Economy recovering, indicators better than pre-Covid levels: Prime Minister

During the online disbursement of the 10th PM-Kisan installment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that there had been a remarkable recovery in the economy that should be carried forward into 2022 despite the tough obstacles posed by the pandemic. In fact, many economic indicators were higher than pre-Covid levels, the PM asserted.

"Today, the growth rate of our economy is more than 8%. Record foreign investment has come to India and our forex reserves have reached record levels. Also, old records have been surpassed in the GST collection. We have also set new paradigms in case of exports and especially agriculture," Modi said.

The Prime Minister began his speech by expressing condolences to those who lost their loved ones in the stampede at the Mata Vaishno Devi Complex. Earlier, he interacted with the members of the Farmers' Producers Organisation from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

Under the scheme, ₹20,000 crore will be split amongst more than 10 crore beneficiary farmers under the Prime Minister's Kisan Samman Nidhi. According to the latest data on the PM Kisan Portal, more than 12.30 crore farmers are registered under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana and Rs. 2000 will be credited to their accounts on January 1.

Farmers can recieve up to ₹6000 a year in three installments of ₹2000 each. During the event, Prime Minister also released an equity grant of more than Rs 14 crores to about 351 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), which will benefit more than 1.24 lakh farmers.

Digital India initiatives had connected many villages to the internet via optical fibre cables which had proven beneficial to the farming community, he stated.

"In the year 2022, we have to accelerate our pace further. Coronavirus has posed challenges but it cannot stop the pace of India. India will fight against Covid with utmost caution and will also fulfill its national interests," Modi said.

He spoke about the expected economic development that would make India self-sufficient in a lot of sectors, Including the semiconducter-manufacturing sector. The deployment of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor was also highlighted and so was the construction of the Ram Mandir which the PM said would strengthen India's heritage.

There were now 50,000 start-ups working in India, of which more than 10,000 had been formed in just the last six months of 2021, Modi said, highlighting it as a matter of progress. India's commitment to net-neutral carbon emissions and development of electric cars was also highlighted by the Prime Minister.