for the
first time, with
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath , with President
Ram Nath Kovind administering the oath , with President
Droupadi Murmu administering the oath
Governance and other initiatives , in
Delhi on 15 August 2020 Modi's first year as PM saw significant centralisation of power. Modi, who initially lacked a majority in the
Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian Parliament, passed a number of ordinances to enact his policies, leading to further centralisation of power. His administration enacted a bill to increase its control over the appointment of judges and reducing that of the
judiciary. concentrating the power previously with the planning commission in the person of the PM. The Planning Commission had in previous years been criticised for creating inefficiency in the government and of not fulfilling its role of improving social welfare but since the
economic liberalisation of the 1990s, it had been the major government body responsible for measures related to social justice. In its first year of administration, the Modi government launched investigations through the
Intelligence Bureau into numerous civil society organisations and foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on the grounds these organisations were slowing economic growth. The investigations were criticised as a
witch hunt. International humanitarian aid organisation
Medecins Sans Frontieres, and environmental nonprofit organisation
Sierra Club and
Avaaz were among the groups that were investigated. This led to discontent within the BJP about his style of functioning and drew comparisons to the governing style of Indira Gandhi. Modi launched the
Digital India programme with the goal of ensuring government services are available electronically, build infrastructure to provide high-speed Internet access to rural areas, boost manufacturing of electronic goods in the country, and promote
digital literacy. In 2019, a law to reserve 10 per cent of educational admission and government jobs for economically disadvantaged individuals was passed. In 2016, Modi's administration launched the
Ujjwala scheme to provide free
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections to rural households. The scheme led to an additional 24% of Indian households having access to LPG in 2019 as compared to 2014. In 2022, the government eliminated LPG subsidies for all citizens except those covered by the Ujjwala programme. In 2023, the Modi administration issued a notification constituting a high-level committee on
One Nation, One Election, a proposal aimed to synchronise all elections in the country either on a single day or within a specific time frame. In September 2024, the bill for One Nation, One Election was approved by the Modi Cabinet. Since May 2023, ethnic tensions between some groups have resulted in
violent clashes in
Manipur. After 1 month of the violence, nearly 100 were killed and more than 36,000 people were displaced. Modi has been criticised for his lack of reaction towards the violence.
Hindutva , Tirumala|left The activities of a number of Hindu nationalist organisations increased in scope after Modi's appointment as prime minister, sometimes with the government's support. These activities included a
Hindu religious conversion programme, a campaign against the supposed Islamic practice of "
Love Jihad" (an
Islamophobic conspiracy theory) and attempts to celebrate
Nathuram Godse, the assassin of
Mahatma Gandhi, by members of the right-wing organisation
Hindu Mahasabha. Government officials, including the home minister, defended the conversion programmes. In 2014,
Yellapragada Sudershan Rao, who had previously been associated with the RSS, became the chairperson of the
Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR). During its first term, the Modi administration appointed other RSS members to lead universities and research institutions, and recruitment of faculty members favouring the RSS increased. According to scholars
Nandini Sundar and Kiran Bhatty, many of these appointees did not possess the qualifications for their positions. The Modi administration also made numerous changes in government-approved history textbooks that de-emphasised the role of
Jawaharlal Nehru and glorified that of Modi while also portraying Indian society as harmonious, and without conflict and inequity. In 2019, the Modi administration passed a
citizenship law that provides a route to Indian citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis or Christians, but does not grant eligibility to Muslims. Counter-demonstrations against the protests developed into the
2020 Delhi riots, caused chiefly by Hindu mobs attacking Muslims. Fifty-three people were killed in the protests, two-thirds of whom were Muslim. On 5 August 2020, Modi visited
Ayodhya after the
Supreme Court in 2019 ordered
contested land in Ayodhya to be handed to a trust to build a Hindu temple and ordered the government to give alternative of land to the
Sunni Waqf Board for the purpose of building a mosque. Modi became the first PM to visit temples at
Ram Janmabhoomi and
Hanuman Garhi. in Andhra Pradesh Soon after Modi returned to power in 2019, he took three actions the RSS had long called for. The administration repealed
Article 370 of the Indian constitution that granted autonomy to
Jammu and Kashmir, and also
abrogated its statehood, reorganising it into the
union territories Jammu and Kashmir, and
Ladakh. The region was placed under
a lockdown and internet services were suspended and were not completely restored until February 2021. Thousands of people, including hundreds of political leaders, were detained. The Supreme Court of India did not hear constitutional challenges to the reorganisation or the Citizenship Amendment Act. According to Bhatty and Sundar, this is an example of the subversion of the Supreme Court and other major institutions, which were filled with appointees favouring the BJP. In a later interview, Modi said that regardless of the social class, there are more children in neighbourhoods plagued by poverty. He said he made no mention of Muslim or Hindu in his campaign speech. However, factcheckers have refuted this claim of Modi and found numerous instances across his election campaign where he communally targeted the Muslims.
