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Land acquisition problems, though worked on by Modi thus far, stand to face
considerable opposition. And while a 4% budget deficit might be desirable
compared to recent years, the central government still has a long way to go to
balance the budget. Consider that the International Monetary Fund does not
forecast a general government primary surplus over the next few years. The new
government last month pushed out the date for a budget surplus to 2017, moving
the budgetary goal posts once again.
As is the case with any democratic system, politicians do not win votes on nuance
or plausibility. But, ultimately the history books will determine whether Modi’s
promises were substantive or just fanciful. Does he have the ability needed to
execute on thorny issues like subsidies, land acquisition, and bureaucratic
reforms? We will see.
After a great decade as Chief Minister of Gujarat, Modi hopes to replicate his
efforts in New Delhi. With Modi at the helm, India has a renewed sense of hope
for its economic future.
SOURCES:
1 Sameer Hasmi, “Can India’s Economy Mod
el Itself on Gujarat”, BBC News,
May 5, 2014.
2 Shibaji Roychoudhury, “Biometric Babus”,
Scroll.in, October 7, 2014.
3 D K Singh, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi
to shedUPA baggage”, Indian
Express, June 1, 2014.
4 Rajat Gupta et. al., “India’s path from poverty to empowerment”, McKinsey
Global Institute, February 2014.
5 Nigam Prusty, “India clears order to ease land acquisitions in reforms
push”, Reuters, December 29, 2014
6 “With 11.5 crore accounts, Jan Dhan bags Guinness Record”, Rediff Business,
January 20, 2015.
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