NEW DELHI: Manmohan Singh, the architect of India’s economic reforms, had to literally face a trial-by-fire to ensure widespread acceptance of his path-breaking 1991 Union budget that saw the nation rise from its darkest financial crises.
Singh, the newly-appointed finance minister in the PV Narasimha Rao-led government, did it with great elan — from facing journalists at a post-budget press conference to irate Congress leaders unable to digest the wide-ranging reforms at the parliamentary party meeting.
Singh’s historic reforms not only rescued India from near bankruptcy but also redefined its trajectory as a rising global power.