‘Lip service to infrastructure under Congress’: FM Sitharaman draws parallel between UPA govt and NDA govt
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday claimed that the Congress-led UPA (2004-14) wasted India’s economic growth potential and left it among the ‘Fragile Five’ economies without focusing on effective infrastructure development. In a post on social media platform X, she said the ‘deliberate neglect of infrastructure creation’ denied India much-needed roads, railways, power, etc., and compromised India’s long-term economic potential.
“@INCIndia-led UPA (2004-14) wasted India’s economic growth potential and left it among the ‘Fragile Five’ economies without focusing on effective infrastructure development. Under UPA, almost all aspects of India’s economic needs were mismanaged or ignored. @INCIndia-led UPA Govt’s noticeable and deliberate neglect of infrastructure creation not only denied India much-needed roads, railways, power, etc., but it also compromised India’s long-term economic potential,” the finance minister said.
She added: “The UPA government’s term was replete with examples of decision stasis. Cost overruns, stalled projects and lack of timely approvals were common between 2004-14,” FM Sitharaman wrote in a sharp critique of the policies during Congress-led UPA government’s tenure. Finance Minister quoted a note from 2013 by the Cabinet Secretary which lamented many large projects, both public and private – especially from infrastructure and manufacturing – were held up for investment “on account of delays in obtaining various approvals/clearances.”
Drawing a parallel with the ruling NDA government, led by BJP under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, Sitharaman said PM Modi’s active role has made the infrastructure turnaround possible. “PM has personally monitored the progress of projects, even those launched earlier, through the PRAGATI platform,” she said.
She highlighted an IMF working paper published in March 2014 that highlighted three primary reasons for India’s investment slowdown, namely, policy uncertainty, delayed approvals and supply bottlenecks. The Railway Board took ‘an average of 43 months to sanction rehabilitation of bridgeworks’, the CAG report from 2014 recorded.
