Page 63 - Nirmala Sitharaman

Rajnath to head BJP's LS manifesto committee; Sitharaman made convenor

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will head the BJP's 27-member manifesto committee for the Lok Sabha polls as the party brainstorms and seeks suggestions from people across the country for its election promises. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be the committee's convener and another Union minister Piyush Goyal its co-convener. Several other Union ministers, besides chief ministers of states such as Gujarat, Assam and Madhya Pradesh, and seasoned hands like Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje are among the members of the committee.

Cong leader Priyanka Gandhi slams govt over rising debt, inflation

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra slammed the BJP-led Centre on Saturday over its proposal to borrow more than Rs 14 lakh crore, asking why is the government "drowning the people in debt" when instead of relief being provided to them, the "burden of unemployment, inflation and economic crisis" is increasing. In her budget speech last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to borrow Rs 14.13 lakh crore by issuing dated securities to meet a revenue shortfall in the next financial year starting April 1. In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said: "The finance ministry stated that the government is going to borrow more than Rs 14 lakh crore in the current financial year. Why?" In the 67 years since independence till 2014, the country's total debt was Rs 55 lakh crore, the Congress general secretary said while pointing out that in the last 10 years, the Narendra Modi government increased it to Rs 205 lakh crore. The Modi government has borrowed about Rs 150 lakh crore in the

BS Manthan: High tariffs not for ever, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Sitharaman listed the four Is - infrastructure, investment, innovation, and inclusiveness - as the pathway for achieving the goal of a developed India by 2047

BS Manthan: Reforms momentum will continue, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

From tariffs and Centre-state relations to how she unwinds, Sitharaman covered a vast ground at BS summit; Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw spoke on the steps towards India becoming a product nation

Reform momentum to make India a developed nation by 2047: FM Sitharaman

Speaking at the Business Standard Manthan, FM Nirmala Sitharaman said imposition of tariffs was not her govt's permanent stance. She also spoke about PSU valuations and importance of reform momentum

I do not have the kind of money to contest LS elections: FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said she declined the offer of the BJP to contest elections pleading that she did not have the 'kind of funds' required for fighting the Lok Sabha polls. The minister said that the BJP President (J P Nadda) gave her the option to contest either from Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu. "After thinking over a week or ten days, I just went back to say... maybe not. I do not have that kind of money to contest. I also have a problem whether it is Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu. It's also going to be a question of various other winnability criteria that they use...Are you from this community or are you from that religion? Are you from this? I said no, I do not think I am going to able to do it," she said. Sitharaman was speaking at the TIMES NOW Summit 2024 here. "I am very grateful that they accepted my argument...So I am not contesting," she added. When asked why even the finance minister of the country does not have enough funds to fight Lok S

BS Manthan: From Viksit Bharat by 2047 to AI, Here's what happened on Day 1

At the Business Standard's annual event, FM Nirmala Sitharaman talked about opportunities in the public sector companies, while industry leaders talked about upcoming technologies and challenges

Tariffs not a permanent stance of our government: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

At Business Standard Manthan, Sitharaman said that in matters of economy, the differences between Centre and States must not arise on the grounds of politics

ED raids multiple Punjab locations in guava orchards compensation 'scam'

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted searches at multiple locations in Punjab in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged guava orchards compensation "scam", official sources said. The ED case was registered after the federal agency took cognisance of a Punjab Vigilance Bureau FIR pertaining to alleged embezzlement of nearly Rs 137 crore released as compensation for guava orchards on land acquired by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA). The premises of some senior government officials and some private persons are being covered, the sources said. The Punjab Vigilance Bureau had arrested a number of people, including some horticulture department officials, in this case, they said.

Modi govt has taken many women-centric decisions, says FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has consciously taken several women-centric policy decisions for their emancipation and empowerment. Reeling out some of the decisions, she said, permanent commissioning of women officers, entry of girls in Sainik School, raising maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks, and Poshan Abhiyan benefitting 10 crore women are some of them. To promote entrepreneurship among women, she said, the government is providing credit facilities under the PM Mudra Scheme without collateral and at a concessional rate. So far, she said, 70 per cent of loans sanctioned belong to women category and 30 crore beneficiaries are enrolled. Besides, she said, 80 per cent of the funds under Stand Up India have gone to women and there is 10 per cent reservation under Fund of Fund being run by SIDBI for women-led startups. She expressed happiness that 20 startups out of 111 unicorns are led by women. Talkin

