As per Maddison (2020) estimates, India’s share in the global GDP was 24% in 1700. By 1820, this number fell to 16% and by the time of independence, the number had fallen to 5%. In 250 odd years, India went from contributing a quarter of global GDP to less than 5%.
As India completed 75 years of independence, we witnessed much change. The Indian economy now stands as among the largest and fastest growing in the world, truly breaking free from the shackles of colonialism. The changes are not just been effected at a micro level. The big picture has not been lost in this quest as well:
The Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016: Not only was starting a business in India a mammoth task, but shutting one down was perhaps an even bigger one. The introduction of IBC brought the much needed clarity in the bankruptcy law.
Goods and Service Tax, 2017: considered as the most landmark reform of independent India. Prior to GST, a litany of indirect taxes exited – each requiring separate registration and filing norms. Indirect taxes varied across states and hampered interstate movement of goods. GST revenues have been above the Rs.1.4 lac crore for 12th continuous month.
Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA): not only protected the rights of homebuyers but also promoted the development of private enterprise by maintaining their solvency and creditworthiness.
Direct taxes: Year 2017 saw a lowered personal income tax rate, and in 2019, corporate taxes were reduced to 22% to counter underreporting of income and the black economy. The introduction of taxpayers charter, efforts to reduce litigation and use of technology have moved the system away from one of enforcement to facilitation.
Ease of doing business: When Modi government took over, India was ranked 142 in the rankings published by the World Bank. Close to 1500 old legislations were identified and scrapped. In 2020, India’s rank improved to 64 – a 79 position improvement in just 5 years.
Foreign Direct Investment: Foreign Investment Promotion Board (‘FIPB’) was abolished in 2017. Several sectors that required approval prior to investment were moved to the automatic route. For rest, individual ministries became approval authorities. India received the highest-ever FDI inflows of $ 84.8 bn in FY 22.
The process of registration of patents and trademarks was completely revamped and a large number of additional examiners were recruited. Compared to 2015-16, number of patents filed increased from 12,000 to 28,000 and the number of trademarks increased from 65,000 to 2.5 lacs in 2020-21.
Production Linked Incentives (PLI) schemes were introduced to boost size and scale in manufacturing. Focus shifted from providing support towards target linked output rather than input. Total production from PLI schemes is estimated to be $500 billion over the next few years. PLI schemes have potential to generate approx. 60L jobs in next few years.
Definition of MSME was revised. Micro enterprise defininition raised investment threshold to Rs. 1 crore (from Rs. 25 lacs) and adds turnover of less than Rs. 5 crore as an additional criteria. Investment threshold of Small & medium firms have been doubled.
Four labour codes – Code on Wages, 2020; the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; the Code on Social Security, 2020; and the Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code, 2020 – subsumed 29 central labour laws.
Infrastructure:
India has spent $14 trillion on infrastructure in the 75 years since independence. 50% of that (or $7 trillion) was spent in the last 9 years.
The pace of building National Highways increased from 12KM per day in 2014-15 to 37 KM per day in 2020-21.
Sector specific programmes such as Bharatmala (highways), sagarmala (ports), UDAN (air travel) were announced.
Close to 55% bank accounts opened in the world during 2015-18 were opened in India leveraging the simplified KYC norms.
National Payments Corporation of India – Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processed 6.8 billion transactions amounting to Rs. 51 billion in 2022.
112 backward districts are being transformed under Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP).
In 2016, Startup India was launched. A bundle of laws were eased and income tax exemption was granted. Since then, 65,000 startups have been recognized. India’s startup ecosystem is third largest in the world.
India’s growth story will be led by the private sector, with the government playing the role of enabler and a facilitator.
A growth rate of 6% during 2022-47 will see Indian economy reach $16,4 trillion by 2047, a growth rate of 8% in this period will see economy reach a size of $20.6 trillion and a 10% will take economy to $32.6 trillion.
Source: Made in India by Amitabh Kant
