The goal of economic liberalization is difficult to achieve without the development of the manufacturing sector

- The strong position that India should have in the world market is not seen even today

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the country's economic reforms. In 191, the country was forced to open its doors to world trade, creating a balance of payments crisis. The main purpose behind the reform program was to strengthen the country's balance sheets rather than achieve economic growth through expansion of the manufacturing or service sectors. If reform programs had been undertaken to strengthen the manufacturing and service sectors, the situation in these sectors would have been somewhat different today. However, after the liberal policy was adopted, the country's industries started getting many opportunities and the avenues of development were opened. It is clear from the accounts of three decades that our rulers and industries have not been able to take advantage of this open road. In the three decades of liberalization, India has not been able to keep pace with the world in terms of technology.

In order to invite companies from all over the world to do business in India, the governments of that time and later took steps like simplification and reduction of taxes as well as abolition of license regime. Decisions were also taken during this period to ease the restrictions on imports and exports and to give more powers to the Reserve Bank. The devaluation of the rupee and structural reforms have taken India out of the balance of payments crisis, but the strong position that India should have in the world market is still not seen today.

As part of the economic liberalization program, our governments have made significant changes in the recent past to companies such as income tax relief, implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Real Estate Regulation Act, the creation of the IBC and labor laws. The government has finally decided to move ahead with the privatization of public sector banks. In addition, the government is moving towards selling some of its public sector undertakings and its stake in LIC. However, even these initiatives have not made the expected progress. There are still shortcomings in the administration of GST while banks under IBC have not been able to recover the money as expected. The process of privatization of banks is also currently stalled and there is talk of taking it to the next financial year.

Reforms in the power and manufacturing sectors have not yet progressed as expected. Progress in these areas has been far below capacity. The period of the reform program so far has not been successful in generating employment. Despite being the Minister of Agriculture, the benefits of economic reforms have not been extended to the agricultural sector. If this were the case, the condition of our farmers would not be so bad today and they would not be forced to change their decisions. In an effort to improve the country's fiscal position, the country's rulers resorted to spending cuts instead of increasing revenue, stifling the country's growth. Instead of carrying out administrative reforms, the central and state governments have avoided investing in key sectors such as health and education.

Looking at the recent past, it seems that the judiciary is using established interests to obstruct many policy decisions in the country. Established stakeholders are using legal loopholes to their advantage, which has a direct impact on the country's development work. Given this fact, reforms in the judiciary become necessary. It is said that economic development can be accelerated through reforms in the judiciary. The long-standing demand of foreign companies to make the country's complex labor laws practical has not yet been met.

Import duties were significantly reduced at the beginning of the reform program to help industries by making imports of foreign goods cheaper, but this process of reduction was almost halted in the late 1990s. India's policy of trade liberalization has never been easier. Import duties on raw materials used in some important industries such as vehicle manufacturing remained significantly higher. The same situation is being witnessed at present. Policies to shift to electric vehicles are being formulated in the country, but there is opposition to reducing import duties on foreign-made electric vehicles or their components.

Even in the Free Trade Agreement, India is not keeping pace with the world, which shows that even after three decades of liberalization, India is reluctant to formulate liberal policies. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his recent interactions with industries emphasized on increasing exports from the country but the fact is that the government support required for export growth is not being provided. The governments of our neighboring countries are constantly providing support to strengthen their industries. A small country like Vietnam is competing with India in many goods. The success of the country's economic liberalization policy, which began three decades ago, has depended on the strength of the manufacturing sector, which India cannot achieve in world trade unless it is strengthened.