How Atal Bihari Vajpayee as PM pioneered policy for a new India

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

It was Atal Bihari Vajpayee who first dreamed of connecting the four corners of the country through highways when he was the prime minister nearly two decades ago. Vajpayee carried on the spirit of economic reforms introduced by the PV Narsimha Rao government in 1991. Regarded by some as the father of India's second-generation economic reforms, Vajpayee, whose death anniversary falls today, is remembered for several firsts.

For the first time, he set up a Department of Disinvestment to privatise sick public-sector units. Vajpayee was ahead of his times when his government made a diplomatic push to acquire a 20 per cent stake in the gigantic Sakhalin-I oil and gas fields in far east Russia for USD 1.7 billion in 2001. This was India's single largest investment abroad.

His model of energy security by investing in overseas projects has since then been followed vigorously with footprint now expanded to 20 countries and energy diplomacy part of India's engagements with other countries. When Manmohan Singh took over from Vajpayee in 2004, the economy was in a great shape—the GDP rate was above 8 per cent, inflation was below 4 per cent and foreign exchange reserves were overflowing. Below are three important economic achievements of Vajpayee as the prime minister:Fast-tracking Bharat Vajpayee's most memorable achievement was the ambitious roads projects he launched—the Golden Quadrilateral and the Pradhanmantri Gramin Sadak Yojana.