Modi govt to bring more reforms, raise farm investment to boost growth: Prez

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in its second term will implement more economic reforms, raise investment in the farm sector, provide collateral-free loans to entrepreneurs and further simplify GST to boost economic growth, President Ramnath Kovind said Thursday.

The government will shortly bring a new industrial policy to make India a manufacturing hub and the process of simplification of rules will be expedited to propel the country into top-50 nations on the ease of doing business ranking, he said.

A day after Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal ruled out allowing foreign companies into multi-brand retailing, the President in his customary address to the joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament said a National Retail Trade Policy is on the anvil.

"Today, India is among the fastest-growing economies in the world. Inflation is low, fiscal deficit is under control, foreign exchange reserves are growing and the impact of Make In India is clearly visible," he said.

India, he said, is on the way to become the world's fifth-largest economy in terms of GDP.

"To maintain a high growth rate, the reform process will continue. It is our objective to make India a 5-trillion dollar economy by 2024," he said.

While new Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the first budget of the Modi government's second term on July 5, his speech laid out priority areas for the government.

Taking reforms forward to push GDP growth, which has slipped to 5-year low of 6.8 per cent in 2018-19, is the top priority. With a forecast of below-normal rainfall in many parts of the country, addressing agrarian distress is also on the agenda as is job creation.

"Only on the foundation of a strong rural economy, it is possible to build a strong national economy. Our farmers are the pillars of the rural economy. All possible efforts are being made by the central government to provide adequate assistance to the states for agricultural development," Kovind said. "In order to enhance agriculture productivity, an investment of Rs 25 lakh crore will be made in the coming years."
The President also said, "Keeping in view Industry 4.0, a New Industrial Policy will be announced shortly."
"It has also enabled deletion of names of about 8 crore ineligible beneficiaries," he said. "DBT will be further expanded in the coming days. I would urge the state governments to use DBT in more and more schemes."
"This campaign will be further expedited. Our goal is to establish 50,000 start-ups in the country by 2024."