Govt has met industry needs, now India Inc must expand: Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government has delivered reforms, urges companies to invest, expand production, and partner in skilling youth for India's growth

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the government has lived up to the expectations of India Inc with supportive policies, and it is now the industry's turn to invest more and expand capacities.

 

Speaking at the IFQM Symposium, Sitharaman highlighted that the government has consistently worked on ease of doing business, tax reforms, foreign direct investment (FDI), and industry-friendly policies. She urged companies to shed hesitation and contribute to building a stronger economy.

 

“Today I have a basket of things on which the government has delivered... I hope there is no more hesitation for the industry to invest further, to expand capacities, produce more in India, and what else is required by the government to do, spell them out,” she said, as quoted by news agency PTI.

 

Call for industry-government partnership

 

The finance minister also appealed to businesses to engage with the government beyond the pre-Budget season. She asked for collaboration in skilling youth and building strong supply chains.

 

When asked by Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran about the industry's role now, Sitharaman said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has remained firm on reforms and has not ignored the demands of industry.   

 

  Supporting Sitharaman’s call, Chandrasekaran said the opportunities created by the government are “enormous” in both domestic and export markets. "I firmly believe that more entrepreneurs, more small and medium companies and big corporates, would make a lot of investments. I'm very confident, because without that investment, we will not be able to capture the opportunity," he said, adding that global supply chains are seeking resilience and alternatives.

 

Focus on MSMEs

 

Sitharaman further underlined the importance of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), calling them the backbone of India’s GDP. She said the government has ensured that the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) is physically present in MSME clusters despite the growth of digital banking.

 

₹3.6 trillion support to states

 

On Wednesday, the finance minister also spoke about the Centre’s support to states for capital spending. She said that around ₹3.6 trillion has been given to 22 states in the last four years under a 50-year interest-free loan scheme.

 

"The central government has also provided 50-year interest-free assistance to the state governments so that they can have their capital assets increased (with) money to spend on them," she said while addressing the CII GCC Business Summit.

 

She added that this support helped states achieve more than 10 per cent growth in capital expenditure from their own resources.

 

Highlighting infrastructure progress in the past 11 years, Sitharaman said India has operationalised 88 airports, laid 31,000 km of new rail tracks, quadrupled Metro networks, doubled port capacity, and expanded the national highway network by 60 per cent.   

 

GST reforms boost economy

 

Speaking at the Outreach and Interaction Program on Next Gen GST Reforms in Visakhapatnam, Sitharaman pointed out the gains from GST reforms. She said that the changes have put at least ₹2 trillion back into the economy, leaving more disposable income with citizens.

 

She said that nearly 99 per cent of items in the 12 per cent GST slab are now in the 5 per cent bracket, providing relief to the middle class and helping reduce poverty. About 90 per cent of goods in the 28 per cent slab have been moved to the 18 per cent category.

 

She further said that GST revenues rose to ₹22.08 trillion in 2025 from the levels at the time of its introduction, while the number of taxpayers grew to 15.1 million from 6.5 million.

 

“The benefits of GST reforms will be 10 times greater than the incentives given to various industries,” Sitharaman added.

 

(With agency inputs)