Atal Pension Yojana poorly designed, says Cong; FM Sitharaman hits back

Hours after the Congress dubbed the Centre's Atal Pension Yojana as a "poorly-designed scheme" that "hoodwinks and coerces" people into participating in it, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday hit back at the grand old party accusing it of "hoodwinking" people in the name of vote bank politics. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Atal pension scheme is a "fitting representation of the Modi Government's policy making: headline management, with few benefits actually reaching the people". His attack came after a media report claimed that nearly one of three subscribers who dropped out of the Centre's pension scheme for unorganised sector, did so because their accounts were opened without their "explicit" permission. The report cited a recent sample study by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR). "The 'flagship' Atal Pension Yojana is a very poorly-designed scheme, a paper tiger that needs officials to hoodwink and coerce people into participatin

FM rubbishes K'taka's claim of injustice in fund's release from Centre

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday rubbished the Karnataka government's claim that the Centre was not releasing its due share of special grants' as recommended by the 15th Finance Commission. She denied that there was any recommendation by the Finance Commission. Karnataka government claims that Rs 5,495 crore special grant was not released to Karnataka and this is totally false. The Finance Commission did not in its final report recommend any such special grant, the Finance Minister claimed. Sitharaman's statement came a day after Karnataka filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court requesting a direction to the Centre to immediately release grants under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to the state, which is reeling under acute drought. In February, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his deputy D K Shivakumar, Congress MLAs and other Congress leaders at the central level staged a demonstration in New Delhi alleging that the Centre was apathetic towa

RBI Guv, Sebi head meet FM ahead of interest rate meet next month

Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday called on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, ahead of the central bank's interest rate-setting panel meeting next month. The minister separately held a meeting with Sebi Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch at her North Block office, according to a post by Sitharaman's Office on X. These meetings come at a time when the industry is pitching for an interest rate cut, and stock markets are witnessing intense volatility. The RBI has held the benchmark interest rate or repo rate at an elevated level of 6.5 per cent since February 2023. Das-headed Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is scheduled to meet from April 3-5, the first for the 2024-25 fiscal, in which it is expected to spell out inflation and growth trajectory for the financial year beginning April 1. The RBI, in its policy review last month, projected a GDP growth rate of 7 per cent and average inflation of 4.5 per cent for 2024-25. The Indian economy is estimated to have grown over

High base effect of last year to hit March growth business of life insurers

Several private insurers also reported to have moved towards Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities and in the less than Rs 5 lakh segment to compensate for their loss of business in the higher ticket size

A developed India by 2047: Churning of ideas at Business Standard Manthan

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and Railways & Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw along with other thought leaders will discuss the road ahead at summit next week

Competition Law 2.0 marks a new era for India's anti-trust regulations

The Competition Commission of India investigates Google Play Store over unfair service fees, tests new provisions of the Competition Amendment Act

Deeptech startup policy in final stages, says DPIIT secretary RK Singh

The development is in line with ongoing governmental efforts to bolster innovation in the deeptech sector

FM meets ADB vice prez, urges to become partner in development agenda

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday met Asian Development Bank's new Vice-President (market solutions) Bhargav Dasgupta and discussed ways to further the development agenda. "Both exchanged views on how @ADB_HQ may partner with India to further the development agenda. They also discussed harnessing ADB's convening power to crowd in other public and private sector institutions to participate in India's growth," the finance ministry said in a post on X. ADB in September 2023, appointed Dasgupta as VP for a period of three years. Prior to this, he was MD and CEO of ICICI Lombard General Insurance. Established in 1966, ADB is owned by 68 members 49 from the region. It is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.

India will become third top economy in few years, says FM Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said India currently needs economic freedom to achieve developed nation status by 2047 and assured that the country would move to the third spot in world economy from the current fifth position in the near future. Criticising those who compared India with China, Sitharaman said that certain things could not be replicated from them. "India should attain self sufficiency on economic matters. It should become an economic power. The country has come from 10th position to 5th in global rankings and a few years down the line we will achieve the third spot", Sitharaman said, after unveiling a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at Shrimati Indira Gandhi College here. Appealing to the students gathered at the venue to contribute to the progress of the nation, she said, "It is through the efforts of students like you that our country will become a developed nation by 2047." Referring to people talking about how China has progressed and comparisons wi

Need to learn lessons from electoral bonds scheme, says FM Sitharaman

Sitharaman observed that more people are investing directly in stock market. Finance minister noted stability of Indian stock market, advocating for it to operate independently