India is Congress-free. BJP is the new avatar.

In a surprise move that sent corporate India into a frenzy the Finance Minister cut corporate tax rate from 30% to 22%, which will take the effective tax rate to 25.17%, after addition of surcharge and cess. This will be effective from the start of the financial year on 1 April. The effective corporate tax rate was 23.22% in 2013-14, under the previous Congress led government, so this was just a reversal of what the Modi government has done. Ecstatic titans of business described the announcement as a "bold, brilliant bazooka" which will blow up "animal spirits" and revive the economy. Though the cut is expected to reduce tax collection by Rs 1.45 trillion and raise fiscal deficit to 4%, from 3.3% promised in the budget, it will be made up by higher taxes generated by higher earnings, hoped the Finance Minister. Tracking "seven high-frequency indicators across 10 large emerging markets" the Mint found that "India's metrics have deteriorated considerably and in August India found itself in the bottom half of the heap behind Russia, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China". In addition, "To boost liquidity in the economy, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said public sector banks will organise credit "Shamiana meetings" in 400 districts beginning October 3 to provide loans to NBFCs and retail borrowers, including homebuyers and farmers." NBFCs are non-banking finance companies, India's shadow banks,  which are experiencing serious shortage of liquidity ever since, "The collapse of the highly rated infrastructure operator-financier IL&FS group exposed the fault lines under Indian shadow banks' inpressive credit edifice," wrote Andy Mukherjee. Sitharaman also said, "Government also wants banks to recast MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) loans instead of declaring it a NPA (non-performing asset)." This has been copied from Janardhan Poojary who was a minister under Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. "Retired bankers, still bitter about Poojary, recall how as a junior finance minister, he and his men, forced them to squander money in loan melas of the early '80s to anyone who flashed a ration card." "It was the late-70s and early-80s when the culture of non-repayment of loans spread." "RBI old-timers say that Manmohan Singh, the RBI governor then, soffed at the melas", who as the prime minister urged "state-run banks to dole out up to Rs 10,000 in unsecured loans to landless laborers to boost consumption in rural areas" which reminded bankers of 'loan melas' of the 80s. Banks were also told to "accelerate distribution of Kisan Credit Cards to farmers". Total outstanding agricultural loans stood at Rs 12.6 trillion on 30 September 2016. Banks have NPAs of Rs 9.27 trillion of loans to companies which they try to recover by selling assets under the new Bankruptcy Act. They cannot touch farmers or laborers. BJP is the new Congress. India is Congress-free as Modi promised.