Speaking at a roadshow in Frankfurt on investment opportunities in India on Monday, the Minister said the economy was on the right path to achieve growth levels recorded during 2004-2008.
With China emerging as the second largest economy after overtaking Japan, the ruling Chinese Communist Party made a surprise promise to loosen its firm grip on power structure saying that the gains made out of the economic reform would be lost without political reforms.
The chief adviser alleged elections held under Hasina's regime were "rigged blatantly and generations of young people grew up without exercising their voting rights."
India's economic growth during 2011-12 slipped to nine-year low of 6.5 per cent and during the first quarter of the current fiscal it was 5.5 per cent.
Parliament's approval of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, a contentious piece of legislation aimed at reforming Waqf bodies, has sparked strong reactions from the opposition, who allege that the bill was "bulldozed" through Parliament. The bill, considered the government's most consequential legislation in its third term, was passed with comfortable majorities in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha despite opposition claims of a lack of consultation and an intrusion into religious affairs. Other notable bills approved during the session included the Finance Bill, Appropriation Bill, Immigration and Foreigners Bill, and Tribhuvan Sahkari University Bill. The session, which saw high productivity, also witnessed debates on issues such as economic distress, delimitation, and the three-language policy. While the government touted its achievements, the opposition criticized the government's approach and vowed to challenge the Waqf bill in court.
Recent measures by Indian government to push economic reforms have dispelled fears of policy paralysis, while some more steps are needed for reviving investments and ensuring that household savings go into productive sectors, top banker Chanda Kochhar said.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said the Bharatiya Janata Party has been a party with a difference and that is why it has repeatedly won the trust of voters, but cautioned against the saffron outfit repeating mistakes committed by the Congress in the past which saw its exit from power.
There is a requirement for a fresh push, especially in agriculture, education and health which would deliver the inclusive growth -- the target of policy.
'Spend, but create assets, spend but make sure that people benefit from it.' 'This has been a beautiful guiding principle. And I think as a finance minister I owe so much to the prime minister for keeping this path clear before us.'
Soros, a Hungarian-American political activist, and his organisations like OSF have been accused by the ruling BJP of acting against India's interests. His utterances during the Adani-Hindenburg controversy also drew criticism from the party.
From the 30-share blue-chip pack, ITC Hotels, IndusInd Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Sun Pharma, UltraTech Cement and NTPC were among the biggest gainers. Titan, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Nestle, Asian Paints, HCL Tech and ICICI Bank were among the laggards.
Expressing commitment to push forward economic reforms, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said the government is making efforts to build a consensus on important economic legislations, including PFRDA and foreign investment in multi-brand retail.
The debate on whether economic reforms and accelerated economic growth have led to faster reduction in poverty levels and employment growth continues to generate disagreement.
US President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Indian-American scientist Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the country's top health research and funding institutions. Bhattacharya, a professor of Health Policy at Stanford University, is known for his research on the health and well-being of vulnerable populations. Trump also nominated Jim O'Neill as the deputy secretary of Health and Human Services to work alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Commenting on economic reforms, he claimed that accord is necessary to achieve these objectives in India.
Exudes confidence that RBI's rate cut move will revive investments and business sentiment; India to get $6.25-bn ADB assistance over three years
From a hard core Leftist in the late 1960s to being the liberal face, Palaniappan Chidambaram combines in him the qualities of a bold reformer, experienced administrator and a taskmaster in whatever assignment is given to him.
The Congress president rejected suggestions about any threat to the UPA coalition due to the frequent pressure from the Left on various issues and maintained that the party-led government faced 'no serious problem' so far.
'Expect India to keep doing well irrespective of geopolitics.'
Broad convergence on GST rollout in NDC meet.
The ATAGS has a range of 35-45 kilometres, depending on the ammunition used, and achieved a 47-km firing range during trials.
S&P Global Ratings on Wednesday said the impact of the US reciprocal tariff will be limited on India as the economy is domestically oriented with less reliance on exports. YeeFarn Phua, Director, Sovereigns and International Public Finance Ratings, Asia-Pacific S&P Global also said India will clock a 6.7-6.8 per cent GDP growth over the next two years.
'When the average growth in the last three years was just 2.5%, how does that make us the fastest growing country?' 'They only tell you what has happened in the last 2 years; they are not taking into account what happened in FY21 on account of their mistakes.'
Facing criticism from the government over the central bank prioritising inflation over growth, the new RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Monday said that prospects of the Indian economy are expected to improve on the back of high consumer and business confidence in 2025. "As we strive to preserve financial stability to support a higher growth path for the Indian economy, our focus remains steadfast on maintaining stability of financial institutions and, more broadly, systemic stability," Malhotra said in foreword to the Financial Stability Report.
'Those who are talking of adopting the Narasimha Rao-Manmohan Singh policy must understand now that what was a reform then is no longer a reform now,' argues Sukumar Mukhopadhyay who was associated with the 1991 economic reforms.
If the Modi government's approach to economic policy making is any indication, expectations of a sudden spurt in economic reforms after the assembly election results appear to be grossly misplaced.
'Every Indian should move to an EV, and the government should not buy any fossil fuel cars. The government should become the first driver of EV adoption.'
Infosys chief Kris Gopalakrishnan on Wednesday expressed hope that DTC and GST will be pushed through in the forthcoming budget, while Genpact vice chairman Pramod Bhasin feared economic reforms will be tough going forward.
'We face the risk of remaining a low-income country for a very long time unless something changes in the next few years.' 'Instead of constantly talking about becoming a developed economy, we need to start fixing the problems of the economy one by one.' 'There is so much potential, and we are squandering away the opportunity.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron have called for enhancing trade and investment ties between their countries and committed to further deepening their engagement in the Indo-Pacific. They discussed a full spectrum of bilateral relations, including key global and regional issues, and stressed the urgent need for reform in the United Nations Security Council. The leaders also underscored their commitment to ensuring the global AI sector can drive positive social, economic, and environmental outcomes.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would expedite action on implementing the long-awaited reforms in the banking, insurance and pension sectors once the government managed to win the trust vote in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, government sources said on Saturday.
India is fielding a 100-member team, led by Commerce Minister Kamal Nath and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. The duo will address a number of India-centric sessions on economic reforms.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that there have been no attempts from abroad to stoke trouble in India ahead of the Parliament's Budget session, which begins on Saturday. Modi's statement comes as his government prepares to present its first full-fledged budget in its third term. He expressed confidence that the Budget session will infuse new confidence and energy in attaining the goal of 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047, and said his government has been working in a mission mode for an all-round development.
Chandrayaan-4 will involve at least two separate launches of the heavylift LVM-3 rocket that will carry five different components of the mission which will be assembled in orbit.
Projecting a 7 per cent growth rate in 2005-06, government's pre-budget Economic Survey on Friday outlined reforms in tax and expenditure and labour laws as a priority in the budget.
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