PM Modi's 5 Remarkable Initiatives that Have Transformed the Indian Economy

India's GDP of USD 3.39 trillion surpassed that of the United Kingdom in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, making it the world's fifth-largest economy.

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While most industrialized economies are experiencing an economic downturn, chronic shortages, rising inflation, and an ageing population, the Indian economy is widely regarded as the fastest-growing big economy with a huge youth population.

India's economic prosperity, according to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is a "natural by-product" of political stability under his nine-year government. He also expressed hope that by 2047, India will be a developed country, with "corruption, caste discrimination, and communalism" holding no place in our society.

Here are a few of his initiatives that revolutionised the Indian economy:

Jan dhan yojana

In August 2014, Modi introduced the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). The plan promised to provide 150 million families with bank accounts, debit cards, accident insurance, and  overdraft facility.

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) initiative celebrated its ninth anniversary on August 28, 2023, nine years after its start on August 28, 2014. PMJDY, which targets both unbanked and underbanked communities, is one of the government's efforts to make financial inclusion more accessible in India.

Since its inception, the PMJDY has had a significant impact, with a total deposit of Rs 2.03 lakh crore as of August 28 this year. Furthermore, over 50 crore bank accounts have been opened as a result of the revolutionary PMJDY scheme.

This scheme allows underprivileged parts of society to have access to formal financial institutions, allowing them to conveniently receive government subsidies and benefits to which they are entitled. Furthermore, managing finances would be easier for them because they wouldn't have to keep track of how much cash they were spending.

Also, PMJDY has been used to give welfare packages to the poor without any pilferage, including COVID-19 cash support, PM-Kisan, enhanced wages under MGNREGA, and insurance coverage. Within 10 days of the nationwide COVID lockout, about 200 million women PMJDY accounts were funded with $500 per month for three months via DBT.

The India Stack

IndiaStack is a set of APIs that enables governments, corporations, startups, and developers to use a one-of-a-kind digital infrastructure to solve India's difficult problems of presence-less, paperless, and cashless service delivery.

Modi is likely the first Indian prime minister to make extensive use of technology in his welfare projects. His government's Unified Payment Interface (UPI) has transformed India's economy by allowing digital payments to be made even in rural.

The basic goal of India Stack is to reduce transaction costs so that 1.3 billion people have access to socially and economically significant services that can be delivered by both the private and public sectors. It allows for private innovation to thrive on the back of public infrastructure. India Stack developed a set of open protocols or standards, which are used by the institutions involved. The UPI has enabled private sector businesses to rely on digital payment-based business models.

In May 2023 alone, more than 9.41 billion transactions worth over Rs 14.89 trillion were completed. The total value of UPI transactions in fiscal year 2022-23 was nearly half of India's nominal GDP.

Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat

Modi's Make in India initiative intended to remake India's largely service-led economy. Services have contributed more to India's economy than manufacturing. The Make in India initiative was recently reinforced by the launch of a Performance-Linked Incentives scheme in over a dozen manufacturing industries, particularly electronics and semiconductor chips.

As part of India's renewed emphasis on manufacturing, the 'Make in India' campaign was launched globally in September 2014. The initiative's goal is to establish India as the most desirable global manufacturing site.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Make in India initiative intends to integrate India into the global supply chain. It is about enabling Indian businesses to thrive in a globalised workplace.

To that end, the Indian government introduced a number of policies aimed at dramatically improving the ease of doing business.

The Make in India initiative appears to be on track, with Apple establishing a manufacturing facility in India, a powerful signal to Western corporations looking to diversify their manufacturing away from China. One could argue that Make in India was launched on schedule. In the eight years since its inception, global geopolitical events have shifted in India's benefit.

PM Modi remarkable foreign relations

Due to the revolutionary foreign policy of the Narendra Modi execution, India is no longer a passive member of the international community and now sits at the high table. India is today courted and feted by the majority of countries, but in the past, it was impossible to even obtain appointments for our leaders with their counterparts from powerful countries. As a result, Indians, who were typically disregarded are today able to stand strong everywhere.

Because of his constant vigour, the Prime Minister has been able to give the challenging task of nation-building, including its foreign policy, more personal attention than any of his predecessors. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that India has developed extensive mutually beneficial relationships with a wide range of nations cutting across regions, ideologies, cultures, and blocs, even as it has emerged as the major economy with the fastest growth rate and is on the verge of becoming a global economic powerhouse. This process has been aided by its clever use of its foreign policy to accelerate its development objectives and by its use of economic power to support its foreign policy ambitions.

India has helped to democratise global forums such as the G20 and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). The Modi administration's attempts to include new members and diversify participation in these forums demonstrate its commitment to a more inclusive world order. This idea is consistent with India's 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' - the world is one family.

The addition of new participants to these forums amplifies varied views and opinions, resulting in more balanced and effective global decision-making. India's determination to increase engagement demonstrates its desire to play a larger role in defining the future of international relations.

Introduction of Goods and Services tax

The GST was the reform of reforms, and Modi accomplished it brilliantly. Since it began, the taxpayer base has roughly doubled, and collections have increased as well. GST collections increased 12% year on year in April to an all-time monthly high of 1.87 lakh crore. The majority of significant states recorded a 20% or greater increase in GST over the same period last year, demonstrating broad-level growth across sectors and states.  In March 2023, 90 million e-way bills were created, 11% more than the previous month's 81 million.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was responsible for significant developments in the Indian business sector. The GST has been able to create a unified tax system across the country by replacing various indirect taxes with a single tax. The implementation of GST also prepared the door for a reduction in the compliance burden on businesses and the elimination of the cascading tax effect, while also lowering expenses for consumers and customers. Implementing GST in the world's most populous country has been a major undertaking.

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