manmohan Singh | Economic policy
In his election manifesto for the 1984 general election, he did not mention any economic reforms, but after assuming office he tried to liberalise the country's economy. He did so by providing incentives to make private production profitable. Subsidies were given to corporate companies to increase industrial production, especially of durable goods. It was hoped this would increase economic growth and improve the quality of investment. But according to Professor Atul Kohli of Princeton University in a book published by Cambridge University, Gandhi faced stiff opposition from Congress leadership who thought "it would open the economy to external economic influences".
Rajiv Gandhi | Economic policy
Gandhi inherited a weak economy when she again became Prime Minister in 1980. The preceding year in 1979–80 under the Janata Party government had led to the strongest recession (−5.2%) in the history of modern India with inflation rampant at 18.2%. Gandhi proceeded to abrogate the Janata Party government's Five-Year Plan in 1980 and launched the Sixth Five-Year Plan (1980–85). The government targeted an average growth of 5.2% over the period of the plan. Measures to check the inflation were also taken; by the early 1980s inflation was under control at an annual rate of about 5%. Although Gandhi continued professing socialist beliefs, the Sixth Five-Year Plan was markedly different from the years of Garibi Hatao.
Economic policy of the Indira Gandhi government | Operation Forward and the Sixth Five-Year Plan
Under the policies initiated by late Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao and his then-Finance Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, India's economy expanded rapidly. The economic reforms were a reaction to an impending balance of payment crisis. The Rao administration initiated the privatisation of large, inefficient, and loss-inducing government corporations. The UF government had attempted a progressive budget that encouraged reforms, but the 1997 Asian financial crisis and political instability created economic stagnation. The Vajpayee administration continued with privatisation, reduction of taxes, a sound fiscal policy aimed at reducing deficits and debts, and increased initiatives for public works. Cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, and Ahmedabad have risen in prominence and economic importance, becoming centres of rising industries and destinations for foreign investment and firms.
History of India (1947–present) | Economic reforms
Indian economic policy after independence was influenced by the colonial experience, which was seen as exploitative by Indian leaders exposed to British social democracy and the planned economy of the Soviet Union. Domestic policy tended towards protectionism, with a strong emphasis on import substitution industrialisation, economic interventionism, a large government-run public sector, business regulation, and central planning, while trade and foreign investment policies were relatively liberal. Five-Year Plans of India resembled central planning in the Soviet Union. Steel, mining, machine tools, telecommunications, insurance, and power plants, among other industries, were effectively nationalised in the mid-1950s. The Indian economy of this period is characterised as Dirigism.
Economy of India | Pre-liberalisation period (1947–1991)
Under social equality, everyone has equal status and opportunities. Economic equality in this context means that the government will endeavour to make the distribution of wealth more equal and provide a decent standard of living for all. Following independence, the Indian government officially adopted a policy of non-alignment, although it had an affinity with the USSR. The party's commitment to socialism has waned in recent years, particularly following the assassination of Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi. Elected in 1991, the government of Narasimha Rao introduced economic liberalisation with the support of finance minister Manmohan Singh, who later on became the prime minister of India (2004-2014).
Socialism in India | Political parties
The economy of India is characterised as a developing market economy. It is the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and the third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). According to the IMF, on a per capita income basis, India ranked 139th by GDP (nominal) and 118th by GDP (PPP) in 2018. From independence in 1947 until 1991, successive governments promoted protectionist economic policies with extensive state intervention and regulation which is characterised as Dirigism. The end of the Cold War and an acute balance of payments crisis in 1991 led to the adoption of a broad program of economic liberalisation.
Economy of India | Introduction
The history of economic policy of Congress-led governments can be divided into two periods. The first period lasted from independence, in 1947, to 1991 and put great emphasis on the public sector. The second period began with economic liberalization in 1991. At the beginning of the first period, the Congress prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru implemented policies based on import substitution industrialization and advocated a mixed economy where the government-controlled public sector would co-exist with the private sector. He believed that the establishment of basic and heavy industry was fundamental to the development and modernisation of the Indian economy. The government, therefore, directed investment primarily into key public-sector industries—steel, iron, coal, and power—promoting their development with subsidies and protectionist policies.
Indian National Congress | Economic policy
Prabhat Patnaik is a staunch critic of neoliberal economic policies, Hindutva and is known as a social scientist of Marxist-Leninist persuasion. According to him, in India, the increase in economic growth has been accompanied by an increase in the magnitude of absolute poverty. The only solution is to alter the class orientation of the State.
Prabhat Patnaik | Views
GDP and GNP grew 3.9 and 4.0% annually between 1950–1951 and 1964–1965. It was a radical break from the British colonial period, but the growth rates were considered anemic at best in comparison to other industrial powers in Europe and East Asia. India lagged behind the miracle economies (Japan, West Germany, France, and Italy). State planning, controls, and regulations were argued to have impaired economic growth. While India's economy grew faster than both the United Kingdom and the United States, low initial income and rapid population increase meant that growth was inadequate for any sort of catch-up with rich income nations.
