PM Modi showcases India’s 7.8 pc growth, contrasts ‘policy paralysis’ of previous era when ‘glass was half-empty’

New Delhi: Contrasting the pre-2014 era under the Congress-led government with the present, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that the world now sees India as the fastest-growing major economy.

He pointed to a series of positive developments in just the past week, including quarterly growth of 7.8 per cent, an upgrade in India’s credit rating by a Japanese agency, a nine-percent rise in power generation, a 20-per cent increase in overall vehicle sales (with two-wheeler sales up around 20 per cent and three-wheeler sales rising nearly 30 per cent), and strengthening consumer demand alongside expanding commercial activity.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday addressed the centenary celebrations of Delhi University’s Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), drawing a sharp contrast between the economic challenges of the past and India’s current status as the world’s fastest-growing major economy.

Speaking to students, faculty and alumni, he underlined recent quarterly growth of 7.8 per cent and linked the country’s progress to decisive governance and policy dynamism.

PM Modi revisited the difficult conditions of 2013. Media headlines of that period, he said, reflected a nation struggling on multiple fronts: Indian soldiers killed on the Line of Control, World Bank estimates pointing to weak GDP growth, a current account deficit under pressure, inflation hovering around 10 per cent, industrial slowdown, the helicopter scam, allegations of bribery involving deals linked to Saudi Arabia, and bomb blasts in Hyderabad.

“Growth was on the floor, and inflation and corruption were at their peak,” PM Modi said. “Terrorists were rampant… and there was nothing but despair.” He described the earlier period as one of policy paralysis that left the country in a “quagmire of despair.” He said India was then among the “fragile five nations.” Contrasting that past with the present, the Prime Minister declared that the backbone of Naxalism has been broken and that the world, which once spoke of India’s policy paralysis, now discusses its policy dynamism.

PM Modi began by recalling the college’s journey from a modest beginning in Daryaganj to its present stature as a towering institution that has shaped generations of professionals, leaders, artists, lawyers and entrepreneurs. “Even today, in DU, when someone asks which college, the word SRCC is the same,” he said, praising the alumni who have carried the college’s name across the world. He mentioned working with several SRCC alumni, including former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and current team member Sanjeev Sanyal.

The Prime Minister noted that people had been revisiting his 2013 address at the same college for days. At that time, he was Chief Minister of Gujarat and a prominent opposition leader. “Probably everyone was expecting that I would launch a long attack on the central government,” he recalled.

“Despite being a critic of the then government, I did not use that platform only for criticism. I kept the vision and spoke positive things.” PM Modi returned to the glass metaphor he had used in 2013. While some saw the glass as half full or half empty, he had insisted it was full — half with water and half with air. That optimism, he suggested, had guided the country’s subsequent growth roadmap.

Achieving robust growth even amid global challenges such as regional conflicts and other disruptions, he said, demonstrated India’s underlying capability.

IANS