PM Modi says White Paper exposed how UPA govt's policies were taking India on path of poverty

He pointed out the great disappointment among investors around the world due to scams and policy paralysis leading to a huge risk of losing the confidence of investors.

He underlined that now that India’s economy is in a strong position, the government has presented the entire truth before the country in the form of the White Paper.

Addressing the ET Now Global Business Summit 2024, PM Modi said that India is at a time when the country is making itself strong for centuries to come and the nation’s virtuous cycle has started.

“India is soaring to new heights of progress," the Prime Minister said assuring everyone that the country is on the path to becoming the third-largest economy in the world.

He expressed confidence that the present government’s third term will witness huge decisions and preparations are already underway for new schemes to eliminate poverty while giving a new impetus to India's development.

Informing that the suggestions from more than 15 lakh people have been taken into consideration, the Prime Minister said, “New India will work with super speed. This is Modi’s guarantee."

Expressing delight in the praise received by economic experts and journalists regarding this year’s Interim Budget terming it as ‘not a populist budget’, the Prime Minister thanked them for their reviews, but also drew attention to the ‘first principles’ of the Budget or overall policy-making. “Those first principles are - stability, consistency and continuity,” he said adding that this budget is an extension of these principles.

Recalling the opinion of experts at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic to print more money to increase demand and help big businesses, the Prime Minister pointed out that this approach adopted by many governments of the world resulted in rising inflation levels.

“There were many attempts to put pressure on us too. But we knew the ground reality and understood it. We moved forward based on our experience and our conscience,” he said.

PM Modi credited India’s policies, which were once being questioned but proved to be correct, for the economy’s strong position today.

“India is a welfare state. The government’s priority is to make the lives of the common citizens easier and improve the quality of life," the Prime Minister remarked.

He underlined that on the one hand, new schemes were created, while on the other, the government took the benefits to every eligible beneficiary. “We invested not only in the present but also in the future of the country," he said.

The Prime Minister highlighted the four main factors in each of the budgets and mentioned record productive expenditure in the form of capital expenditure, unprecedented investment in welfare schemes, control of wasteful expenditure, and financial discipline.

He underscored that a balance was maintained and the set targets were achieved in all four subjects.

Crediting the mantra of ‘money saved is money earned’ in achieving the desired targets, the Prime Minister mentioned completing projects in a time-bound manner.

Modi also touched upon saving the country's money by bringing transparency to the system and using technology.

He mentioned getting rid of 10 crore fake beneficiaries who existed only on paper, putting an end to the leakage of funds with  Direct Benefit Transfer helping save Rs. 3.25 lakh crore from falling into the wrong hands, GeM Portal for purchase of government goods resulting in savings of Rs 65,000 crores, and diversification of oil procurement saving Rs 25,000 crores.

“In the last year, we saved Rs 24,000 crores just by blending ethanol in petrol," he said.

Touching upon the curse of incremental thinking, the Prime Minister explained that it creates a limit and does not allow one to move at its own pace. He pointed out that a similar issue existed in the bureaucracy when the present government came to power. To bring about change, the Prime Minister said that he decided to work at a much larger scale and greater speed than the previous governments.