Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 947: The First Five Year Plan

After Vijay finished laying down his grand blueprint to the ministers for a massive interconnected river project, a small break for lunch was taken, and everyone came out of the conference room as Ganesh directed them towards the dining hall to have some delicious meals.

Coming out of the conference room, the ministers had serious looks on their faces as they were solemnly discussing in low voices.

" Prime Minister, how long do you think it will take to complete all the projects? " Jagannath Mohan, the Minister of Finance, enquired, his expression a little cautious.

Hearing the question, Vinod couldn’t help but shrug, " You will have to ask Nirmal about it."

Nirmal, who seemed to be lost in thought, suddenly woke up from his stupor when he felt like his name was mentioned, " Ah... What?"

Jagannath Mohan repeated the question once again, and the eyes of all the Cabinet ministers and Chief Ministers who were silently observing the conversation were directed towards the Minister of Transportation.

Nirmal sat down at the table as he wiped his hands with a wet towel. " I was just thinking about the same issue. Since His Majesty asked us to have at least 10 million people employed through the 7 canal construction projects, which is twice the number of people employed for the Southern Bharatiya Canal project, then I can conservatively estimate that it will take 50 years or more for all the projects to be completed, and that is on the condition that the canal could be dug straight between the shortest route between rivers without any hindrances."

The expressions of the onlookers immediately changed. " 50 years!! " Hearing the estimation, the Cabinet ministers and Chief Ministers alike exclaimed.

" Wouldn’t I be dead by the time all the projects are completed? "CM Karamveer silently muttered.

Most of the people had a similar thought in their minds. Even though the politicians in the Bharatiya Empire are known to be forward-looking and think beyond their term in service, which has somewhat become a prerequisite to being a Chief Minister, all inspired by the long-term plans of His Majesty the Emperor, they still never planned for something that is half a century ahead.

The construction of the canal, which took over 15 or 16 years, is already the greatest range they could accept in their hearts. But now, the number 50 years greatly shocked them. It was equivalent to more than 10 terms of them being continuously in office. Not to mention whether they could still be in power by then, they couldn’t even tell how the Bharatiya Empire would be. You have to know, even the Bharatiya Empire, in theory, has not existed that long.

But a few people in the Cabinet, including the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, did not look surprised; instead, it was as if they were already expecting the time to be ludicrously long.

Jagannath Mohan let out a turbulent breath and sank his body onto the backrest.

" Well... As always, His Majesty makes plans for the long term. He sees farther than any one of us, and he could accurately grasp the pulse of the times, so it’s not a big surprise considering his Majesty’s ideas and ambition. It is the main reason why our empire has reached this stage, isn’t it?" he commented and looked at the Prime Minister, who was munching on some papads.

" Do you think an investment of 0.3% of the GDP per year is enough, Sir? "

Vinod wiped his mouth with a handkerchief as he did the calculations in his mind, and finally shook his head.

" 0.3% of this year’s GDP is only 130 million. This may be a lot for any other project, but for the 7 canals construction project, it’s not even close to scratching the surface."

" What about 0.4% then? "

Vinod glared at Jagannath Mohan, " I know you are unwilling to see the money in the treasury reduced, but you cannot convince His Majesty with such a small number."

" Ugh, alright, 1%. It should be enough, right? "

" No, it’s not enough. The Great Southern Bharatiya Canal project alone cost the empire over 5 billion Varaha over the span of 13 years. Think how much money would be required to keep 10 million people employed for five whole decades."

Jagannath Mohan gritted his teeth and added, " All right, sir, 1.5% should be reasonable, isn’t it? Even taking this year’s GDP as the basis, which is over 650 million, the GDP is only bound to rise in the coming years. I believe this much should be enough for the completion of all the projects."

Vinod fell into deep thought, and the ministers and Chief Ministers silently ate, not disturbing the conversation that decides the fate of resource allocation to the 7 projects.

" Jitendra, can the growth rate of manufacturing industries be maintained? "

The Minister of Industry was immediately startled, as he was not expecting the Prime Minister would ask him a question out of the blue, " Cough, cough!" He drank a glass of water and patted his head.

Jitendra thought about the question the Prime Minister had asked for a while, and a look of uncertainty appeared on his face because he realised that his answer was likely to determine how much money would be allocated to the projects. But thinking about the situation of all the industries, and more specifically the situation of industries in the industrial zones, the confidence in his eyes increased, and his face took on a look of clarity.