Jawaharlal Nehru | Economic policies
This fall has been blamed on the exercise of demonetisation of currency. The funds dedicated to poverty reduction programs and social welfare measures was greatly decreased by the Modi administration. The money spent on social programs declined from 14.6% of GDP during the Congress government to 12.6% during Modi's first year in office. Spending on health and family welfare declined by 15%, and on primary and secondary education, by 16%. The budgetary allocation for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, or the "education for all" program, declined by 22%. The government also lowered corporate taxes, abolished the wealth tax, and reduced customs duties on gold, jewelry, and increased sales taxes.
Premiership of Narendra Modi | Economic policies
Adopted to avert impending 1991 economic crisis, the reforms progressed furthest in the areas of opening up to foreign investment, reforming capital markets, deregulating domestic business, and reforming the trade regime. Rao's government's goals were reducing the fiscal deficit, privatisation of the public sector and increasing investment in infrastructure. Trade reforms and changes in the regulation of foreign direct investment were introduced to open India to foreign trade while stabilising external loans. Rao wanted I. G. Patel as his Finance Minister. Patel was an official who helped prepare 14 budgets, an ex-governor of Reserve Bank of India and had headed The London School of Economics.
P. V. Narasimha Rao | Economic reforms
Indian economic policy after independence was influenced by the colonial experience (which was seen by Indian leaders as exploitative in nature) and by those leaders' exposure to Fabian socialism. Policy tended towards protectionism, with a strong emphasis on import substitution industrialization under state monitoring, state intervention at the micro level in all businesses especially in labour and financial markets, a large public sector, business regulation, and central planning. Five-Year Plans of India resembled central planning in the Soviet Union. Under the Industrial Development Regulation Act of 1951, steel, mining, machine tools, water, telecommunications, insurance, and electrical plants, among other industries, were effectively nationalised.
Economic liberalisation in India | Pre-liberalization policies
The funds dedicated to poverty reduction programmes and social welfare measures were greatly decreased by the Modi administration. The money spent on social programmes declined from 14.6% of GDP during the Congress government to 12.6% during Modi's first year in office. Spending on health and family welfare declined by 15%, and on primary and secondary education by 16%. The budgetary allocation for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, or the "education for all" programme, declined by 22%. The government also lowered corporate taxes, abolished the wealth tax, increased sales taxes, and reduced customs duties on gold, and jewellery. In October 2014, the Modi government deregulated diesel prices.
Narendra Modi | Economic policy
Exchange Rate became stable and predictable; the inflation rate dropped to 3.5% last 3 years as against 11–12% in 1990. After taking control of the economy, Aziz aggressively promoted the privatisation, deregulation and economic liberalisation programme and open the large heavy mechanical industries, petroleum companies, electropetroleum and chemical enterprises and state-owned corporations to private sectors. His tenure as finance minister and prime minister, the agriculture production and construction well increased, whilst aggressively and forcefully implementing his policies to liberalise the trade, and eliminated the non-tariff barriers. Under his regime, the maximum bound tariffs were brought down to high as 300% to 25% whilst the applied tariff averages falls in the range of 5% to 10%.
Shaukat Aziz | Economic policy
The economic package is nearly 10% of the GDP. He added that Special economic package was for labourers, farmers, honest tax payers, MSMEs and cottage industries Modi added that the five main pillars India stands on are – economy, infrastructure, governing systems, vibrant democracy and supply chain.
Indian government response to the COVID-19 pandemic | Communication and economic stimulus
He introduced measures to significantly reduce the "Licence Raj" after 1990, allowing businesses and individuals to purchase capital, consumer goods and import without bureaucratic restrictions.
Rajiv Gandhi | Economic policy
The economic policy adopted by the modern TNCC is free market policies, though at the same time it is in favour of taking a cautious approach when it comes to liberalising the economy claiming it is to help ensure that the weaker sectors are not affected too hard by the changes that come with liberalisation. In the 1990s, however, it endorsed market reforms, including privatisation and the deregulation of the economy. It also has supported secular policies that encourage equal rights for all citizens, including those from the lower stratas. The party supports the somewhat controversial concept of family planning with birth control.
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee | Ideology and policy positions
But Patel declined. Rao then chose Manmohan Singh for the job. Manmohan Singh, an acclaimed economist, played a central role in implementing these reforms. Major reforms in India's capital markets led to an influx of foreign portfolio investment. The major economic policies adopted by Rao include: The impact of these reforms may be gauged from the fact that total foreign investment (including foreign direct investment, portfolio investment, and investment raised on international capital markets) in India grew from a minuscule US$132 million in 1991–92 to $5.3 billion in 1995–96. Rao began industrial policy reforms with the manufacturing sector. He slashed industrial licensing, leaving only 18 industries subject to licensing.
