Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday replied to questions raised by the Opposition in the Indian Lok Sabha. She compared the expenditure of each department under the UPA government in FY2014 with the current expenditure. She also replied to a question on the budget allocated to each state. She said that a state not mentioned in the budget speech does not mean that it has not been allocated funds. She compared the previous budget speeches of the UPA government. No state has been denied funds, she said. She also replied to those who referred to Adani and Ambani in Parliament. Speaking of farmers, she said that since the launch of PM Kisan, more than Rs 3.2 trillion has been disbursed to over 110 million farmers.
On fiscal policy, Sitharaman said the Modi government has been achieving its targets since the COVID-19 pandemic.
She slammed Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and alleged that funds allocated for SC/ST had been misappropriated by the state government. She said the Karnataka government had misappropriated Rs 4,301 crore out of the total Rs 9,980 crore allocated in the state budget.
She also targeted West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying she would bring in a White Paper on the state’s economy.
Key highlights from her speech included:
This budget proposal builds on what was mentioned in the interim budget. It permeates everything that was said in February 2024. The principle of governance since 2014 has been to unite all and pray for all. The budget proposal consolidates previous achievements and outlines measures to overcome challenges. The budget proposal consolidates previous achievements and outlines measures to overcome challenges. The core elements of social inclusiveness and geographic inclusiveness are highlighted in the budget. We are taking a whole of country approach to meet the aspirations of our people. The expenditure of this government has increased exponentially, reaching Rs 4.8 lakh crore in FY25. One feature that characterizes India’s growth story is capital expenditure. This has helped us come out of Covid and has resulted in sustaining a consistent high growth rate. Rs 11.11 lakh crore has been allocated for capital expenditure. The budgeted capital expenditure is now about 3.3 times the capital expenditure in FY2019-20. Real capital expenditure is expected to be Rs 15.02 trillion. Agriculture and allied sectors was Rs. 0.30 trillion in 2013-14 and now it is Rs. 1.52 trillion. Even compared to last year, it is an increase of Rs. 8,000 trillion. Education, employment and skills training was Rs. 0.85 trillion in 2013-14 and now it is Rs. 1.48 trillion. It is 23% higher than last year. Women and girls was Rs. 0.96 trillion in 2014 and now it is Rs. 3.27 trillion. Rural development was Rs. 0.87 trillion in 2014 and now it is Rs. 2.66 trillion. It is 11% higher than last year. Urban development was Rs. 12 trillion in 2014 and now it is approaching Rs. 1 trillion. Not mentioning a state in the budget speech does not mean that the state will not get funds, it was a misleading campaign. 17 states were not mentioned in the budget speech in 2004-05. Were they not getting funds? If they had stopped funding then, then this issue could have been raised. 17 states were not named then. 18 states were not named in 2005-06 and 16 states in 2007-08. 26 states were not named in 2009-10. 20 states were not named in the main budget of 2009-10. Did the UPA government ignore these states by not naming them? 26 states were ignored in the interim budget of FY 2015. Did people say states were ignored? When “A1 and A2” saw container ships at Vizhinjam port, no one from the Congress complained. Rs 8,180 crore was given to the Kerala government as viable gap funding. Lectures on A1 and A2 are given only by the Congress to the NDA government. During the UPA era, inflation in the country was above global levels. During the UPA era, Harvard, Oxford educated leaders ran the country, but they did not know when to withdraw the stimulus packages, which led to high inflation between 2009 and 2013. – Finance Minister. Inflation during NDA 1.0 was 4.5% and NDA 2.0 (Modi’s second term) was 5.7%, both together at 5.1% which is much lower than the 8% during the UPA era. Inflation was almost in double digits. Borrowings were reduced through improved fiscal management, and the reduction in fiscal deficit from 5.1% in the interim budget to 4.9% in the 2024 budget has been a hallmark of Modi since his time as Gujarat Chief Minister. He maintained fiscal prudence without sacrificing welfare. Standard fiscal practices were changed during the UPA period. PM Modi made economic plans such that inflation would not have a significant impact, despite the COVID pandemic. He also reduced fuel prices twice and introduced Bharat branded atta, rice and pulses. I would like to highlight that employment of the Indian youth is booming…rising from 34% in 2014 to 51% in 2024. This has been possible only because of skill training. Net financial savings in the household sector has increased from Rs 8.32 trillion in 2013-14 to Rs 14.16 trillion in 2023-2024. This is an increase of 17%. Potentially, 20% of Indian households are channelling their household savings into financial markets. At the time of independence, West Bengal’s share of industrial production was 24%, today it is 3.5%. For 2021-22 the target was 6.8% and we achieved 6.7%. For 2022-23, 6.4% was set as the target and we achieved it. For 2023-24, 5.9% was set as the target and 5.6% was achieved.
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