10 big-ticket reforms NDA nailed; 4 key areas where it failed

 

 Coal  

Back in 2014, the NDA inherited a scam-riddled coal sector where the Supreme Court had cancelled the allocation of most major coal blocks to private companies, deeming the entire process completely illegal and putting many high-profile corporate honchos in the dock. NDA's power minister Piyush Goyal devised and launched a new reverse e-auction of these coal blocks which was transparent and the government garnered over ₹2 lakh crore. This was done fairly quickly especially as the uncertainty of the future of these coal blocks  was leading to an untenable power crisis.

 

 

Telecom

The telecom sector was severely marred by the infamous 2G spectrum controversy. Here too the apex court had cancelled 122 telecom licences calling UPA's first-come-first-serve policy as, "unconstitutional and arbitrary". In 2015-16, the NDA government re-auctioned the spectrum licences and garnered ₹1.10 lakh crore. The telecom regulator also upheld net neutrality and barred Internet service providers from offering customers preferential tariffs to access particular kinds of content. It also initiated a call-drop penalty for service providers which was later struck down by the apex court.

 

 

Real-estate

The real estate bill was passed in the Parliament. It mandated absolute transparency, held builders accountable and sought to protect home buyers. For builders, it provided speedy clearances, standardization and simplification of procedures.

 

 

Oil and gas

In its bid to encourage domestic oil and gas production, the NDA replaced the existing profit-sharing arrangement in hydrocarbon exploration with a revenue-sharing formula. It also put in place a transparent single licence and policy framework for oil, gas and coal-bed methane exploration in the country. The government also allowed a liberal pricing formula for natural gas to be recovered from deep, ultra-deep, high-tension and high-temperature areas.

 

Start-up India

The NDA unveiled a slew of incentives to boost start-up businesses, offering them a tax holiday and Inspector Raj-free regime for three years, capital gains tax exemption, and a ₹10,000 crore corpus to fund them. The government also announced a self-certification scheme in respect of nine labour and environment laws and said there will be no inspection during the first three years of the launch of a venture.

 

E-commerce

The government allowed 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in online retail of goods and services under the marketplace model through the automatic route.

 

Aviation

 A new aviation policy, showcasing key areas of reform, is ready for clearance by the Union cabinet. The main proposals of the policy include allowing new airlines to fly abroad, the introduction of more regional flights and a new formula for granting bilateral flying rights.

 

Information Technology

The BJP's election manifesto in 2014 had promised to make every Indian  household digitally empowered. Its Digital India programme aims to create broadband highways of 600,000km across the country. The scheme has attracted the attention of multinational firms such as Google and Facebook.

 

 Automobiles

Automobile manufacturing was one of the key thrust areas for the NDA government's Make in India push. It announced that India will move to Bharat Stage VI emission norms in 2020, skipping the Bharat Stage V, in order to tackle pollution.

 

Steel

Keeping its promise of protecting the domestic industry, the government introduced a 20% safeguard duty on steel imports. The government also raised basic customs duties on steel twice in June and in August last year by 2.5% each time.

 

The Lows

 

 

The RBI Rajan controversy

Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy demanded that RBI governor Raghuram Rajan be sacked as he's "mentally not Indian" and because he's been conservative in reducing interest rates. Finance Miinister Arun Jaitley and Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman went into several verbal spats with Rajan on the state of the Indian economy.

 

Ineffective drought management

Swaraj Abhiyaan's PIL and the Supreme Court had to read the riot act to the government on the drought inflicting 40% of the nation and affecting 33 crore citizens. It had to be specifically 'told' to implement effective drought management measures.

 

Unwillingness to reduce fuel prices

NDA's preference to keep a huge chunk of the oil price windfall for itself instead of actually reducing fuel prices and stimulating consumer spending has been criticized by many politicians and senior industry leaders.

 

Climbdown on the land acquisition bill

In a major climbdown following sustained Opposition pressure, the NDA agreed to drop most of its contentious amendments to the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, bringing back the crucial clauses related to consent of affected families and social impact assessment.