Economy leaders in 2019. Left to right:
Xi (China),
Putin (Russia),
Bolsonaro (Brazil), Modi and
Ramaphosa (South Africa) |left The Modi government's economic policies focused on privatisation and liberalisation of the economy, and were based on a
neoliberal framework. Modi liberalised India's
foreign direct investment policies, allowing more foreign investment in several industries, including defence and railways. Other proposed reforms included making the forming of unions more difficult for workers, and making recruitment and dismissal easier for employers; The reforms drew strong opposition from unions: on 2 September 2015, eleven of the country's largest unions—including one affiliated with the BJP—struck. The money spent on social programmes declined from 14.6 per cent of GDP during the previous Congress government to 12.6 per cent during Modi's first year in office, and spending on health and family welfare declined by 15 per cent. During Modi's first term, his government reduced spending on education as share of the budget: over five years, education spending dropped from 0.7 per cent of GDP to 0.5 per cent. The percentage of the budget spent on children's nutrition, education, health, and associated programmes was almost halved between 2014 and 2022. Capital expenditure on transport infrastructure significantly rose, increasing from less than 0.4 per cent of GDP in 2014 to 1.7 per cent in 2023. programme In September 2014, Modi introduced the
Make in India initiative to encourage foreign companies to manufacture products in India with the goal of turning the country into a global manufacturing hub. Supporters of economic liberalisation supported the initiative but critics said it would allow foreign corporations to capture a greater share of the Indian market. The bill was passed via an executive order after it faced opposition in Parliament but was eventually allowed to lapse. On 9 November 2016, the government
demonetised ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes with the intention of curbing corruption, black money, terrorism and the use of counterfeit currency. The move led to severe cash shortages, and a steep decline in the Indian stock indices
BSE SENSEX and
NIFTY 50, and sparked widespread protests throughout the country. It is estimated 1.5 million jobs were lost and that one per cent of the country's GDP was wiped out. Several deaths were linked to the rush to exchange cash. In the subsequent year, the number of income tax returns filed for individuals rose by 25 per cent and the number of digital transactions steeply increased. Modi's government passed the
Goods and Services Tax, the biggest tax reform in the country since independence, subsuming around 17 taxes and became effective on 1 July 2017. Modi's administration has observed a decline in GDP growth and increasing joblessness compared to the previous administration under
Manmohan Singh. During the first eight years of Modi's premiership, India's GDP grew at an average rate of 5.5 per cent compared to the rate of 7.03 per cent under the previous government. Income inequality increased. An internal government report said in 2017, unemployment increased to its highest level in 45 years. The loss of jobs was attributed to the 2016 banknote demonetisation, and the effects of the
Goods and Services Tax. GDP growth was 6.12 per cent in the 2018–19
financial year, with an inflation rate of 3.4 per cent. In the year 2019–20, the
GDP growth rate slowed to 4.18 per cent, while inflation increased to 4.7 per cent. The Indian economy shrunk by 6.6 per cent during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–21, and was estimated to grow at 8.2 per cent the following financial year. In 2025, Modi's government announced reforms to the country's
goods and services tax and
labour laws.
