After Three Years Of Repair, Indian Economy Poised To Deliver Growth, Says Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Nothing is further from the truth that the Indian economy is failing, wrote Member of Parliament (MP) Rajeev Chandrasekhar in a column today (29 September) for the Indian Express.

Writing in response to Yashwant Sinha’s piece on the Indian economy, he wrote, “Yashwant Sinha’s recent article (‘I need to speak up now’) about the economy concludes more in hope, than on facts, that the economy is headed for a ‘hard landing’. He joins some others in a desperate attempt to build a narrative of a failing economy.”

Chandrasekhar’s reference to “some others” likely included P Chidambaram, who came out in support of Sinha’s article. Chandrasekhar criticised the former finance minister for presiding over a “spectacular destruction of the economy” when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was in power for 10 years.

Why blaming demonetisation and GST is lazy analysis

Ever since the gross domestic product growth figures for the first quarter were announced, there has been much talk of a slowdown and a debate on how much of it came down to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bold economic initiatives of demonetisation and the goods and services tax.

“The rush to come to a judgement about demonetisation ignores”, wrote Chandrasekhar, “that an elaborate trail of deposits has been created to expose illegal deposits and networks.”

“The criticism of GST is laughable given that its design was arrived at after a consensus with the Opposition in Parliament, state legislatures and in the GST council,” he wrote.

The great UPA burden

Chandrasekhar also pointed out that, compared to the state of the economy in 2014, the Indian economy had come a long way ahead.

This process of maintenance, notably, follows a period of ‘24 quarters of rising inflation, flight of foreign investors, scam-inspired plummeting of investor confidence’ and ‘corrupt crony capitalism of the worst kind’.

Why knee-jerk reactions should be avoided

The MP pointed to stalled private investment and a broken government banking system as among the big hurdles to higher growth. He also said the “request for intervention to support those impacted” during this transition was “legitimate”. But he advised against providing a “knee jerk” response to the situation.

Despite the challenges, however, “the current state of economy is a far cry from 2014”, wrote Chandrasekhar.

“After three years of repair and rebuilding, the Indian economy is in a better place and is better prepared to deliver longer periods of higher rates of growth.”