Nagpur: There is no doubt that the BJP governments both at the centre and in Maharashtra were rung in on the plank of development.
The youth of India, who had caused the overwhelming Modi wave were hopeful of ‘better days’ in the near future. Which means, more jobs with more industries coming in. In fact, we were hopeful that Nagpur, and Vidarbha were going to be attracting lots of foreign funding too since our CM was seen accompanying P.M. Modi on many foreign jaunts, sorry tours!
But at the end of the 3 years, the dismal picture is that NO foreign or even indigenous investment has come in and employment has actually fallen, instead of seeing a rise.
These sad facts have come to light as a result of an RTI inquiry.
We place the results in front of you so we are not accused of ‘sensationalizing’ or negative reporting.
A perusal of the data will show following:
The National scene is no better
It’s not just about Maharashtra but. The scenario is the same all over the country.
As per a Reuters survey: India’s economic growth unexpectedly slowed to 5.7% in the June quarter of this year. It is the slowest pace in three years! The moot question is, is it due to the disruption caused by the uncertainty related to the rollout of the goods and services tax (GST) ? And remember, this came in even as the Indian economy was struggling to recover from a shock demonetisation.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley agreed that it is a matter of concern that GDP growth in the first quarter has slipped. “It throws up a challenge for the economy. In coming quarters we require—both in terms of policy and investments—to work more to improve upon this figure,” he added.
The GDP print is quite shocking and indicates what could be a secular downturn in economic activity, said Abheek Barua, chief economist at HDFC Bank Ltd.
“I don’t see it as a transitory slowdown even though growth may pick up from its current level in coming quarters. Trends in factory output and capital goods point towards a fundamental loss in momentum,” he said.
The slower pace of GDP growth also means India lost the tag of the world’s fastest-growing large economy for the second straight quarter to China, which grew 6.9%.
Former finance minister P. Chidambaram tweeted: “Our worst fears have come true. Sub-6% growth is a catastrophe. The slide in economy continues. Slow growth, low investment and no jobs. An explosive cocktail.”
What led to the slowdown?
According to economists, there are many factors that lead to a slowdown in the economy such as the spillover effects from demonetisation, tepid bank credit growth, bad loans problem and a general slowdown in industry made worse due to the uncertainty from the rollout of the goods and services tax.
Radhika Pandey, consultant at National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, said that all high-frequency indicators such as index of industrial production, bank credit growth and industry surveys show dim hopes of a quick recovery.
Even the RBI’s annual report noted that industry is in a bad shape and it is a consumption driven economy for now.
The report said that if it weren’t for seventh pay commission and one rank one pension, the growth numbers would have been 2% lesser than what they came in as.
Are we are entering a phase of new normal of 6-6.5% growth till longer term issues of bank credit, bad loans and private investment are sorted out.?
