As Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrates his 75th birthday today, it marks not just a personal milestone but a symbolic moment reflecting India's remarkable economic transformation over the past decade. Since 2014, India has witnessed a series of strategic policy changes and projects aimed at the establishment of a more autonomous, globally competitive and business-friendly state, which fundamentally changes the financial environment of the country.
The Financial Inclusion Foundation
The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has established the financial sector revolution in the financial inclusion that has never been given the same levels of attention in the history of the Modi regime. PMJDY is the National Mission of Financial Inclusion to assure access to financial services, that is, a basic savings / deposit account, remittance, credit, insurance, pension in affordable way. This grand plan has made banking more democratic to millions of Indians who previously were not banked.
On 28th August, PM Modi introduced the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana to deal with this underlying problem. In several months, this system has changed the life of millions of Indians radically and their future. Within a period of less than one year, 19.72 crore bank accounts were created. This attainment is one of the greatest financial inclusion initiatives in the world, which takes the formal banking network among the most frail in India.
The scheme is an all-encompassing scheme that goes beyond opening the account. Key characteristics of PMJDY are Rs. 5,000 overdraft on Aadhar enabled accounts and RuPay debit card with inbuilt insurance of Rs. 1 lakh accident cover whereby, given an accident cover on the card, gives the Aadhar linked account holders a safety net and basic financial services to the hitherto excluded layers of the society.
The JAM Trinity Revolution
The transformative JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) trinity introduced by the administration of Modi has turned into the keystone of the Indian digital financial infrastructure. This integration has allowed direct transfer of benefits, has removed the middle man and it has greatly reduced the leakages in the government welfare programs. The JAM has transformed the delivery of financial services to be more convenient, transparent, and efficient.
The revolution of digital payments which has been implemented under the leadership of Modi has been beyond exceptional. An interface named the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which had initially been developed in a previous government, took off during the digital-first policy of his administration. UPI has made India a digital payment powerhouse and the volume of transactions has never been bigger before and it has gained a milestone in the international standards of real-time payment platforms.
Liberalization in the Economy and Reforms in Business
Modi has opened up the foreign direct investment policies in India which has seen increase in foreign investment in various industries such as defence, railways among others. This liberalization has brought about large foreign capital inflows which have boosted the financial markets of India and offered a new growth platform.
Modi, as Prime Minister, also proclaimed several of the regulations enforced upon Indian businesses, including a tedious permit and inspection bureaucracy. The intention behind the move was to make doing business simpler and less red tape. Such reforms have made the business environment easy to do business in and have promoted entrepreneurship and innovation in the financial sector.
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Structural Tax Reforms
The run-up to the 75th birthday of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17 has been accompanied by one of the greatest economic reforms in the recent years, GST rationalisation. Introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is one of the boldest taxation changes in the post-independent history of India, which has provided a common national market and simplified the taxation system. The GST reform has not only made tax compliance easy but also provided a feeling of transparency in financial dealings, increased efficiency in collecting tax and minimized the cascading impact of tax. This has had profound implications for businesses across sectors, improving their financial health and operational efficiency.
International Economic Positioning
In the policies of socio-economic change, financial reform and inclusive development, which are founded on the philosophy of Sarvodaya through Antyodaya, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has penned the India growth narrative that is ringing all over the world. These policies have placed India as one of the fastest growing major economies in the world. The economic story of India in the last ten years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, popularly known as the Modinomics, has been a phenomenal experience in terms of ambitions, reforms and resilience. This practice has improved the position of India in the international financial market and has led to the inflow of foreign investment and alliances.
Looking Forward
The revolution of the finance sector can be considered the accomplishment of long-term reforms and visionary leadership as India celebrates the 75th birthday of PM Modi. Having put millions under the formal banking net with Jan Dhan Yojana to making India a global leader in digital payment with UPI, to making business regulations simple to bringing about wholesome changes in the taxes systems, the contribution of Modi towards the finance sector has been extensive and far-reaching.
The groundwork that has been established in the last ten years has been not only dealing with the short-term difficulties of financial marginalization and regulatory rigidity, but also setting India in line with a long-term economic growth. These reforms in the financial sector remain important facilitators of Indian economic goals as the country is edging towards being the third-largest economy in the world.
The economic path of the country is likely to pursue the same way since the years of transformation in the financial sector of India became transformative and the 75th birthday of PM Modi is not only a personal celebration but also a chance to remember a decade of financial sector change that has already transformed the lives of millions of people in the country.