Health and sanitation In his first year as prime minister, Modi reduced the central government's healthcare spending. The
National Health Mission, which included public health programmes targeted at these indices, received nearly 20 per cent less funding in 2015 than in the previous year. The Modi administration reduced the healthcare budget by a further 15% in its second year. The healthcare budget for the following year rose by 19%; private insurance providers positively viewed the budget but public health experts criticised its emphasis on the role of private healthcare providers and said it represented a shift away from public health facilities. The healthcare budget rose by 11.5% in 2018; the change included an allocation of for a
government-funded health insurance programme and a decrease in the budget of the
National Health Mission. with Chief Ministers via videoconferencing in June 2020 Modi emphasised his government's efforts at sanitation as a means of ensuring good health. As part of the programme, the Indian government began constructing millions of toilets in rural areas and encouraging people to use them. The government also announced plans to build new sewage treatment plants, and planned to construct 60 million toilets by 2019. The construction projects faced allegations of corruption and severe difficulty in getting people to use the newly constructed toilets. In 2018, the
World Health Organization (WHO) stated at least 180,000 diarrhoeal deaths in rural India were averted after the launch of the sanitation effort. In March 2020, in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the Modi administration invoked the
Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and
Disaster Management Act, 2005. The same month, all commercial domestic and international flights were suspended. Modi announced a 14-hour curfew on 22 March, and followed with a three-week "total lockdown" two days later. Restrictions were gradually lifted beginning in April, and were completely revoked in November 2020. A second wave of the pandemic that began in March 2021 was significantly more devastating than the first; some parts of India experienced shortages of vaccines, hospital beds,
oxygen cylinders and other medical supplies. In late April India reported over 400,000 cases in a 24-hour period, the first country to do so. India began its
vaccination programme in January 2021; in January 2022, India announced it had administered about 1.7 billion doses of vaccines and that more than 720 million people were fully vaccinated. In May 2022, the WHO estimated 4.7 million people had died of COVID-19 in India, mostly during the second wave in mid 2021—almost 10 times the Indian government's estimate. The Modi administration rejected the WHO's estimate. Modi's foreign policy, similarly to that of the preceding Congress government, focused on improving economic ties, security and regional relations. The Modi government enjoyed a positive relationship with the US during the presidencies of Barack Obama and his successor
Donald Trump. in Moscow, Russia, 9 July 2024 During the first few months after his appointment as PM, Modi visited a number of countries in support of his policy, and attended the
BRICS,
ASEAN and
G20 summits. Modi also made several visits to the US; this was described as an unexpected development because of the US's earlier denial of a US travel visa to Modi over his role in the 2002 Gujarat riots. The visits were expected to strengthen diplomatic and trade relations between the two countries. The government signed agreements to improve land connectivity with
Myanmar through the Indian state of
Manipur; this represented a break with India's historic engagement with Myanmar, which prioritised border security over trade. Modi pledged aid of $900 million to Afghanistan, which he visited twice and was honoured with Afghanistan's highest civilian honour in 2016. In September 2022, Modi appeared to have developed a strong personal relationship with Russia's president
Vladimir Putin. and Chinese president
Xi Jinping India hosted the
2023 G20 New Delhi summit, during which the
African Union joined the G20 as a permanent member. In an interview on 26 August 2023, Prime Minister Modi expressed optimism about the G20 countries' evolving agenda under India's presidency, shifting toward a human-centric development approach that aligns with the concerns of the
Global South, including addressing
climate change,
debt restructuring through the G20's Common Framework for Debt, and a strategy for regulation of global
cryptocurrencies. Modi's government faced scrutiny in the lead-up to the G20 meeting as multiple news sources reported that Indian authorities demolished
slum neighbourhoods in
New Delhi, displacing marginalised residents.
Defence , the
prime minister of Israel, and Modi visiting the Technology Exhibition, at
Tel Aviv, Israel in 2017|left India's nominal military spending steadily increased under Modi. During Modi's tenure, the military budget declined, both as a fraction of GDP and when adjusted for inflation. A substantial portion of the military budget was devoted to personnel costs. Commentators wrote the budget was constraining Indian military modernisation. Modi launched new policies under the "
Aatmanirbhar Bharat" campaign, promoting indigenous defence manufacturing with policies to procure key weapon systems domestically. The government has implemented several of the recommendations from the Shekatkar Committee to streamline defence procurement and rationalise spending. Efforts have been made to establish Integrated Theatre Commands (ITCs) to enhance jointness among the services, although challenges persist in their full operationalisation. Modi promised to be "tough on Pakistan" during his election campaign and repeatedly called Pakistan an
exporter of terrorism. On 29 September 2016, the Modi administration said the Indian Army had conducted a
surgical strike on terror
launch pads in
Azad Kashmir; the Indian media said up to 50 terrorists and Pakistani soldiers had been killed in the strike. Independent analysts said India's statement about the scope of the strike and the number of casualties had been exaggerated. Pakistan denied any surgical strikes to have taken place. In February 2019, India carried out
airstrikes against a supposed terrorist camp in Pakistan; open source satellite imagery suggested no targets of significance were hit.