P. V. Narasimha Rao | Economic reforms
Rural and tribal people protested because they saw them as "pro-rich" and "pro-city" reforms. Gandhi increased government support for science, technology and associated industries, and reduced import quotas, taxes and tariffs on technology-based industries, especially computers, airlines, defence and telecommunications. In 1986, he announced a National Policy on Education to modernise and expand higher education programs across India. In 1986, he founded the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya System, which is a Central government-based education institution that provides rural populations with free residential education from grades six to twelve. His efforts created MTNL in 1986, and his public call offices—better known as PCOs—helped develop the telephone network in rural areas.
Rajiv Gandhi | Economic policy
The annual growth rate of the Indian economy had stagnated around 3.5% from the 1950s to 1980s, while per-capita income growth averaged 1.3%. During the same period, Pakistan grew by 5%, Indonesia by 9%, Thailand by 9%, South Korea by 10% and Taiwan by 12%.
Economic liberalisation in India | Pre-liberalization policies
Nehru implemented policies based on import substitution industrialization and advocated a mixed economy where the government controlled public sector would co-exist with the private sector. He believed that the establishment of basic and heavy industry was fundamental to the development and modernisation of the Indian economy. The government, therefore, directed investment primarily into key public sector industries—steel, iron, coal, and power—promoting their development with subsidies and protectionist policies. The policy of non-alignment during the Cold War meant that Nehru received financial and technical support from both power blocs in building India's industrial base from scratch. Steel mill complexes were built at Bokaro and Rourkela with assistance from the Soviet Union and West Germany.
Jawaharlal Nehru | Economic policies
Vajpayee's government introduced many domestic economic and infrastructural reforms, including encouraging the private sector and foreign investments, reducing governmental waste, encouraging research and development and privatisation of some government owned corporations. Among Vajpayee's projects were the National Highways Development Project and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. In 2001, the Vajpayee government launched the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan campaign, aimed at improving the quality of education in primary and secondary schools.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee | Policies
The economic liberalization in India refers to the economic liberalization of the country's economic policies with the goal of making the economy more market and service-oriented and expanding the role of private and foreign investment. Although unsuccessful attempts at liberalization were made in 1966 and the early 1980s, full liberalization was initiated in 1991. Specific changes included reducing import tariffs, deregulating markets, and reducing taxes, all of which lead to an increase in foreign investment and high economic growth in the 1990s and 2000s. From 1992 to 2005, foreign investment increased 316.9% and India's gross domestic product (GDP) grew from $266 billion in 1991 to $2.3 trillion in 2018 International business analysts argue that Indian government coalitions should continue liberalization.
Economic liberalisation in India | Introduction
Upadhyaya rejects Nehruvian economic policies and industrialization on the grounds that they were borrowed uncritically from the West, in disregard of the cultural and spiritual heritage of the country. There is a need, according to Upadhyaya, to strike a balance between the Indian and Western thinking in view of the dynamic nature of the society and the cultural heritage of the country. The Nehruvian model of economic development, emphasizing the increase of material wealth through rapid industrialization, promoted consumerism in Indian society. Not only has this ideology of development created social disparities and regional imbalances in economic growth, but it has failed to alleviate poverty in the country.
Integral humanism (India) | Contrast with Nehruvian economic policies
Till the 2000s, the parties had welfare schemes like maternity assistance, subsidized public transport, and educational grants. After the 2000s, the parties started competing at an increasing level for the distribution of consumer goods. The AIADMK government distributed free cycles to class 11 and class 12 students during its tenure of 2001–06. The DMK, in competition, promised free color televisions in its manifesto in 2006 assembly elections. The competition continued during the 2011 assembly elections when both parties announced free laptops for schools students and grinders mixers and fans for public.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | Ideology and policies
The new policy was partially an attempt to trim the electoral support of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The core constituency of the BJP were people from upper castes, who had until then held a monopoly over government jobs. The new policy thus fed resentment among the upper-castes, and raised inter-caste tensions in some parts of the country. Mobilising Hindus around the Ayodhya dispute was seen by the BJP as a way to unite its electorate, by creating an issue around which all Hindus could be united against Muslims. This effort tied in well with the philosophy of the Sangh Parivar, which professed "cultural nationalism", and believed in the unity of the highly fragmented Hindu population.
Ram Rath Yatra | Background and motivation
Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, along with the statistician Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, formulated and oversaw economic policy during the initial years of the country's independence. They expected favourable outcomes from their strategy, involving the rapid development of heavy industry by both public and private sectors, and based on direct and indirect state intervention, rather than the more extreme Soviet-style central command system. The policy of concentrating simultaneously on capital- and technology-intensive heavy industry and subsidising manual, low-skill cottage industries was criticised by economist Milton Friedman, who thought it would waste capital and labour, and retard the development of small manufacturers.
