NYT Piece Sparks Off Debate On Modi's Impact On Indian Economy

As other big developing markets stumble, India is emerging as one of the few hopes for global growth. This is the line the New York Times takes in an article published this week. It says while China, Brazil and Russia are struggling, it is India – with its surging stock markets, robust rupee, and with multinationals looking to expand their presence – that is the only one shining.

Most of us agree with this. But the problem starts when the American iconic newspaper attributes India's super run to India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his policies. "India is riding high on the early success of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a raft of new business-friendly policies instituted in his first eight months," it says.

Not many in India agree with this though and there is already a raging debate from those who differ. This is obvious because a large part of the economy's good performance in the recent months has come from abnormal falls in the global price of crude coupled with low inflation in India.

As soon as Sadanand Dhume tweeted the article,

China: slowing. Brazil: struggling. Russia: headed into a recession. #India: riding high. [Modi policies paying off.] http://t.co/aRf1YvoxEC

— Sadanand Dhume (@dhume) February 18, 2015

(China: slowing. Brazil: struggling. Russia: headed into a recession. #India: riding high. [Modi policies paying off.]), it has invited criticism from all over from people who disagree with the NYT line of thought.

.@dhume Modi has only been in power for 10 months. There have been no reforms of any game-changing kind. I think we need to hold the kudos.

— Tunku Varadarajan (@tunkuv) February 18, 2015

@dhume eh? Which policies?

— Mihir Sharma (@mihirssharma) February 18, 2015

@dhume why not give credit to steep fall in energy &commodity prices? Brazil &Russia commodity exporters. China already was slowing @tunkuv

— Ajit Ranade (@ajit_ranade) February 18, 2015

What is, however, not being debated is this assertion from NYT, "Whether India's momentum is short-lived or sustainable hinges on whether Mr. Modi can push through deeper reforms, including addressing the persistent poverty and corruption that plague the economy. Lacking the necessary political support to overhaul legislation quickly, he has largely relied on temporary measures to make changes…. His party lost badly in recent local elections in Delhi. The next test comes later this month. The government is set to present its full-year budget to Parliament and lay out an agenda for taming chronic deficits while increasing investment, bolstering manufacturing and building modern highways and ports."

So, we'll know in ten days' time.