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Manmohan Singh's 1991 Budget: the day that changed India forever
Yesterday, July 24, 2016, marks 25 years of liberalisation. The economic reforms kick-started in 1991 brought about expansion of the services sector helped largely by a liberalised investment and trade regime. They also increased consumer choices and reduced poverty significantly.
That day 25 years ago changed India decisively. At about 12.50 p.m., P.J. Kurien, the Minister of State for Industry and now the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, got up in the Lok Sabha and read out a brief statement: “Sir, I beg to lay on the table a statement (Hindi and English versions) on Industrial Policy”. That was it: a bland statement to usher in a radical transformation of Indian enterprise and open up a whole new future for Indian entrepreneurs. The statement made a bonfire of all licensing controls. The occasion was made more ironic by the fact that the junior minister’s heart was not in the revolutionary contents of the new industrial policy. Indeed, at various points, he and his officials had acrimonious disagreements, and Finance Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had to tell him that he had to fall in line to avoid international embarrassment. Perhaps this tepid introduction had been provoked by a fear of protests from political parties and trade unions. In fact, I had reason to believe that lobbying by some prominent figures of industry — nervous about the bold approach to attracting foreign investment — had delayed the approval of the new industrial policy. The new industrial policy almost did not happen. It was rejected by the Cabinet when it was first taken up on July 19. Many ministers objected to the sweeping changes being proposed, saying that it was a wholesale and unwarranted condemnation of over four decades of planned development. Some were not convinced that a strong case had been made out for these far-reaching changes. It is only after consultations in a Group of Ministers, and some political repackaging and repositioning, that the Cabinet had approved the proposals on July 23. Thereafter, they were given the go-ahead in a special meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) in which Dr. Singh quoted chapter and verse from the Congress’s 1991 Lok Sabha election manifesto to demonstrate that he and Rao were only implementing what might be considered Rajiv Gandhi’s last will and testament.


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