Amid Trump tariff threat, PM pledges to protect farmers, MSMEs & youth
2
Varanasi: Amid the tariff stalemate with the USA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday sent a strong message to the world that protecting India's economic interest was paramount.
Speaking in his parliamentary constituency on Saturday, the PM emphasised that the "top priority of the government remains the welfare of farmers, small industries and employment for youth." He reaffirmed the resilience of the Indian economy, saying that the country must remain vigilant about its economic interests and adopt 'swadeshi' products.
"There is an atmosphere of global instability. All countries are focusing on their individual interests.
India is going to become the third biggest economy in the world and this is why India will have to stay alert as far as its economic interests are concerned," the PM said, two days after UP President Donald Trump called India a 'dead economy'. CM Yogi Adityanath and two deputy CMs, Keshav Maurya and Brajesh Pathak were present on the occasion.
Addressing a public gathering at Kalikadham in Sevapuri after transferring Rs 20,500 crore directly into the bank accounts of over 9.70 crore farmers as the 20th installment of the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme and inaugurating and laying the foundation of 52 projects worth around Rs 2,200 crore, the PM urged people to go 'Vocal for Local'.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
How to Trade ETH/USD Without Holding Ether
IC Markets
Learn More
Undo
"Anyone who wishes good for the country and wants to see India become the third-largest economy must encourage this spirit of going local," he said.
The PM urged traders to promote 'swadeshi' products, terming it a true national service, and appealed to citizens to use Indian-made goods during the upcoming festivals and wedding seasons.
He also advised people to hold weddings in India instead of abroad, highlighting that many young people were already doing so.
"Every choice we make in favour of 'Swadeshi' will shape the future of the country. With everyone's effort, the dream of a developed India will come true. From now on, let's pledge to buy and decorate our homes with only Indian-made products," he added.
Modi highlighted his government's farmer-centric policies, stating that unlike previous governments, the BJP administration has fulfilled its promises to farmers, citing the PM-KISAN Samman Nidhi as a prime example.
"When this scheme was launched, opposition parties like the Samajwadi Party and Congress left no stone unturned to mislead farmers by claiming that after the 2019 Lok Sabha election, it would be stopped and even the money transferred into the accounts of farmers would be taken back.
However, Rs 3.75 lakh crore has been transferred directly to farmers' accounts so far," he said.
In UP alone, 2.5 crore farmers have received over Rs 90,000 crore, while farmers from Kashi got Rs 900 crore, he added.
Referring to the transparency maintained in the schemes of his govt, Modi said, "There are no cuts, commissions, or middlemen. We created a permanent system where there's no leakage and no one can steal the rights of the poor."
Prime Minister Modi emphasized developing the most backward regions with his mantra of 'High priority to more backward'. He highlighted the newly approved PM Dhan Dhanya Agriculture Scheme, focusing on underdeveloped districts with low crop production and income.
He said the govt will invest Rs 24,000 crore in this scheme to support farmers from 'lab to field' and 'seed to market' for their products. Massive investments are being made in irrigation, and under the PM Fasal Bima Yojana, over Rs 1.75 lakh crore in claims were already paid out to farmers.
Modi also mentioned a record increase in the MSP for farmers. Emphasising the govt's focus on boosting women's participation in agriculture through initiatives like Lakhpati Didi and Drone Didi, he stated that the aim is to empower 3 crore rural women financially, with over 1.5 crore already becoming Lakhpati Didis.
Taking a subtle dig at the opposition, the PM said: "Hearing these numbers, SP leaders might just hop on their cycles and run away.
"
Despite agriculture being a state subject, the Centre has taken proactive steps to enhance farmers' income and living standards by implementing beneficial schemes, PM Modi said.
He praised banks for launching a mega campaign and holding fairs in villages across the country for KYC renewal of the account holders under the Jan-Dhan scheme on the completion of its 10 years of launching.
Modi also marked the distribution of assistive devices under the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana to 2,000 Divyangs by handing over devices, including low vision glasses to Babli Kumari (visually impaired student), sports wheelchairs to Santosh Kumar Pandey and Vikas Kumar Patel, hearing aids to Kishun, and a motorized tricycle to Sita Kumari Pal (teacher).
Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan joined the event virtually from Patna.
Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with
Friendship Day wishes
,
messages
and
quotes
!
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Economic Times
3 minutes ago
- Economic Times
US tariff worries weigh on rupee; RBI rate decision in focus
The rupee is likely to stay under pressure this week as concerns over steep U.S. tariffs on Indian exports linger, while the Reserve Bank of India's upcoming policy decision also looms large over the currency and government bonds. ADVERTISEMENT The rupee closed at 87.54 against the U.S. dollar on Friday, down 1.2% for the week, pressured by persistent foreign portfolio outflows and a 25% levy on Indian exports. While the local unit is hovering near its weakest level since February, fresh tariff announcements on dozens of U.S. trading partners also pushed other Asian currencies to multi-month lows. The dollar index, meanwhile, posted its best weekly gain since 2022 as expectations of a U.S. rate cut in September faded. The odds of a reduction in September rose to 80% after data released on Friday showed that the U.S. economy added fewer jobs than expected, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.2%. Meanwhile, the maturity of a $5 billion dollar-rupee buy/sell swap conducted by the RBI earlier this year will be in focus on Monday. ADVERTISEMENT "It would be prudent to break the swap into delivery and rollover. The rupee has probably seen its worst for this quarter and some support will bring it to a desirable level, while not disturbing liquidity, said Alok Singh, group head of treasury at CSB Bank. Traders expect the rupee to trade between 87.00 and 87.80 this week and reckon that the central bank may continue to intervene to limit excessive volatility. ADVERTISEMENT Meanwhile, India's 10-year benchmark 6.33% 2035 bond yield , settled at 6.3680% last week, up 2 basis points (bps). Traders anticipate the yield will remain in the 6.33%-6.38% band till the RBI's policy decision on Wednesday. The range could be tested on either side, depending on policymakers' decision and guidance. ADVERTISEMENT Although some market participants expect a rate cut, a majority of economists polled by Reuters believe RBI will hold rates steady this time. "While it is a close call, our bias remains for a 25 bps rate cut at the August meeting," Citi said. ADVERTISEMENT A drop in India's retail inflation to a more-than-six-year low in June, coupled with expectations that it may slip to a record low in July, have heightened hopes of a rate cut. However, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra last month said that the bar for further easing is now higher than it would have been if the stance was still "accommodative". The central bank slashed rates by a steeper-than-expected 50 bps in June and shifted its policy stance to "neutral" from "accommodative". "As the RBI awaits the impact of the large easing it has already done, we believe it will stay put on repo rate changes on 6 August," HSBC said in a note. Key Factors: India ** July HSBC services PMI and composite PMI - August 5, Tuesday (10:30 a.m.) ** Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy decision - August 6, Wednesday (10:00 a.m.)(Reuters poll - no change) U.S. ** June factory orders - August 4, Monday (7:30 p.m. IST) ** June international trade - August 5, Tuesday (6:00 p.m. IST) ** July S&P Global composite PMI final - August 5, Tuesday (7:15 p.m. IST) ** July S&P Global services PMI final - August 5, Tuesday (7:15 p.m. IST) ** July ISM non-manufacturing PMI - August 5, Tuesday (7:30 p.m. IST) ** Initial weekly jobless claims for week to July 28 - August 7, Thursday (6:00 p.m. IST). (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)
Economic Times
3 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Parth Electricals & Engineering raises Rs 13.8 cr from anchor investors ahead of IPO
Parth Electricals & Engineering, an electrical components manufacturer, on Sunday said it has raised Rs 13.8 crore from anchor investors ahead of the opening of its Rs 49.72 crore initial public offering on August 4. ADVERTISEMENT Capri Global Capital, Beacon Stone Capital, and IndiaMax Investment Fund are among the investors which participated in the anchor investor round, the company said in a statement. The company has fixed the IPO price at Rs 160-170 per share. The Rs 49.72 crore initial public offering (IPO) will hit the capital market on August 4 and concludes on August 6. The shares will be listed on the NSE SME's platform Emerge. The public issue is entirely a fresh issue of 29.25 lakh shares worth Rs 49.72 crore. The company had