As we are set to celebrate 71st Republic Day, the presence of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro as the chief guest at the R-day function, assumes significance, since with his visit strategic partnership between both the countries is expected to be strengthened.
The invitation to Bolsonaro, was extended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the recent 11th BRICS Summit held in Brasilia, which he accepted with pleasure.
This year there will be 22 tableaux from 16 States/Union Territories and six Central ministries, rolling down the Rajpath in New Delhi, at the grand R-day parade. The float of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF), raised in 2006 for relief and rescue during natural and man-made disasters, will be the special attraction. Bravery medals and national awards will be given by the President of India Ramnath Kovind. A spectacular march past by the Indian armed and paramilitary forces will be the focus of attention.
People celebrate Republic Day, with a lot of zeal and enthusiasm across the country, as on this day, the Constitution of India came into effect in 1950. It is important to take stock of the different aspects of economy and social conditions prevailing in the country on this day.
The country is facing economic slowdown. Although Prime Minister Narendra Modi aims for a 5 trillion dollar economy by 2024, the task seems to be difficult. As per the Government statistics, India’s economy is expected to grow at 5% (as against earlier forecast of 6.1 per cent), but experts including former Union Finance P Chidambaram have termed the claim as “exaggerated”. GDP came down to 4.5 per cent in quarter II of 2019-2020 (against 5 per cent in quarter I of 2019-2020).
Similarly the Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) has spiked up to 7.35 per cent (from earlier 5.54 per cent) in December, triggering further growth concerns. The retail inflation is the highest witnessed since July 2014 and the real worry for the RBI and government is the rate of food (vegetable) inflation, which was the key trigger behind the steep rise in inflation in December 2019. Amid this, Indian rupee is hovering around 72 against US dollar, spooked by a surge in global oil prices.
In view of the liquidity crunch, the Union Finance Ministry has sought a record Rs 19,000 crore in dividend from State oil companies, about 5% more than last year. It has asked ONGC to pay a dividend of Rs 6,500 crore, Indian Oil Corporation- Rs 5,500 crore, BPCL- 2,500 crore, GAIL-Rs 2,000 crore, Oil India Limited Rs 1,500 crore and Engineers India Rs 1,000 crore.
As if to add to our worries, the US and Iran standoff is expected to adversely impact India’s exports to the Persian Gulf nations. The rupee kitty with Iran, through which the payments to Indian exporters are made, is fast depleting and as such the Rupee-Rial trade can come to a grinding halt, with payment of Indian exporters getting blocked.
To cover up losses, the government has already put up many public sector undertakings, including national carrier Air India on disinvestment list.
Despite this volatile situation, the Government has announced a plan to invest Rs 102 lakh crore in the infrastructure sector in the next 5 years to achieve the GDP target of $5 trillion by 2024-25. The sectors include: NIP projects covering expressways, national gas grid and PMAY-G (Rs 42 lakh crore), energy (Rs 24.54 lakh crore) and Road projects (Rs 19.63 lakh crore).
In the meanwhile Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which has already made significant progress, is planning to send three astronauts to space for seven days by 2022, under “Gaganyaan Mission”, the indigenous human spaceflight programme.
India is expected to become one of the most powerful countries in the time to come. Let us hope that India becomes super power by 2030.
