Page 138 - Abhivruddhi

The Indian government’s disinvestment initiative has received
widespread positive media coverage. The productivity linked incentive
scheme to bolster manufacturing too has received support in media. It
was also noted that the private sector must support the government and
do its bit towards the goal of a five-trillion-dollar economy, particularly
by creating infrastructure. Concern was also raised that India’s challenges
today are more political than economic, and that ‘motivated’ agitations
could stymie growth.
The IMF and consultancy firm EY as well as financial portals, business
and other media in India are cautiously optimistic about the march
towards a five-trillion-dollar economy. India’s young population, large
labour force, rising educational attainment and revenue mobilisation
through disinvestment are listed as positives by the IMF. EY believes that
India’s successful vaccination drives will bolster economic recovery in
the pandemic era. Moneycontrol gives a thumbs up to the PLI scheme,
Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) and government’s
initiatives towards infrastructure development. The business magazines
while endorsing India’s dream of becoming a five-trillion-dollar economy,
flag concerns about implementation of economic policies, adequacy of
regulatory and compliance machinery and private sector participation
particularly in infrastructure development.
The overseas media seem to be very pessimistic. The regulatory regime
is termed ‘regressive’ as capital gains tax was retained and it might deter
private investment. The recent budget is labelled as ‘protectionist’ for
promoting ‘Make in India’ and therefore moving away from being a
‘competitive economy’. But the budget has received significant support
form Indian industry and investors as the stock markets indicate. It is also
worth noting that neither EY or IMF have endorsed such concerns.
Moreover, foreign media shy away from quoting Indian government
sources or credible international sources such as IMF. Whether the data
is on the pandemic, vaccination, healthcare, unemployment or economic
indicators, they largely rely on overseas private research organisations
and/or think tanks as credible sources of data on India. In fact, The New
York Times doubts economic statistics released by the Indian government.
One can only wonder about the reasons for this.

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