New Delhi: Hitting back at Rahul Gandhi over his allegations relating to the connection between BJP, exit pollsters and dubious foreign investors, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that the Congress leader has still not overcome the loss in the Lok Sabha elections and is conspiring to mislead the market investors.
Addressing a press conference here, Goyal said the reforms will continue under the new National Democratic Alliance government and the country is "poised for a bright future ahead".
"Rahul Gandhi has still not overcome the loss in the Lok Sabha Elections. Now, he is conspiring to mislead the market investors. Today, India has become the fifth-largest economy," Goyal said.
"In the last 10 years of Modi Govt, for the first time our market cap has crossed over 5 trillion dollars. Today, India's equity market has entered the market cap of the top 5 economies of the world.. We know that the market cap of PSUs listed in the market has increased 4 times under the Modi government," he added.
Goyal said, "When the UPA government was in power 10 years ago, India's market cap was Rs 67 lakh crore. Today the market cap has increased to Rs 415 lakh crore. The holding of foreigners at the time of UPA was 21 per cent and it has reduced to 16 per cent today, that is, the investment of foreigners has reduced and the ownership of Indian investors in the Indian stock market has increased from 79 per cent to 84 per cent today."
"The size of the mutual fund industry was only Rs 10 lakh crore in 2014, today it has increased more than 5 times to Rs 56 lakh crore," the BJP leader said.
He said Indian investors, especially small investors, are taking advantage of this growing market today through mutual funds and these small retail investors have ensured that India's ownership today has instantly become more than the ownership of institutional investors.
He said, "All reforms will continue. The country is poised for a bright future ahead. We are delighted that our allies are equally progressive. They support reform, they support what is good for the people of India. They understand that the ten years of the Modi government have taken the country to newer heights and have the confidence that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's able leadership.
"The big vision with which he has taken the country to today's position of being the world's fastest-growing large economy, they are confident that under his leadership, this country will continue to do better and better and become the world's third-largest economy while continuing the growth that we are witnessing in the last few years," Goyal said.
Piyush Goyal rejected Rahul Gandhi's allegations relating to "loss suffered" by retail investors by stock market movement close to the results of Lok Sabha polls and said the trading value fell when Congress was seen gaining in seats.
"In April and May, when the market was rising, foreigners sold in the market and Indian investors took advantage of it and bought it. The benefit of this rise in the last 2 months has been received by Indian investors. The day the exit poll came, foreigners bought at high prices and Indian investors sold at high prices and took profit. Foreigners bought Rs 6,850 crores in retail at high prices and Indian investors took advantage of it," he said.
He said, "The next day, when the results came on the June 4, when the market fell, foreign investors sold at a low price and Indian investors bought it with the belief that Modi government is coming and we will take advantage of it. So foreigners bought at a high price and sold at a low price. Indian investors sold at a high price and bought at a low price."
"So in a way, Indian investors earned even in this period. No one suffered a loss. Rahul Gandhi talks about Rs 30 lakh crores. I understood why the people country have no faith in Rahul Gandhi because he does not even understand that it is valuation. Valuation does not mean anything. The purchase and sale is what matters. And foreigners incurred losses in that. Indian investors have benefited. So retail investors of India also benefited during this period," he added.
Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had given "investment advice" to people during the campaign for the Lok Sabha polls which resulted in losses of lakhs of crores to retail investors and demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe terming it "biggest stock market scam."
The Congress leader, who addressed a press conference, said that after "fake" exit polls, stock markets rose, and then crashed on June 4. "The retail investors lost Rs 30 lakh crore, this is the biggest stock market scam," the Congress leader alleged.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government is set to form its third successive government after the results of Lok Sabha polls declared on June 4.
