Vinayak Mallya hitting the nail on its head and that is by asking the question of the hour- Why is the GDP figures on the downside in the recent months? The answer ensued with an attack on the left leaning bias of the media in general and how there is a lack of genuine information about the economy. But then the reasoning came into light when the Minister said that there is no denying the downfall. However, the Minister was of the opinion that this downfall was only cyclical. Later the Minister chose to speak about the positive sides of the economy- FDI, Growth in the last 5 years averaging 7.5%, IMF optimistic projections for the future- that explain everything but the downfall itself.
The mediator followed up with a question by referring the record high foreign direct investments. He said that FDI indicate the positive outlook the foreigners have on India’s future, however, he asked, why is it that the Indians are losing faith on the economy? Minister agreed that it is a matter of sentiment and sentiments by nature are very fickle and cyclical. Minister cited all the effort by the governments to bring back faith. He said, better demand is required to revive the economy and that is the reason they have undertaken quantitative easing through the banks. Along with the merging of the banks with bigger banks, he ensured that the banks will have access to more capital. Also, the Corporate Tax rate is brought down from 30% to 15% to make India attractive to private sector. Therese were the steps taken by the government to boost consumption.
On the issue of banks, the mediator zeroed in on the conversation towards the rise in insolvency of big market players. Mr. Thakur reverted to this question by passing the buck on the UPA Government. The minister claimed that banks before the 2009, total loan was 18 lakh rupees and it reached 58 lakh rupees under the UPA government. Without further blaming the UPA government, he shifted the attention on to the bank officials. He said that any decision taken by the bankers on the grounds of business is fine but personal gain is not. Also that CVA will decide to take action against the bank officials and that there will be no witch hunt.
Next was the big topic of demonetisation. The mediator asked the Minister to talk about the pros and cons of the policy. By expressing his pride on the bold decisions of Honable Prime Minister, he claimed that the tax base has increased by more than 40%. Tax collection was seen to be at a historic high. Coming to the last topic about China, whether the Chinese were partners to the economic development plan or mere competitors, Minister stated that the trade war of US with China will benefit India. He also claimed that FTA as returned before 2004 with China there were favourable to China and that successive NDA governments have tried to gain favourable grounds on these fronts.
Written by Pranjal Ghate