Economy of India | Pre-liberalisation period (1947–1991)
He famously said, " "प्रजा मोटो भए दरबार पनि बलियो रहन्छ "" (If the people are capable then the palace will also remain stronger).
Prithvi Narayan Shah | Economic Policy
The first conservative party to espouse liberal economic ideals in India since independence was the Swatantra Party. It is a Classical Liberal party as its principles are based on individual freedom, market-based economy and limited government. It existed from 1959 to 1974. It was founded by C. Rajagopalachari in reaction to what he felt was the Jawaharlal Nehru-dominated Indian National Congress's increasingly socialist and statist outlook. Swatantra ("Freedom") stood for a market-based economy with the "Licence Raj" dismantled, although it opposed "laissez faire" policies. The party was thus favored by some traders and industrialists, but at the state-level its leadership was dominated by the traditional privileged classes such as "zamindars" (feudal landlords) and erstwhile princes.
Conservatism in India | Post Independence
In a policy statement, Gillani stated that the "country's GDP growth rate will be 4% basically due to the enhanced agricultural production and the web of taxation has been increased". The tax collection in 2011 was more 27% comparing to 2010. An unsuccessful attempt was carried out by Gillani's government to privatise the mega-state corporations, particularly the power sector; major nationalised industries such as WAPDA, IESCo, TESCo, PEPCo were proposed by the finance ministry to privatise the power distribution companies. Major worker's strike were initiated by the central labour unions, and after receiving much criticism, his government halted the privatisation programme of energy sector, and nationalised the remaining power sector industries due to public pressure.
Yousaf Raza Gillani | Financial and economic policy
The Congress strongly endorses a mixed Capital economy in which both the private sector and the state direct the economy, reflecting characteristics of both market economies and planned economies. A leading economic theory advocated by the modern Tamil Nadu Congress party is import substitution industrialisation that advocates replacing foreign imports with domestic production. Party also believes that mixed economies often provide environmental protection, maintenance of employment standards, a standardized welfare system, and maintenance of competition. The Indian National Congress party liberalised the Indian economy, allowing it to speed up development dramatically.
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee | Economic policy
Despite this, Bajnai made a reform in taxes, pensions, public sector bonuses, maternity support, mortgage subsidies, energy subsidies and public transport subsidies.
Gordon Bajnai | Economic policy
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh criticised the budget, claiming that the government failed to fulfil the people's expectations. BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu described the Budget as "escapist" and alleged that no steps were taken to attract investment or to provide relief for farmers. Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) leader Brinda Karat termed the Budget as s pro-rich and claimed that there were no major allocations in health, education and food subsidy. Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Gurudas Dasgupta criticised the projected economic growth as 'utopian'. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav described the Budget as balanced but criticised it for not providing funds for reconstruction of Bihar following the floods in Kosi.
2009 Union budget of India | Political parties
Economists like Utsa Patnaik, Jayati Ghosh and Prabhat Patnaik suggest that structural changes in the macro-economic policy of Indian Government that favoured privatisation, liberalisation and globalisation are the root cause of farmer suicides. Business economists dispute this view.
Farmers' suicides in India | Government Economic Policy
The party's economic policy has been changed significantly from the Vlaams Blok. While the Vlaams Blok called for a rather mixed economy, the Vlaams Belang has moved towards neoliberalism. However, for the 2019 federal election the party adopted a centre-left economic program.
Vlaams Belang | Economy
For a continuous duration of nearly 1700 years from the year 1 AD, India was the top most economy constituting 35 to 40% of world GDP. The combination of protectionist, import-substitution, Fabian socialism, and social democratic-inspired policies governed India for sometime after the end of British rule. The economy was then characterised as Dirigism, It had extensive regulation, protectionism, public ownership of large monopolies, pervasive corruption and slow growth. Since 1991, continuing economic liberalisation has moved the country towards a market-based economy. By 2008, India had established itself as one of the world's faster-growing economies.
Economy of India | History
In 1991, India's fiscal deficit was close to 8.5 per cent of the gross domestic product, the balance of payments deficit was huge and the current account deficit was close to 3.5 percent of India's GDP. India's foreign reserves barely amounted to US$1 billion, enough to pay for 2 weeks of imports, in comparison to US$283 billion today. Evidently, India was facing an economic crisis. At this point, the government of India sought funds from the supranational International Monetary Fund, which, while assisting India financially, imposed several conditions regarding India's economic policy. In effect, IMF-dictated policy meant that the ubiquitous Licence Raj had to be dismantled, and India's attempt at a state-controlled economy had to end.
Manmohan Singh | Minister of Finance
As free-market reforms empowered the states to develop their own economic and social policies, subnational and not national political incumbents, often representing regional or state parties, were increasingly held responsible for changes in the "economic life" of the states they governed. The salience of economic issues (especially unemployment and lack of overall development during the state incumbents' term in office) in post 2019 assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra vindicates Sharma-Swenden thesis.