mobilised Rs 12 crore through a pre-IPO placement. The net proceeds from the issue worth Rs 20 crore will be used towards funding of establishing GIS manufacturing facility in Gujarat, Rs 19 crore for setting up a new manufacturing facility in Odisha, Rs 15 crore for payment of debt and the rest will be used for the general corporate purposes. "From 900 RMUs two years ago, we now produce 3,000 annually. We're also manufacturing around 100 compact sub-stations every year. ADVERTISEMENT "The company currently operates out of a facility in Vadodara, Gujarat, and is investing Rs 40 crore to set up two new plants -- one in Vadodara for gas-insulated switchgear and another in Khurda, Odisha -- to cater to high-growth regions such as eastern India," Parth Electricals & Engineering's Managing Director Jignesh Patel, said. Parth Electricals' order book stood at Rs 140 crore, buoyed by a recent Rs 48 crore contract from Waaree Energies for a 6.5 GW solar project in Navsari. With growing demand from utilities like Tata Odisha, TP Western Odisha Distribution Ltd (TPWODL) , and Damodar Valley Corporation, the company is also doubling down on talent, aiming to expand its workforce from 250 to 550. ADVERTISEMENT The Vadodara-based company's clientele includes Aditya Birla, UltraTech Cement, L&T, Reliance Industries, Adani, Tata Power, Schneider Electric, BHEL, Tata Steel, Siemens, GFL, and Jindal Steel & Power. The company reported a revenue from operations of Rs 174.67 crore and profit after tax of Rs 10.11 crore in FY25. Horizon Management is the sole book running lead manager while KFin Technologies is the registrar for the IPO. PTI (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)
Economic Times
3 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Dollar steadies after tumble as investors eye imminent Fed cuts
A battered dollar edged marginally higher on Monday after a dismal U.S. jobs report and President Donald Trump's firing of a top labour official stunned investors and led them to ramp up bets of imminent Federal Reserve rate cuts. ADVERTISEMENT Data on Friday showed U.S. employment growth undershot expectations in July while the nonfarm payrolls count for the prior two months was revised down by a massive 258,000 jobs, suggesting a sharp deterioration in labour market conditions. Adding to headwinds for markets, Trump fired Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer the same day, accusing her of faking the jobs numbers. An unexpected resignation by Fed Governor Adriana Kugler also opened the door for Trump to make an imprint on the central bank much earlier than anticipated. Trump has been at loggerheads with the Fed for not lowering interest rates sooner. The barrage of developments dealt a one-two punch to the dollar, which sank more than 2% against the yen and roughly 1.5% against the euro on Friday. The greenback recovered some of its losses against the Japanese currency on Monday, last trading 0.14% higher at 147.60 yen. Still, it was down about 3 yen from its peak on Friday. ADVERTISEMENT The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1560, while sterling eased 0.1% to $1.3263. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar edged up 0.2% to 98.86, after sliding more than 1% on Friday. ADVERTISEMENT "Market reactions to Friday night's events were swift and decisive," said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG. "Equities and the U.S. dollar tumbled, along with yields." The two-year Treasury yield fell to a three-month low of 3.6590% on Monday as traders heavily scaled up bets of a Fed cut in September, while the benchmark 10-year yield languished near a one-month low at 4.2060%. [US/] ADVERTISEMENT Markets are now pricing in a more than 95% chance the Fed will ease rates next month owing to the weaker-than-expected jobs data, with over 63 basis points worth of cuts expected by December. "We pull forward our baseline call for a 25 bps cut from the FOMC to September," said David Doyle, head of economics at Macquarie Group. ADVERTISEMENT "While we don't see significant further weakness in the labour market, the results of this report are likely to shift the FOMC's assessment of the balance of risks to the outlook." In other currencies, the Australian dollar slipped 0.17% to $0.6465, after rising 0.8% on Friday against a weaker greenback. The New Zealand dollar eased 0.24% to $0.5905. The Swiss franc was last little changed at 0.8041 per dollar. Switzerland was left stunned on Friday after Trump hit the country with one of the highest tariffs in his global trade reset, with industry associations warning of tens of thousands of jobs being put at risk. (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)