" Respectfully, Sir, I cannot make any definitive and legally binding promises, but, I am extremely confident that in the coming years the industrial sector, especially the manufacturing industrial sector, will not only maintain its growth but will increase even more, especially since the new batch of Kaseri engines are being shipped as we speak and are being used to power a bunch of machine tools. With the production capabilities of the factories increasing every passing day, I feel like by the end of this quarter we will already have surpassed the previous year’s growth."

" As for when this growth will stop, I am unable to predict. But, logically, as we don’t have any competition, as long as there is a market, this growth should not be stopped." freēnovelkiss.com

Vinod nodded and then turned his head towards the Minister of Finance, " Make it 2%. With the growth of our GDP, we can definitely sustain this investment."

Jagannath Mohan immediately felt choked, not in his throat but in his heart, but looking at the insistent attitude of the Prime Minister, he could only sadly nod.

---

The lunch ended quickly. Everyone came back to the conference room, some people still smacking their lips due to the delicious food they had eaten.

Vijay stood in front of the ministers once again. All the maps that were hanging on the board were now removed, and in their place was just a plain blackboard.

Vijay casually enquired whether the food was good, if they enjoyed it, and had some other casual talk, after which he finally got to the main topic.

" When I first inherited the throne, I had a vision, a vision of a development plan called the 5-year plan."

" The goal of the 5-year plan is to set certain goals in certain sectors to be achieved in the span of five years. This way, with a clear goal in mind, all the systems in the government could be streamlined to achieve the specific goal. But I did not implement it, since at that time there were no systems that were capable of acting throughout the empire, and later, when a preliminary effectiveness of the government was formed, we were embroiled in constant wars. And after the war, the necessity did not arise."

" However, now that we are on the verge of a great change, where a machine has been invented that can automate almost everything, I find it imperative that I bring this plan that was always in my mind to the forefront and make it a reality."

" So I hereby declare that the Bharatiya Empire has officially entered the first year of the first 5-year plan."

" For the first 5-year plan, I have come up with huge goals that I want the government to achieve by 1680."

" First, move the 300 tons of gold in the empire’s treasury to the Reserve Bank of Bharat’s treasury, start printing the currency once again, and start to devalue the currency once again."

" With industrialised goods becoming cheaper every passing day and the value of Varaha remaining stagnant, we are hindering the growth of the economy by not allowing enough liquidity to be in the open market."

"So while the currency is being printed, also start to devalue the currency. The goal will be set at 314 Varaha per 3.4 grams of gold, and do it in such a way that the rate of devaluation can be synced with the rate of growth, ensuring that the inflation will not negatively affect the economic growth."

" Second, the iron production capabilities of the empire are around two million tons per annum, but in the next five years, I want the goal to be 10 million tons."

" The steel production is around 750,000 tons, but in the next five years, I want two million tons to be produced every year. The cement is around 70 million tons, but I want it to be increased to over 140 million tons. The coal is 40 million tons, and I want it to be 180 million tons. The steam engines are going to be very hungry. At least this much is needed so as not to starve the engines."

" Until now, the production capacity and capability of bronze, copper, tin, and other metals have not been included in the reports, but since we are on the verge of an industrial overhaul, I want you to change that. Currently, the bronze production capabilities of the empire are around 20,000 tons per year, but I want it to reach 100,000 tons by 1680. Copper is over 10,000 tons, and I want it to reach 60,000 tons. Tin is a few thousand tons, and I want it to reach 15,000 tons."

" Moving on, currently, around 70,000 kilometres of road have been laid down and 8,000 kilometres of railway, but by 1680, I want this number to be doubled, meaning 140,000 kilometres of roads and 16,000 kilometres of railway. For the railway, the blueprint that has already been laid down can be followed, but for the roadways, the roads must be laid down between important towns and cities. The plans can be made by the Ministry of Transportation."

" Finally, more overall support should be provided to the manufacturing enterprises in the empire and quicken the pace of constructing the supporting infrastructure for all the industrial zones in the empire."

" The five-year plan will be undertaken by the central government as a whole, but I want all the state governments to cooperate with the central government and localise the plans and implement it in the next five years. All of you can form your own version of the five-year plan with the goal of fulfilling the requirements you have set for yourselves."

" Hold detailed discussions between the central government and state governments and come up with a roadmap for me to inspect."

All the Cabinet ministers and the chief ministers were stunned. If they thought that the seven canals project was massive, then this was simply gigantic.

Jagannath Mohan, the Minister of Finance, who knew that all the spare funds of the empire would now be completely drained due to the five-year plan, couldn’t help but look down trodden and unlovable.

In the end, looking at the determined expression on His Majesty’s face, no one thought to object to this and agreed to his orders.

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