Economic voting | Introduction
Various scholars have stated that this revision, especially in the case of history textbooks, was a covert attempt to "saffronise" Indian history. The NDA government introduced Vedic astrology as a subject in college curricula, despite opposition from several leading scientists. Taking a position against what it calls the "pseudo-secularism" of the Congress party, the BJP instead supports "positive secularism". Vajpayee laid out the BJP's interpretation of Mahatma Gandhi's doctrine of "Sarvadharma Samabhava" and contrasted it with what he called European secularism. He had said that Indian secularism attempted to see all religions with equal respect, while European secularism was independent of religion, thus making the former more "positive".
Bharatiya Janata Party | Social policies and Hindutva
Rao, who was sworn in as Prime Minister last week, has already sent a signal to the nation—as well as the I.M.F.—that India faced no "soft options" and must open the door to foreign investment, reduce red tape that often cripples initiative, and streamline industrial policy. Mr. Rao made his comments in a speech to the nation Saturday night." The foreign reserves started picking up with the onset of the liberalisation policies and reached an all-time high US$426.1 billion as on 13 April 2018
1991 Indian economic crisis | Under Narsimha Rao Government
Dirigisme is seen in India, especially during pre-liberalisation period (1947–1991), after the end of British rule, domestic policy in India tended towards protectionism, with a strong emphasis on import substitution industrialisation, economic interventionism, a large government-run public sector, business regulation, and central planning, while trade and foreign investment policies were relatively liberal. The state has complete control and ownership of railways; majority control and stake in banking, insurance, electricity, oil and gas industries and power plants, and has substantial control over telecommunication, port and shipping industries, among other industries, were effectively nationalised in the mid-1950s.
Dirigisme | In India
In 1991, Singh as Finance Minister, freed India from the Licence Raj, source of slow economic growth and corruption in the Indian economy for decades. He liberalised the Indian economy, allowing it to speed up development dramatically. During his term as Prime Minister, Singh continued to encourage growth in the Indian market, enjoying widespread success in these matters. Singh, along with the former Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, has presided over a period where the Indian economy has grown with an 8–9% economic growth rate. In 2007, India achieved its highest GDP growth rate of 9% and became the second fastest growing major economy in the world.
Manmohan Singh | Economic policy
After gaining independence from Britain, India adopted a broadly socialist-inspired approach to economic growth. Like other countries with a democratic transition to a mixed economy, it did not abolish private property in capital. India proceeded by nationalizing various large privately run firms, creating state-owned enterprises and redistributing income through progressive taxation in a manner similar to social democratic Western European nations than to planned economies such as the Soviet Union or China. Today, India is often characterized as having a free-market economy that combines economic planning with the free market. However, it did adopt a very firm focus on national planning with a series of broad five-year plans.
Socialist economics | India
In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014 with a commitment to implement neoliberal economic policies. This commitment would shape national politics and foreign affairs, and put India in a race with China and Japan for economic supremacy in East Asia.
Neoliberalism | India
The government was even able to exceed the targeted growth figure with an annual growth rate of 5.0–5.2% over the five-year period of the plan (1974–79). The economy grew at the rate of 9% in 1975–76 alone, and the Fifth Plan, became the first plan during which the per capita income of the economy grew by over 5%.
Economic policy of the Indira Gandhi government | State of Emergency and the Fifth Five-Year Plan
In India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Narendra Modi, represent conservative politics. The BJP is the largest right-wing conservative party in the world. It promotes cultural nationalism, Hindu Nationalism, an aggressive foreign policy against Pakistan and a conservative social and fiscal policy.
Conservatism | India
She began a new course by launching the Fourth Five-Year Plan in 1969. The government targeted growth at 5.7% while stating as its goals, "growth with stability and progressive achievement of self-reliance." The rationale behind the overall plan was Gandhi's "Ten Point Programme" of 1967. This had been her first economic policy formulation, six months after coming to office. The programme emphasized greater state control of the economy with the understanding that government control assured greater welfare than private control. Related to this point were a set of policies which were meant to regulate the private sector. By the end of the 1960s, the reversal of the liberalization process was complete, and India's policies were characterised as "protectionist as ever." To deal with India's food problems, Gandhi expanded the emphasis on production of inputs to agriculture that had already been initiated by her father, Jawaharlal Nehru.
Economic policy of the Indira Gandhi government | Green Revolution and the Fourth Five-Year Plan
Nehru drafted the policies of the Congress and a future Indian nation in 1929. He declared that the aims of the congress were freedom of religion; right to form associations; freedom of expression of thought; equality before law for every individual without distinction of caste, colour, creed, or religion; protection to regional languages and cultures, safeguarding the interests of the peasants and labour; abolition of untouchability; introduction of adult franchise; imposition of prohibition, nationalisation of industries; socialism; and establishment of a secular India. All these aims formed the core of the "Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy" resolution drafted by Nehru in 1929–31 and were ratified in 1931 by the Congress party session at Karachi chaired by Vallabhbhai Patel.
