BJP manifesto: Guarantee that Bharat will be the 3rd largest economic power

THERE WILL be “next generation of reforms”, with an aim to make India the third largest economy of the world, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said in its manifesto ‘Modi ki Guarantee2024’ released sunday.

Stating that it will open up newer avenues for growth and address poverty, the manifesto said it will continue to focus on fiscal prudence and measures to make India a global manufacturing hub, create high-value jobs, improve infrastructure, and expansion of credit programmes including doubling the Mudra loan limit.

“Our policies have resulted in Bharat becoming the 5th largest economy. We will build upon this foundation in the next five years to launch our country on the path to Viksit Bharat by 2047…we guarantee that Bharat will be the 3rd largest economic power,” it said. The manifesto, or Sankalp Patra, states that the BJP will expand the startup ecosystem to tier-2 and tier-3 cities. The manifesto has underlined its thrust on infrastructure stating there will be focus on modern road networks, enhancement of rail and metro connectivity with new-age trains, along with developing comprehensive EV charging stations and construction of new airports and advancing telecom infrastructure with affordable 5 ga nd innovative 6G technology.

Fiscal measures and manufacturing hub: Stating that there has been low inflation, high growth and fiscal prudence in the last decade, the manifesto said the BJP will continue on this path if voted to power. The government has set a fiscal deficit target of 5.1 per cent of the GDP for financial year 2024-25, which it aims to bring down to 4.5 per cent by FY26.

There will be focus on manufacturing, services, rural industry and credit facilities that have generated livelihood opportunities and they will take measures to increase employment and self-employment. Citing that the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme and Make in India have significantly increased manufacturing activities, the party said it will focus on making the country a global manufacturing hub through simplification of regulatory processes, investment in infrastructure along with bringing capital to the industry and investing in research and development. Defence, rail, automobile, aviation, and semiconductor and chip manufacturing, and ship building will be the focus areas.

Startups and employment: Enlisting startup interventions such as Atal Tinkering Labs, Hack at hon, startup india and start Up india seed fund scheme for establishing the startup ecosystem, the BJP said it will work with the private sector to expand the incubator network and link them with higher education institutes to promote entrepreneurship among students. It said it will expand the existing Startup India Seed Fund Scheme and Startup Credit Guarantee Scheme to ensure adequate funds for startups.

Entrepreneurs, MSMES and credit facilities: In an effort to extend more credit to small businesses looking to grow, BJP has promised to double the loan limit under the PM Mudra scheme to Rs 20 lakh. The scheme was launched in 2015 to provide collateral-free loans up to Rs 10 lakh tonon-corporate,non-farmsmall and micro-entrepreneurs. As per the manifesto, over 46 cr ore loans worth around Rs 27 lakh crore have been given under the scheme so far. the party also plans to expand other existing schemes like PM Svanidhi and PM Vishwakaram Yojana along with PM Mudra to provide “livelihood opportunities for all families, including OBC, SC & ST”.

For small traders and MSMES, the BJP has promised to further boost ease of doing business. it has promised to simplify the g st portal to increase accessibility to users, especially MSMES and small traders. in addition to working with state governments to simplify state legislation, it is also “committed to launch an exercise to completely revamp our economic and commercial legislation to suit our economic needs”.

Gig workers: The BJP said it will ensure periodic review of national floor wages. The social security schemes for unorganised workers will be integrated with use of post office and Digital India network. Gig workers, migrant workers along with auto, taxi, truck drivers will be taken on board on the e-shram portal to avail schemes meant fo run organised workers.

The National Floor Level Minimum Wage was introduced in 1991 to have a uniform minimumwage structure in the country and was last revised to Rs 176 per day in June 2017 from Rs 160 earlier. The Code on Wages, 2019, which is yet to be enforced, proposes to fix a National Floor Level Minimum Wage that will be set by the Centre to be revised every five years, while states will fix minimum wages for their regions, which cannot be lower than the floor wage. An earlier panel formed by the government in 2018 had recommended setting the national floor wage at Rs 375 per day, which was not accepted by the government.

Our policies have resulted in Bharat becoming the 5th largest economy. We will build upon this foundation in the next five years to launch our country on the path to Viksit Bharat by 2047…”

— BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY