India has overcome after-effects of pandemic with capex push: FM Sitharaman

Nirmala Sitharaman said that not mentioning a state in the Budget speech does not mean that it will not be given any financial support, referring to the Opposition's charge on Bihar and Andhra

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said that India is the fastest-growing economy in the world and has successfully overcome the lingering impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic due to the Narendra Modi government’s robust capital expenditure push.

Sitharaman made the remarks in the Parliament amid the ongoing discussion on Budget 2024. Hitting back at the Opposition bench in the Parliament, she refuted the charges that Budget 2024 was discriminatory and said that no sector had been allotted less compared to last year. “We are complying with the fiscal deficit trajectory and will bring it down to below 4.5 per cent by 2025-26…” she said.

“The Opposition brewing sense of fear,” said the Finance Minister. She also refuted the Opposition’s charge that its ally states were favoured in the Budget. “If a state is not named [in Budget speech], it doesn’t mean no money goes to it. It pains me to know that they could say that if you are not mentioned in the Budget speech, your state gets nothing…,” the Finance Minister said.

The government has provided substantial assistance to Jammu & Kashmir including Rs 12,000 crore towards J&K police. Major highways projects have been announced for Kerala, she said.

The Opposition has been criticising the Narendra Modi government for crony capitalism and pushing tax terrorism. The Opposition alleged that the Budget was a “kursi bachao” exercise after the Centre offered critical financial assistance to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, two states where the ruling parties are aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre.

On Monday, leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, had slammed the Centre for double stabbing the Indian middle class by increasing the long term capital gains tax on equities and removing indexation benefit in real estate transactions.

Gandhi referred to the popular Hindu mythological epic Mahabharata and said that like its character Abhimanyu, Indians were trapped in a modern day ‘chakravyuh’ by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He said that six people were at the centre of this chakravyuh: Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, and billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani.