NDA 3.0's first 100 days: Business as usual with a call for faster growth amid rollbacks and reviews

No stranger to Raisina Hill, the third term of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is seeing a flurry of activity and announcements, and the first 100 days was business as usual for the most.  

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led-NDA completed 100 days in power on September 17. Certain of its victory in the Lok Sabha elections, the government had drafted an agenda for the first 100 days before the polls. But with the BJP winning just 240 seats in the Lok Sabha, NDA 3.0 has had to rely on its allies including the Telugu Desam Party, Janata Dal (United), and the Lok Janshakti Party.

This lack of a majority seems to have had a telling effect with the review, if not rollback of a handful of proposals including the indexation benefit on capital gains tax in real estate as well as lateral entry into government service.
A number of big-ticket announcements have been made, starting with the Union Budget 2024-25, which was presented just 44 days after the swearing in of the new government on June 9. Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah had said that projects worth about `15 lakh crore have been initiated in the first 100 days of NDA 3.0.

Announcements in the Budget include the employment-linked incentive (ELI) schemes and the internship scheme, as well as a focus on attracting private sector investments through setting up of plug-n-play industrial smart cities, removal of the angel tax and income tax sops for the middle class.

Subsequent meetings of the Union Cabinet have also seen some far-reaching announcements, including those with an eye on state elections. These include the roll-out of the Unified Pension Scheme from April 2025 and measures aimed at the welfare of farmers such as the release of `21,000 crore as the 17th instalment of the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme.

The government has also maintained the focus on infrastructure investments with an outlay of Rs 11.1 lakh crore this fiscal. It is estimated to have cleared infrastructure projects worth `3 lakh crore in its first 100 days, including the Vadhavan Mega Port in Maharashtra worth `76,200 crore and eight new railway lines worth Rs 24,657 crore.
Making strides in providing health insurance to all, the Cabinet has also approved a scheme for all senior citizens above the age of 70 years, irrespective of income, under the flagship Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.

This pace of work continues beyond the 100 days and more projects and initiatives are set to start in the coming months. Following up on another Budget announcement, on October 3 the government launched—on pilot mode—a scheme that would enable 10 million youth between the ages of 21 and 24 years to intern at the Top 500 India Inc. firms based on the average CSR spend in the last three years, and would include reservations for SC/ST and OBC as well as candidates with disabilities. Work on revamping the Income Tax Act as well as customs duty that was proposed in the Union Budget have started and the long-pending updating of statistical indices such as the consumer price index and index of industrial production, apart from the national accounts, are also underway.
But what has been different in the current term is the rollback of certain policy decisions. This was evident in the Union Budget when the government had to rework the indexation benefit on capital gains tax on property and gave two options to taxpayers. 

The Centre also went back on the lateral entry of people in government service and a call by the Union Public Service Commission for applications to 45 such posts was withdrawn in less than 72 hours amidst concerns over the lack of reservation. A version of the draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2024 was withdrawn while the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 that was introduced in Parliament in August was also sent to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for more dialogue and scrutiny.

The long-pending notification of the Labour Codes, that has seen stiff opposition from trade unions, also remains in limbo.

Experts believe that beyond these announcements and rollbacks, the government still needs to focus on policies that would boost growth and create jobs. Anil K. Sood, Professor and Co-founder of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Complex Choices underlines that the government is still not solving the critical problems that the economy faces.

“Our GDP growth rate remains between 6.5% and 7% though our potential growth rate and the required growth rate based on our population is 8% or more. If we get our policies right, it is possible to accelerate growth to 8% plus,” he says, adding that the government needs to focus on issues around employment, in terms of the overall number as well as quality of jobs. It also needs to focus on decongesting the cities as that would cut down travel time and improve productivity, helping lower the cost of production and the cost of living. Further, it also needs to focus on health and education, as both sectors create quality employment with scale.

For now, the economy is in a sweet spot with consumer sentiment and private investments in revival mode. But NDA 3.0 would have to ensure that crucial policy measures aimed at boosting growth do not get hampered while maintaining the delicate balance with its allies.   
     
@surabhi_prasad