THE GAME CHANGER

In his first term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reform agenda saw only incremental implementation. In his second term, he moved at warp speed to reform India’s economic landscape, and in 2021 made a big privatisation push that included asset monetisation of PSUs apart from streamlining labour laws. However, the challenge of successfully implementing these changes remains

- Shwweta Punj

A big expectation of the NDA under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, even as far back as the start of his first term in 2014, was that true to the ‘minimum government, maximum governance’ slogan, the Centre would quickly roll out major reforms, especially those that took the government out of the business of running businesses. However, reforms are tougher to implement than to announce, and in its first term, Modi’s tenure saw more incremental progress than fundamental change. The two major policy changes that did happen—demonetisation and the GST (goods and services tax)—both drew flak for their implementation, and though the GST has proved far more beneficial than demonetisation, even the Modi government’s tax network had a shaky start.

In his second term, Modi has moved with speed and decisiveness, implementing a flurry of changes from lower corporate tax rates and bank reforms to universal health insurance. Though he had to roll back his most ambitious (and controversial) reforms—the farm laws—in November, it was in 2021 that his government brought about major policy change, in the form of a determined push for PSU privatisation. However, given the pushback his sweeping agriculture reforms saw, the Centre is likely to face a landmine of resistance from trade unions and the opposition. Nevertheless, the ball has been set rolling and made 2021 a unique year for central reforms under Modi.