Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

"Forget it, I'll handle the matter when the problem arises."

Nirmal, the Minister of Transportation, took to the stage.

"The total length of the road network laid down increased from 7,542 kilometres in 1655 to over 42,940 kilometres in 1660.

"The length of national highways has increased from 3,386 kilometres to over 10,620, and the length of connecting roadways has increased from 4,156 to over 32,320."

"As the Deputy Minister of Agriculture said, we have not fully covered the road network in all villages in the south, much less in the north, the reason simply being that some regions are too inaccessible and cost a lot more to build roads than others."

"Sometimes, for a road to be laid down to a single village, the resources required are so heavy that over half a dozen roads could be laid down for other villages."

"Then are these villages abandoned?" Narasimha Modi asked.

"No, but only the laying down of the road will be delayed."

"The Ministry of Transportation directly and indirectly employs more than four million people, all working in road construction. We cannot expand our operations anymore, and the money allocated by the government to the ministry is a fixed percentage of the GDP. Although this means that the amount of money we are allocated every year keeps on increasing due to the GDP increase, it also means that we cannot ask for more money in a financial year. And let's be honest, no matter how much money the government gives to the ministry, I am confident we can spend it efficiently and convert it into nerves and arteries for the empire."

"Coming back to the main topic, with roads already being connected to all cities in the empire, we will gradually transition to building roads in the rural parts of the northern Bharat while trying to build roads to inaccessible villages in the southern Bharat."

"The Ministry of Transportation of the central government will fully coordinate with the Ministry of Transportation in the state government and provide them with as much support as possible, be it financial, talent, experience, human resources, or anything else."

"Finally, coming to naval infrastructure, the empire has over 2,234 ports, 120 being mid-scale ports located in coastal cities and towns, and fourteen major ports with a throughput of over one million tonnes. Additionally, there are 2,200 inland ports located in towns, villages, and inland cities."

MS Dhoni, the minister of sports, briefly reported his achievements:

"Over 400 cricketing clubs, 300 football clubs, 600 rugby clubs, and 500 Kho Kho clubs have been formed in the empire, with multiple franchises preparing for league games."

"Every year, over 723 tournaments take place throughout the empire, and last year's Aykyotsva event earned the central government over 2.6 million Varaha."

The Ministry of Standards, Amit Shah, soon followed:

"The number of regulations in the Bharatiya Standards Organisation has grown to over 500 in different disciplines, and I'm proud to say that all 49,000 companies in the empire have been BSO-approved. All products manufactured in the empire are BSO-approved, and we have made all companies and factories implement the BSO safety protocols throughout the empire, including in the event organisation industry."

The Minister of Health, Lokesh, was straightforward:

"We have established over 19,900 hospitals in the empire, with total employed medical staff reaching 600,000."

"There are at least thirty medical professionals in every hospital, with at least 15 being nurses, 5 being pharmacists, 5 being general doctors, and the remaining five being specialists and surgeons."

"All the hospitals work on the lowest price model, so the revenue is not significant, but fortunately, we do not suffer any losses. We are constantly able to break even financially."

"As for the future of the medical sector, I put forward a proposal where private hospitals can be established by private individuals, and doctors can be employed directly by these private hospitals. I also request that the medical university be privatised, as the demand for medical professionals has increased to a point where the ministry can no longer manage it."

Vijay approved the proposal and made some changes based on the knowledge he had of the future. He ensured that hospitals would not simply become money-hungry machines wishing for more sick people in the world.

He designed hospitals as special organisations whose finances could be directly inquired about by the public. Their operating procedures would be mandatorily disclosed regularly. Finally, patients should be able to buy medication for mild illnesses without having to consult a doctor.

There were a few more modifications that could be made, but for now, Vijay thought that it was enough.

After Vijay's modifications, the proposal put forward by Lokesh passed with flying colours. As for the university privatisation, it followed the same model as BIT University privatisation, where the universities would be split into five tiers: Tier One, Tier Two, Tier Three, Tier Four, and Tier Prime. Additionally, papers were also divided according to tiers.

