President Ram Nath Kovind, in his address to the joint sitting of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha here on Monday, appreciated the efforts of the Narendra Modi Government at the economic front.

Kovind said India has again emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the world due to consistent endeavours of the Centre and said the rural and agriculture sector played an important role in the economic recovery even amid a pandemic.

Kovind said the GST collection has consistently remained above ₹1 lakh crore during the last several months. “Inflow of $48 billion in the first seven months of the current financial year is a testimony to the belief the global investor community has in India’s growth story. India’s foreign exchange reserves today exceed $630 billion,” he said.

The President claimed that country’s exports are also growing rapidly, breaking several past records. “During April to December 2021, our goods-exports stood at $300 billion or more than ₹ 22 lakh crore, which is one and a half times more than the corresponding period of 2020,” he said.

PLI schemes

He said 14 key PLI schemes with an outlay of more than ₹1,97,000 crore to fully realise the potential of the manufacturing sector and to create new opportunities for the youth. “These PLI schemes will not only help transform India as a global manufacturing hub but also create over 60 lakh jobs. The domestic mobile manufacturing sector is a shining example of the success of the PLI scheme. Today India has emerged as the second largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world, generating lakhs of jobs for our youth,” Kovind said.

Kovind added that the Centre is working to empower the farmers and the rural economy of the country. “Despite the pandemic, our farmers produced more than 30 crore tonnes of food grains and 33 crore tonnes of horticulture produce in 2020-21. The Government made record procurement to match the record production. The government procured 433 lakh metric tonnes of wheat during the Rabi season benefiting about 50 lakh farmers. A record quantity of about 900 lakh metric tonnes of paddy was procured during Kharif season, benefiting 1 crore 30 lakh farmers,” he said and added that agriculture exports have also reached a record level due to the efforts of the government. “Agricultural exports registered a growth of more than 25 percent in the year 2020-21, and have reached nearly ₹ 3 lakh crore,” he said.

The ruling BJP hailed the address and said it provided a roadmap for the development of the country. “This is not an agenda for one year. It is a futuristic vision for the country. It is the draft of India’s reconstruction, which clearly talks about the India we want. Under Narendra Modi, India is being progressed into a strong nation,” Nadda said.

The Opposition said the address was silent about unemployment and job loss. “What happened to two crore new jobs per year? Why are vacancies in Government jobs not filled? What happened to four crore houses promised to be built? Why hasn’t farmers income doubled? Tomorrow, ‘Hum Do’ will deliver yet another budget suited for ‘Humare Do’ and not for ‘Humare Youth’,” said Opposition leader in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.

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