The Bharatiya Janata Party’s old guard and former Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha on Tuesday criticised the “Make in India” initiative of the Modi government saying that the Centre should first ‘Make India’ which will ultimately lead to ‘Make in India.’
He was speaking at a function organised by the All India Association of Indian Industry and World Trade Centre, Mumbai in his honour here.
“Unless you Make India, Make in India cannot happen” he said to the amusement of the audience. He did not name anybody.
“When I was the Finance Minister, we wanted to build highways. But we don’t have the equipment. So I conceded the demand to allow import of equipment at zero duty. Now we are making all these equipment in India. So unless we Make India, we cannot Make in India,” he elaborated.
To a question on whether the current NDA government was seeking the advice of the old guard or those from the previous NDA government, Mr. Sinha said, “All those above the age of 75 were declared brain dead on May 26, 2014. I have been brain dead for the last one year,” he said, sending the audience into splits.
Mr. Sinha also criticised RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan for his conservative approach in reducing interest rates.
Correction
A sentence in the penultimate paragraph of “Sinha takes a swipe at Modi” (June 24, 2015) said: “All those above the age of 75 were declared brain dead on May 26, 2015...” The year should have been 2014.
