(LiveMint)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his government has corrected past weaknesses of the economy, and urged industrialists to “invest boldly”, promising protection against wrong actions in genuine commercial failures. “I want to assure the banking and corporate world that we have been able to overcome weaknesses in the system to a large extent. And so they should now take decisions fearlessly, invest boldly and spend undauntedly,” Modi told the gathering at an event to celebrate the centenary of industry lobby Assocham.
Echoing Modi, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman also urged India Inc to come out of its mood of “self-doubt” and unleash the animal spirits, as the steps taken post-budget have started showing some results on the ground. Referring to the current economic downturn, Modi said he was aware of the discussions surrounding the state of the economy. “I don’t challenge them. Within those discussions, we have to remember that during the previous government, GDP growth in one quarter had fallen to 3.5%, CPI inflation had touched 9.4% and fiscal deficit had breached 5.6% of GDP. There were ups and downs in the economy earlier, too. Our country has the capability to come out stronger from such situations and it will,” he added.