As far as internships were concerned, medical students could search for internships on their own.

Finally, Minister of Finance Jagannath Mohan took the centre stage.

It was already 5:00 o'clock in the evening. Everyone was feeling tired, but since this was the most crucial ministry of the empire and also the last part of the summit, everyone drank their tea and became alert.

Jagannath Mohan flipped open his notes and reported:

"The journey of the empire was not easy."

"In 1650, our GDP was only 11 million Varaha, but it increased year on year to twelve million, fourteen million, sixteen million, and finally 23 million in the year 1655, which amounted to over 79 tonnes of gold."

"Five years later, after the north's independence from the Mughals, after the so-called untouchables were liberated and became landowners and citizens of the Bharatiya Empire after trade blossomed in the empire, and after exports boomed..."

"I am happy to report that the GDP of the empire has reached over 10,147,048,000 Varaha."

"An increase of more than 400% from last year."

*Clap clap clap clap clap clap*

A loud applause rang out in the parliament. Even Vijay was surprised by this number. He knew that it would be impressive this year since trade had been exceptional in the year 1659, but he had not thought it would actually quadruple the GDP of the empire.

Jagannath Mohan didn't notice Vijay's shock, but he continued, "After obtaining the data from the Reserve Bank of Bharat and the tax bureau, I can tell you all that even the amount of money circulating in the empire has increased. With the establishment of two new commercial banks, several investment banks, and dozens of insurance firms, currently, the Treasury has 140 tonnes of gold in storage, which allowed there to be 6,176,464,000 Varaha in the market."

Hearing the data, many of the ministers furrowed their brows, as the data didn't make sense. However, a few who understood how GDP is calculated did not think there was anything wrong with the numbers.

Narasimha Modi, who was among those who didn't understand, directly raised the question. "Your Excellency, may I ask how the GDP is more than the amount of money in circulation? How does that make sense?"

Jagannath Mohan thought for a while, arranged his words in his mind, and replied:

Explore new worlds at empire

"Minister, let me give an example through a scenario: You currently have 10,000 Varaha. You use your 10,000 Varaha to buy paint from a vendor. Now, the vendor uses the same 10,000 Varaha to buy raw materials from a chemical factory, and the person in the chemical factory uses the same 10,000 Varaha to buy logistics services..."

" Now, what do you think the GDP calculated is throughout the process?"

"10,000 Varaha, since there is only 10,000 Varaha," Narasimha Modi answered. But from his expression, it could be seen that he was not sure.

Jagannath Mohan shook his head. "This is a common misconception. The physical money is only 10,000 Varaha, but the services obtained by this 10,000 Varaha have a value of 30,000 Varaha. Think of it in a physics analogy: the 10,000 Varaha is the force applied, and the 30,000 Varaha is the work done. The force applied and the work done do not have to be equal."

Hearing the explanation through such a simple example, Narasimha Modi finally understood. "Then, Your Excellency, you mean that for six billion Varaha that has been printed, the services obtained were over 10 billion?"

"Not quite," Jagannath Mohan nodded then quickly shook his head. "Most money may be in private hands, but not everything is circulated since people do not casually spend all their savings. So in reality, it would be around two billion Varaha circulating, providing services worth 10 billion Varaha, considering that every person is spending one-third of all the money they have."

"Hmm, makes sense!" Narasimha Modi nodded in understanding.

"Finally, let me end the report on a good note."

"The first batch of factories, over 900 to 1,200 of them, have started contributing to the tax of the empire starting last year. The tax obtained from these companies has already exceeded 12 million Varaha, with each company on average paying between 4,000 and 10,000 Varaha in taxes."

With that, the year-end summit of the Bharatiya Empire ended, providing an understanding between all ministries and their goals in the empire, making it easier for coordination during the steam age.