Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, on Wednesday, coined a new term to describe Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s role in India’s economic growth — ‘Modinomics’ — as he highlighted the country’s GDP growth of 7.8 per cent. On the eve of PM Modi’s birthday, Singh was in Kolkata to talk about the ‘Viksit Bharat’ mission while highlighting the development initiatives and policies undertaken under Modi’s leadership, including market regulation and governance.
“Our country is well regulated and properly governed. India’s economy is moving towards 7.8%. The success story behind India’s economy is Modinomics,” said Rajnath Singh.
The defence minister was also optimistic about the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) amid the controversy surrounding the introduction of a 0.4 per cent Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on transactions above ₹2,000 by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) from October 15. While steering clear of the criticism from opposition parties and other sections, Singh said the success of India’s digital payments system had been praised even by French President Emmanuel Macron, who described it as a “civilisation story” and not merely a “tech story”. Singh was speaking about PM Modi’s vision and foresight.
“When UPI was introduced, many thought it would not be successful. Many questioned how it would help the poor. Yesterday, UPI completed 10 years. In August alone, 23.66 billion transactions took place, valued at Rs 29.88 lakh crore, which in itself is a record,” Singh said.
Singh also spoke about the impact of digital payments on street vendors, saying they had helped bring them into the formal banking system and expand their business opportunities. He said statistics showed that their incomes had increased by 20 per cent. The remarks come at a time when a merchant fee is being introduced for certain UPI transactions.
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge have criticised the introduction of the fee for merchants on UPI transactions, calling it a “UPI tax”.
The BJP-led Union government, however, has described the move as a long-term financial safety net that will support infrastructure growth and strengthen the cybersecurity of India’s digital payments system.
