Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented a 'White Paper on the Indian Economy' in the Lok Sabha on Thursday in a bid to highlight the government's assertion that the nation slipped into the category of "fragile five" economies globally during the 10-year tenure of the previous Congress-led UPA regime between 2004 and 2014.
The NDA government in the last 10 years has successfully overcome the challenges left behind by the UPA government and taken "tough decisions" to place India on the path of sustainable high growth, said the white paper.
The 59-page 'White Paper on the Indian Economy' said that when the Modi government assumed office in 2014, the economy was in a "fragile state," public finances were in "bad shape," and there was economic mismanagement, financial indiscipline, and widespread corruption.
"It was a crisis situation. The responsibility to mend the economy step by step and to put the governance systems in order was enormous," said the paper, which was tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament.
According to the government's white paper, the Indian economy "was in crisis" in 2014, and releasing a white paper at that time would have potentially contributed to a "negative narrative" and "shaken confidence of investors."
The White Paper claims that the NDA government, benefiting from political and policy stability, "took tough decisions" aimed at achieving "greater economic good," unlike its preceding UPA administration.
The government's paper claimed that the UPA government had "failed miserably" to facilitate economic activities and instead "created hurdles" that held back the economy.
It added that the NDA government undertook bold reforms and built a sturdy superstructure rather than employing quick fixes, adding: "Every challenge of the pre-2014 era was overcome through the NDA government's economic management and governance."
"Looking back at the last ten years, we can say with humility and satisfaction that we have successfully overcome the challenges left behind by the previous government," it added.
The paper added that there are "miles to go and mountains to scale before we sleep," as the destination is to make India a developed nation by 2047. "It is our Kartavya Kaal," it added.
According to the 'white paper', decision-making during the UPA government "came to a standstill due to corruption and scandals in defence, compromising defence preparedness."
The paper also claimed that the acquisition of artillery, anti-aircraft guns, fighter jets, submarines, night fighting gear, and various equipment upgrades was delayed by the government.
Further, the paper claimed: "The UPA government's decade of governance was marked by policy misadventures and scams such as non-transparent auction of public resources (coal and telecom spectrum), the spectre of retrospective taxation, unsustainable demand stimulus and ill-targeted subsidies and reckless lending by the banking sector with undertones of favouritism, etc. The 2G spectrum scam involving 122 telecom licences that had sliced Rs 1.76 lakh crore off the exchequer as per the estimates of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), the coal gate scam costing Rs 1.86 lakh crore to the exchequer, the Common Wealth Games (CWG) scam, etc., indicated an environment of heightened political uncertainty and reflected poorly on India's image as an investment destination."
The white paper read, "The coal scam shook the conscience of the nation in 2014. Before 2014, the allocation of coal blocks was done on an arbitrary basis without following a transparent process to allocate the blocks. The coal sector was excluded from competition and transparency and the sector lacked investments and efficiencies. These actions were scrutinised by investigation agencies, and in 2014, the Honourable Supreme Court of India cancelled the allocation of 204 coal mines and blocks allocated since 1993."
'Black Paper on failures of Modi government'
Earlier in the day, the Congress released a 'black paper' to highlight the "failures" of the Modi government and alleged that the last 10 years have been a period of "injustice."
The 'black paper' flagged issues such as unemployment, inflation, economic mismanagement, farmer distress, failure to carry out caste census and injustice to women under the BJP-led regime.
Congress president Malllikarjun Kharge released a 54-page "charge sheet", titled '10 saal anyay kaal', against the Centre ahead of the government's tabling in Parliament of a 'white paper' on the "mismanagement" of the economy prior to 2014 aimed at drawing lessons.
"The Modi government's 10 years in power have devastated the country's economy, aggravated unemployment, destroyed the country's agricultural sector, abetted crimes against women and committed grave injustices against minorities in the country," the party alleged in its document.
"The Modi government is silent on price rise... the prices of petrol, diesel, and daily essentials has reached record levels," the "Black Paper' said.
The release of Congress' 'white paper' comes after Sitharaman announced in her Interim Budget speech that the government will come out with a white paper on the economy outlining the economic mismanagement in the 10 years of UPA rule until 2014.
The NDA government has overcome the crisis of those years, and the economy has been put firmly on a high sustainable growth path with all-round development, Sitharaman had claimed.
"It is now appropriate to look at where we were then until 2014 and where we are now, only for the purpose of drawing lessons from the mismanagement of those years. The government will lay a white paper on the table of the House," she had said.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)