As the year 2025 concludes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi marks an extraordinary milestone: completing twelve consecutive years at the helm of India's government. In a striking departure from global political trends where such longevity often leads to caution and stagnation, the Modi administration has instead accelerated its pace of transformative governance, making 2025 a year of unprecedented structural reforms.
A Legacy of Annual Transformations
The journey since 2014 has been defined by a series of landmark initiatives each year. The Jan Dhan Yojana in 2014 revolutionized financial inclusion, followed by the digital push of Digital India in 2015 and the entrepreneurial spirit of Startup India in 2016. The year 2017 saw the historic rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), unifying the national economy.
Subsequent years brought Ayushman Bharat, the world's largest public health insurance scheme, and in the second term, the abrogation of Article 370 for full political integration. The pandemic response included the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, while later years introduced PM Gati Shakti, Agnipath, and the women's reservation law. The consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya in 2024 was a historic cultural moment.
The 2025 Reform Surge: Economy, Energy, and Security
The year 2025 stands out for delivering multiple high-impact reforms simultaneously across diverse sectors. A major achievement was the implementation of GST 2.0, which simplified tax rates, reduced the consumer burden, eased compliance, and corrected market distortions. This was built on eight years of trust-based cooperative federalism.
In the energy sector, the government passed the landmark SHANTI Act, opening India's nuclear power sector to regulated private participation. This bold move allows private entities to build, own, and operate nuclear plants under strict oversight, reimagining nuclear energy as a strategic pillar for clean growth.
Agriculture witnessed a targeted approach with the PM Dhan Dhaanya Krishi Yojana. Mirroring the success of the Aspirational Districts Programme, it focuses on low-performing agricultural districts with concentrated investments, scheme convergence, and strict outcome monitoring, moving away from blanket policies.
On the internal security front, 2025 marked the effective containment of Left-Wing Extremism (LWE). A decade-long strategy combining security operations with infrastructure development, welfare delivery, and strong political will brought constitutional normalcy to regions once called "liberated zones," ending Maoism as a structural threat.
Externally, Operation Sindoor redefined India's deterrence posture. The operation's significance lay in its clear message to Pakistan: terrorism is treated as an act of war, nuclear blackmail is rejected, and state sponsors will be held directly accountable.
Governance: Tackling Long-Standing Challenges
The reform wave extended to governance areas previously considered politically untouchable. The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 addressed opaque land governance by dismantling the "waqf by user" doctrine, mandating registration, and ensuring transparent scrutiny of claims, ending decades of unregulated land capture.
Furthermore, the government implemented the new labour codes, consolidating numerous archaic laws into a modern framework that balances worker protection with the flexibility needed by enterprises. This is set to reshape hiring, formalization, and productivity for years to come.
Additional achievements in 2025 included raising the income tax exemption slab to Rs 12 lakh for the middle class, further FDI reforms in insurance, and the signing of multiple Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).
Defying Political Convention
What makes 2025 remarkable is not just the volume of reforms but their timing. Conventional political wisdom suggests that popular leaders exhaust their reform momentum early in their tenure. By the 12th year, governments typically become defensive or run out of ideas as popularity wanes. Prime Minister Modi has inverted this logic.
His administration's achievements in 2025 have managed to surpass the records of previous years. With plans already in place for 2026—including restructuring higher education and pursuing 'One Nation, One Election'—the government is setting a new global benchmark for sustained reformist energy in a democratic framework. The coming year may well outshine even the transformative 2025.
