UPA had left a trail of economic mismanagement, Centre's white paper

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the government's 'White Paper on India Economy' in Parliament on Thursday. The white paper claimed, the UPA hurt the economy, robbed the economy. Despite inheriting a healthy economy, the UPA turned it into a non-performing one.It has been mentioned in the document that the UPA regime inherited a healthy economy in 2004 and left it in crisis when the current government took over in 2014.  Calling it a "lost decade", the UPA, the Centre said, had left a trail of economic mismanagement and "short-sighted handling of the public finances... and undermining the macroeconomic foundations".
"In 2004, when the UPA government began its term, the economy was growing at 8 per cent (with industry and services sector growth above 7 per cent each and a resuscitating agriculture sector growth above 9 per cent in FY04) amidst a benign world economic environment," read the White Paper tabled by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.The White Paper said the average annual inflation rate between 2004 and 2014 was around 8.2% and accused the UPA of doing nothing to contain the high inflation.Across the 14 major social and rural sector ministries, a cumulative Rs 94,060 crore of budgeted expenditure was left unspent" over the 10 years. This, the Centre said, amounted to 6.4 per cent of the cumulative budget, compared to the 1 per cent left unspent by the NDA government over the last decade.
A chunk of the White Paper was devoted to the mismanagement and scams that plagued the defence sector.  "By 2012, shortage of combat-ready equipment and ammunition was a chronic issue plaguing our forces. One would also recall the long-drawn process of procurement of fighter aircraft that never reached any conclusion. Even the decision to provide bullet-proof jackets and night vision goggles to Indian Army soldiers was kept hanging for years," the White Paper read.A section of the White Paper was devoted to scams the UPA government was accused of – the 2G scam and Aircel-Maxis cases in the telecom sector, coal block allocations, Commonwealth Games, Saradha chit fund, INX Media Case, the irregularities during the Commonweath games and Augusta Westland Helicopter Scam and the Hawk Aircraft Purchase in the Defence sector.
The white paper said the introduction of the GST regime was a much-needed structural reform. "Prior to the introduction of the Goods & Service Tax (GST), the mélange of state levies, more than 440 tax rates, excise duties and the compliance requirements of multiple agencies administering these rates meant that India’s internal trade was neither free nor united. The implementation of the reform entailed unifying 29 states and 7 Union Territories, which, due to their different tax structures, were economic territories on their own," it said.The white paper said the NDA government successfully overcame the challenges left by the previous government but is not resting on its laurels. "There are miles to go and mountains to scale before we sleep. The Amrit Kaal has just begun and our destination is "India a developed nation by 2047". It is our Kartavya Kaal," it said.