The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has delivered a strong critique of India’s economic performance, describing the Modi government’s reforms as weak, inconsistent, and lacking a clear free-market vision.
According to the WSJ, India failed to undertake bold and comprehensive economic reforms, a shortcoming that became evident after the United States imposed a 50 percent tariff in August 2025—the highest tariff rate ever levied on any major economy.
Economic experts cited by the newspaper said that India’s reforms were not courageous enough to withstand the impact of former US President Donald Trump’s 50 percent tariffs, which exposed the vulnerabilities of India’s highly regulated economy.
The WSJ noted that the Modi government has been slow to fix problems of its own making, with economic reforms under Modi remaining fragile, delayed, and uneven.
Reforms following the banking crisis were introduced late, while the poor implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was termed one of the government’s major failures.
Despite being presented as a landmark reform, India’s GST system remains more complex than global value-added tax models, the paper said. It added that the government avoided meaningful labor reforms, while non-tariff barriers fueled US frustration.
The opening of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the insurance and nuclear sectors came far too late, according to the WSJ.
Similarly, repeated claims of reform in the power sector failed to materialize, with state-owned electricity companies still facing severe financial distress.
The newspaper observed that the government has relied on piecemeal measures instead of bold reforms, while criticism was consistently ignored before the crisis. Changes within the bureaucracy were described as cosmetic and superficial.
The WSJ further highlighted that agricultural reforms were rolled back under political pressure, while high tariffs and protectionist policies continued to undermine competitiveness.
Long-delayed reforms related to land, labor, and subsidies remained unresolved, and loss-making state-owned enterprises could not be privatized.
Concluding its analysis, the Wall Street Journal said India has relied on symbolic reforms and now requires a comprehensive economic overhaul to restore confidence and competitiveness.