Further military skirmishes, including cross-border shelling and the loss of an Indian aircraft, occurred. Eight months after the incident, the Modi administration admitted that six Indian military personnel had been killed by
friendly fire. leaders in
Washington, D.C. in 2021 In May 2020, Chinese and Indian troops engaged in aggressive skirmishes along the
Sino-Indian border, including near the disputed
Pangong Lake,
Ladakh, and the
Tibet Autonomous Region and near the border between
Sikkim and the
Tibet Autonomous Region. Additional clashes took place in eastern Ladakh along the
Line of Actual Control (LAC). In 2020, there were high-profile
skirmishes between the nations. A series of talks between India and China were held. The first border clash reported in 2021 was on 20 January; this was referred to as a minor border clash in Sikkim. Modi was from late 2022 criticised for maintaining silence over the
ceding of about 2,000 km2 land to China since June 2020. In December 2021, Modi signed an agreement with Russian president
Vladimir Putin to extend military technical cooperation. The Modi government bought the
S-400 missile system, an anti-missile striking system, strengthening the relationship between the two nations. India refused to condemn the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and stayed neutral. The Indian government's
Operation Ganga initiative sought to return Indians stranded in Ukraine during the war. More than 19,000 Indian nationals were evacuated, including some from neighbouring countries. Following the
April 2025 Pahalgam attack in Indian-administered
Jammu and Kashmir by
The Resistance Front, an offshoot of the Pakistan-based militant organisation
Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Modi government accused Pakistan of supporting cross-border terrorism and suspended the
Indus Waters Treaty and all bilateral trade. Pakistan rejected the accusation and in response suspended the
Simla Agreement and all trade with India. On 7 May, India launched
Operation Sindoor, against terror launch pads used by the
Jaish-e-Mohammed,
Lashkar-e-Taiba, and
Hizbul Mujahideen in Pakistan-administered
Azad Kashmir and
Pakistani Punjab. On 10 May, Pakistan retaliated by targeting Indian military sites along the border. Following a further increase in hostilities, the countries agreed to a ceasefire the same day and ended the conflict.
Environment , in Paris, announcing the founding of an International
Solar Alliance (ISA). November 2015.|244x244px While naming his cabinet, Modi renamed the Ministry of Environment and Forests the "
Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change", and reduced its budget allocation by more than half in his administration's first budget. The new ministry removed or diluted a number of laws related to environmental protection, and others related to industrial activity. Other changes included a reduction of ministry oversight on small mining projects and ending the requirement for approval from tribal councils for projects inside forested areas. Modi also lifted a moratorium on new industrial activity in India's most-polluted areas. and
Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, in Karnataka in 2023 Speaking with
Assamese students in 2014, Modi downplayed
climate change, saying, "Climate has not changed. We have changed. Our habits have changed. Our habits have got spoiled. Due to that, we have destroyed our entire environment." Later in his administration, however, he has called for
climate action, especially with the proliferation of
clean energy. In 2015, Modi proposed the
International Solar Alliance initiative to encourage investment in solar energy. Holding developed countries responsible, Modi and his government have said India has had a negligible historical role in climate change. At the
COP26 conference, Modi announced India would target
carbon neutrality by 2070 and expand its renewable energy capacity. Indian environmentalists and economists applauded the decision, describing it as bold climate action. India has become the only major economy to be on track to meet its
Paris Agreement goals. It has achieved 10 per cent of ethanol blending five months ahead of schedule.
Democratic backsliding Under Modi's tenure, India has experienced
democratic backsliding. His rule is known for weakening of democratic institutions,
individual rights, and
freedom of expression. According to one study, "The BJP government incrementally but systemically attacked nearly all existing mechanisms that are in place to hold the political executive to account, either by ensuring that these mechanisms became subservient to the political executive or were captured by party loyalists". The Modi government has used state power to intimidate and stifle critics in the media and academia, undermining freedom of expression and alternative sources of information. His administration has been criticised for using a democratic mandate to undermine democratic processes, including focusing on Hindu-nationalist priorities rather than economic development. Modi's second term as PM, in particular, saw the erosion of civil rights and
press freedom. == Public perception and image ==