Modi’s Thriftiness May End Up Shortchanging India
For all his populist promises, India’s leader has been cautious about welfare spending. That could threaten long-term growth.
Surprisingly tight-fisted.
Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/BloombergA few months from now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will face India’s electorate and ask them to grant him a third term. In 2019, when he increased his majority in Parliament, most analysts suggested he was buoyed by a wave of nationalism following a military confrontation with Pakistan.
Others, however, believed voters were responding to Modi’s perceived commitment to expanding India’s welfare state. If that were the case, you might expect his government’s spending plans for the coming year, to be announced on Feb. 1, would include big increase in welfare spending in order to lock up this year’s elections as well.