SABSE BADA RUPEE! YEAH!

Mumbai: India’s foreign currency (forex) reserves as on Sunday night stood at $US 572 billion even as the country appears headed for a record year-onyear growth in its forex holdings that stood at $US 561 billion and $US 642 billion for the entire fiscal years of 2020- 2021 and 2021-2022 respectively. Progressively, the forex mop-up over the last 8 years has witnessed a steady and consistent improvement over the previous year since 2014 under the Narendra Modi led Union Government.

Union Government. During the erstwhile UPA-2 government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (noted economist) of the Indian National Congress, the forex holdings grew from $US 251 billion in 2008-2009 to $US 304 billion in 2013- 2014 (over six fiscal years), the Modi led NDA government has maintained a much higher and consistent forex growth levels annually.

Since the BJP came to power in India in the 2014-2015 fiscal year ($US 341 bn), 2015- 2016 ($US 360 bn), 2016- 2017 ($US369 bn), 2017- 2018 ($US 424 bn); barring the 2018-2019 fiscal ($US 412 bn), the forex growth has consistently been maintained. The growth levels were maintained in 2019-2020 ($US 477bn), 2020-2021 ($US 561 bn), 2021-2022 (642 bn) with the first two quarters of the current fiscal year 2022-2023 already registering $US 572 bn so far. Co-convenor of the BJP’s Maharashtra Vyapari Cell Mahendra Jain disagrees. Says he, “We are heavily dependent on forex for importing of oil and gold, although the sharp rupee trade negotiations by India with many countries has already resulted in a rupee-rouble trade deal for oil imports from Russia, edible and soybean oil imports from Indonesia and now we are negotiating a rupee currency trade deal with Iran from where we have huge gas imports. Effectively the sanctions that were placed on Russia more recently, and on Iran earlier by the Euro-US axis have failed. India has shifted close to a quarter of its imports to rupee transactions which again is a big save and further bolsters out forex reserves each year.”

Since the BJP came to power in India in the 2014-2015 fiscal year ($US 341 bn), 2015- 2016 ($US 360 bn), 2016- 2017 ($US369 bn), 2017- 2018 ($US 424 bn); barring the 2018-2019 fiscal ($US 412 bn), the forex growth has consistently been maintained. The growth levels were maintained in 2019-2020 ($US 477bn), 2020-2021 ($US 561 bn), 2021-2022 (642 bn) with the first two quarters of the current fiscal year 2022-2023 already registering $US 572 bn so far. Co-convenor of the BJP’s Maharashtra Vyapari Cell Mahendra Jain disagrees. Says he, “We are heavily dependent on forex for importing of oil and gold, although the sharp rupee trade negotiations by India with many countries has already resulted in a rupee-rouble trade deal for oil imports from Russia, edible and soybean oil imports from Indonesia and now we are negotiating a rupee currency trade deal with Iran from where we have huge gas imports. Effectively the sanctions that were placed on Russia more recently, and on Iran earlier by the Euro-US axis have failed. India has shifted close to a quarter of its imports to rupee transactions which again is a big save and further bolsters out forex reserves each year.”