Jawaharlal Nehru | Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy: 1929
Modi's government put in place the Goods and Services Tax, the biggest tax reform in the country since independence. It subsumed around 17 different taxes and became effective from 1 July 2017.
Narendra Modi | Economic policy
Angus Maddison's historical dataset shows Indian GDP actually rose around 1% from 1929-32, a much better outcome than for most other economies. Rice, wheat, etc., could be used for private consumption but the cash crops which they now cultivated could not be used for private consumption. As there was little sale of indigenous manufactures and limited exports, commodities accumulated and the flow of cash was restricted. Moreover, imports were severely affected by the Swadeshi movement and the boycott of foreign goods imposed by Indian Freedom Fighters. There was a deficiency of money in many places causing widespread poverty. In such a condition, the most recommended course of action is the devaluation of currency.
Great Depression in India | Economic policy of the Raj during the Depression
Singh's economic policy states that "millions of Canadians are living in poverty". Singh supports a progressive tax system and supports eliminating several tax deductions available to the highest-income earners and redirect the money to low-income seniors, workers and disabled Canadians. Singh's tax agenda during the 2017 New Democratic Party leadership election included creating new tax brackets for the highest-income earners and raising corporate tax. Singh supports a $15/hour minimum wage, the imposition of Canadian sales taxes on paid on-demand internet video providers (also referred to as a "Netflix tax"), and a universal pharmacare system, stating "universal healthcare is essential when we talk about equality for all Canadians".
Jagmeet Singh | Economic policy
Rajan's economic and political views were influenced by his experience of the Indian economy during The Emergency. As an economist, he was therefore wary of the risks of both unnecessary government intervention as well as unregulated financial markets, while remaining a champion of capitalism.
Raghuram Rajan | Economic and political views
1. Tax reform: tax increases, connected with the export of natural resources; reduction of taxes on the manufacturing industry and the elimination of the tax on high-tech manufacturing; import-substituting production and export production; tax incentives and subsidies for the renewal of the main funds of enterprises; and the introduction of a luxury tax. 2. Reducing energy tariffs for domestic consumers. 3. Developing road infrastructure. 4. Establishing state support for exports of Russian high-tech products. 5. Encouraging the development of “patriotism of a local consumer" and "patriotism of a local manufacturer.”
Party of Business | Economic policy
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is one of the major political parties in India and is the main opposition party during the 15th Lok Sabha. It contested the 2014 parliamentary election along with their supportive parties, to form National Democratic Alliance with Narendra Modi as its Prime Ministerial candidate and party president Rajnath Singh as the chief-of-election of campaign. The important issues during the campaign included price hikes, corruption, the economy, national security, basic infrastructure such as roads and railways, and supplying basic needs such as electricity and water. The party promised a vibrant and participatory democracy, inclusive and sustainable development, quality of life, productive youth, a globally competitive economy, open and transparent government, and pro-active and pro-people governance in its manifesto.
Bharatiya Janata Party campaign for the 2014 Indian general election | Introduction
India's overall economic package was announced as , 10% of India's GDP. The package, though announced on 12 May by the Prime Minister, included previous government actions, including the RBI announcements. The previous RBI announcements included around liquidity. the economic package also included the Finance Minister announcement of a package totaling on 26 March. The strategy of combining fiscal and monetary, liquidity measures was defended by the government. Sitharaman explained that other countries had also done the same. Estimates of the size of India's fiscal stimulus as a percentage of GDP varied between 0.75% to 1.3%. The Finance Minister, for five days, between 13 and 17 May, held press conferences in which the details of the economic package was explained.
Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in India | Economic package
Jaswant Singh was denied nomination from Barmer constituency so he decided instead to contest the seat as an independent. The BJP released its manifesto on 7 April 2014. The party promised to set up a Price Stabilization Fund and to evolve a single 'National Agriculture Market' to check price rise and go for e-Governance, policy-driven governance and simplification of the tax regime to prevent corruption. It wanted to encourage labour-intensive manufacturing, focus on traditional employment bases of agriculture, the upgrade of infrastructure and housing and self-employment opportunities for job creation. Harnessing satellite technology; setting up National Optical-Fibre Network up to the village level; Diamond Quadrilateral project – of High Speed Train network were among several other things that the party promised.
2014 Indian general election | Bharatiya Janata Party
Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956 (IPR 1956) is a resolution adopted by the Indian Parliament in April 1956. It was the first comprehensive statement on industrial development of India. The 1956 policy continued to constitute the basic economic policy for a long time. This fact has been confirmed in all the Five-Year Plans of India. According to this resolution the objective of the social and economic policy in India was the establishment of a socialistic pattern of society. It provided more powers to the governmental machinery. It laid down three categories of industries which were more sharply defined. These categories were: List over Schedule A Industries: 1.
Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956 | Introduction
Premadasa also concentrated on a grassroots-level economic development drive, focusing on the provision of housing, poverty alleviation and the upliftment of the poor. He encouraged the building of model villages with clean water, transport infrastructure, schools and health centers. He encouraged the establishment of small-scale industries (mostly garment-related) in poor areas by giving factory owners low-interest loans and a share in textile quotas for the United States and Europe. The "Gam Udāwa" programme is one of his best-known achievements in this area, along with the "Janasaviya" programme that is today part of the "Samurdhi" scheme.
Ranasinghe Premadasa | Economic policy
The book attempts to show how a sense of nationalist urgency was created through globalism and rivalry, allowing policymakers to privilege international needs over domestic political demands, replace economic independence with interdependence as a priority, and ensure that the broad basis of India's openness could not be challenged effectively even though certain policies faced severe opposition.
India's Open-Economy Policy | Introduction
The main economy is dependent on agriculture. A major sector of economy is also dependent on its tourism, since it is a historical place. Some of the main agricultural products are rice, potato and jute. Only large scale industry here is formed by about 20 cold storages of potato. A few of the percentage of the people are government employees, School Teachers and employed in other small private sectors. The financial status of most of the people is in middle class and lower middle class category.
Chandrakona | Economy
Inflation remains stubbornly high at 7.55% as of August 2012, the highest amotrade (counting exports and imports) stands at $606.7 billion and is currently the 9th largest in the world.
Bharatiya Janata Party campaign for the 2014 Indian general election | Inflation
Since then, the overall thrust of liberalisation has remained the same, although no government has tried to take on powerful lobbies such as trade unions and farmers, on contentious issues such as reforming labour laws and reducing agricultural subsidies. By the turn of the 21st century, India had progressed towards a free-market economy, with a substantial reduction in state control of the economy and increased financial liberalisation. This has been accompanied by increases in life expectancy, literacy rates, and food security, although urban residents have benefited more than rural residents. While the credit rating of India was hit by its nuclear weapons tests in 1998, it has since been raised to investment level in 2003 by Standard & Poor's (S&P) and Moody's.
Economy of India | Post-liberalisation period (since 1991)
The Great Depression struck the province at the fag end of P. Subbarayan's tenure and lasted the whole span of the Munuswamy Naidu and Bobbili governments. The policy of the Raja of Bobbili during the Depression was alleged to be one of the indifference to plight of the peasants and the poor. The government expressed its complete solidarity with the Governor and his executive council. As a result, while the Government endorsed the measures taken by the governor it did not criticize those that were detrimental to the common man. The ministry is alleged to have done little for the financial relief of the common man apart from making recommendations or expressing sympathy and grief.
Ramakrishna Ranga Rao of Bobbili | Policy during the Great Depression
In September 2014, Modi introduced the Make in India initiative to encourage foreign companies to manufacture products in India, with the goal of turning the country into a global manufacturing hub. Supporters of economic liberalisation supported the initiative, while critics argued it would allow foreign corporations to capture a greater share of the Indian market. Modi's administration passed a land-reform bill that allowed it to acquire private agricultural land without conducting a social impact assessment, and without the consent of the farmers who owned it. The bill was passed via an executive order after it faced opposition in parliament, but was eventually allowed to lapse.
Narendra Modi | Economic policy
The economic liberalisation in India refers to the ongoing economic liberalisation, initiated in 1991, of the country's economic policies, with the goal of making the economy more market-oriented and expanding the role of private and foreign investment. Specific changes include a reduction in import tariffs, deregulation of markets, reduction of taxes, and greater foreign investment. Liberalisation has been credited by its proponents for the high economic growth recorded by the country in the 1990s and 2000s. The overall direction of liberalisation has since remained the same. Though governments has yet to solve a variety of politically difficult issues, such as liberalising labour laws and reducing agricultural subsidies along with corruptions and fiscal deficits to sustain the growth.
Economy of Asia | Economic liberalisation in India
She has been described by Hindustan Times columnist, Pankaj Vohra as "arguably the greatest mass leader of the last century." Her campaign slogan, "Garibi Hatao" ('Remove Poverty'), has become the iconic motto of the Indian National Congress. To the rural and urban poor, untouchables, minorities and women in India, Gandhi was "Indira Amma or Mother Indira."
Economic policy of the Indira Gandhi government | Introduction
India's Open-Economy Policy: Globalism, Rivalry, Continuity is a book on political economy by Jalal Alamgir, published by Routledge (London and New York, 2008; Paperback edition 2010) The book explains why India's open-economy policy, initiated in 1991, has continued despite widespread domestic political risks. It draws implications for countries seeking to politically market grand or controversial ideas. The book's methodological approach is influenced by both realism and constructivism. Going as far back as the 19th century, the author reconstructs how Indian policymakers have interpreted economic priorities, perceived success and failure, and evaluated the destiny of their nation. By the 1990s, their imperatives increasingly highlighted a sense of rivalry, especially with China, and globalism, a desire to play a strong role in world affairs.
India's Open-Economy Policy | Introduction
BJD claims to be inspired by the philosophy of Biju Patnaik. It does not claim any political ideology. It professes a strong belief in secularism and in the welfare of the poor and vulnerable. Being a regional party, development of Odisha is its prime goal. The party has been in consistent opposition to the Indian National Congress (Congress Party). While it was allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) , it broke off the alliance on the issue of secularism.
Biju Janata Dal | Policies and ideology
The party promised to set up a Price Stabilisation Fund to check inflation, ensure fiscal discipline and pursue banking sector reforms to deal with the problem of rising bad loans. The manifesto said that a dedicated fund will be created for integrated development of Himalayan region. BJP promised to bring all states on board to implement GST. The manifesto promised launch of Diamond Quadrilateral project of high speed train network and it sought to develop freight and industrial corridors and boost development of coastal areas through 'Sagar Mala project.
Bharatiya Janata Party campaign for the 2014 Indian general election | Manifesto
The economic policies of the colonial governments during the pre-independence era were mainly focused on promoting their home country rather than India. Hence, most of the industrial activity was centered on exporting raw materials and importing finished products from Britain. India's Economic and Industrial policy after independence was worked out on the lines of the Soviet Union, which was characterized as the 'Socialist framework'. However, this socialist policy of industrialization regulated most of the private enterprises with rigid restrictions over its operations, resulting in an ineffective industrial system to be replaced by Import-substitution industrialization. Further, disappointing performance by the industrial sector and Balance of Payment crisis of 1991 forced the policymakers to reassess the situation and program reforms towards a further open-market oriented policy.
Disinvestment in India | Background
Despite a strong start, the Janata government began to wither as significant ideological and political divisions emerged. The party consisted of veteran socialists, trade unionists and pro-business leaders, making major economic reforms difficult to achieve without triggering a public divide. Socialists and secular Janata politicians shared an aversion to the Hindu nationalist agenda of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, whose members included Vajpayee, Advani and other leaders from the former Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Violence between Hindus and Muslims led to further confrontations within the Janata party, with most Janata leaders demanding that Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani choose between staying in government and being members of the RSS.
Janata Party | Fall of the government
As the government liberalised its economic policies, economic growth surged and the foundation was laid for India becoming one of the fastest growing economies of the world. The former Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh was instrumental in bringing about this change although India, with its socialist past, could not push economic reforms as aggressively as China which raced ahead during this decade from being just ahead of India to a GDP double that of India (a 4 times higher rate of growth) due to its more aggressive rate of economic reform. The License Raj came to an end. GDP per capita nearly doubled from US$1,380 in 1990 to US$2,420 in 2000.
1990s in India | Economy
The Constitution declares the State's economic endeavours. The State endeavours to develop and execute policies to minimize inequalities of income, concentration of wealth, and promote equitable distribution of public facilities among individuals and people living in different parts of the Kingdom. Thus, the State's policy in carrying out its objectives is somewhat Buddhist-socialist. The State also endeavours to achieve economic self-reliance and promote open and progressive economy; to ensure the right to fair and reasonable remuneration for one's work; to ensure the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay; and to provide security in the event of sickness and disability or lack of adequate means of livelihood for reasons beyond one's control.
Constitution of Bhutan | Economic policy
In the fields of taxation and state expenditure, it believed in thrift and called that taxation should suffice for carrying on of administration and social and economic activities taken upon by the state but it should not depress capital formation and private investment. The government should also desist from running abnormally large deficits or taking foreign loans that are beyond the capacity of the country to repay. In particular, it resisted unnecessary expansion of the bureaucracy.
Swatantra Party | Fundamental principles
State-owned enterprises in sectors deemed less critical, including railway operators, sugar, industrial parks, hotels and various manufacturing firms, may be fully privatised. Aside from representing an ideological shift with respect to views on the degree of government control over the economy, the move was seen as a pragmatic measure aimed at improving the country's dwindling foreign-exchange reserves, which by the end of the 2017 fiscal year were equal in value to less than two months worth of imports, as well as easing its growing sovereign debt load.
Abiy Ahmed | Economic reforms
Gandhi inherited a weak and troubled economy. Fiscal problems associated with the war with Pakistan in 1965, along with a drought-induced food crisis that spawned famines, had plunged India into the sharpest recession since independence. The government responded by taking steps to liberalize the economy, and by agreeing to the devaluation of the currency in return for the restoration of foreign aid. The economy managed to recover in 1966 and ended up growing at 4.1% over 1966–1969. But, much of that growth was offset by the fact that the external aid promised by the United States government and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), meant to ease the short-run costs of adjustment to a liberalized economy, never materialized.
Economic policy of the Indira Gandhi government | Green Revolution and the Fourth Five-Year Plan