Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the volatility in gold prices is arising due to the global uncertainty, according to news agency PTI on Monday, Feb. 2. The yellow metal’s swing in prices has spooked commodity market investors. FM Sitharaman also added that the reason why investors do not have confidence in any particular currency is due to the uncertainty in the markets.

She added that due to these global uncertainties, central banks too have been investing in gold. “It also shows that investors do not have confidence in any one particular currency, and hence the rush to buy gold,” FM Sitharaman said, according to PTI. 

Gold and silver prices crashed in the previous session after increased CME margin requirements added to the selling pressure following last week’s selloff among the precious metals. Bullion shed more than 9.8% on Jan. 30, in its sharpest one-day drop since 1983. Gold has lost about $900 since hitting an all-time-high of $5,594.82 on Jan. 29, erasing most of this year’s gains. Spot silver has shed about 33% since notching up an all-time-peak of $121.64 last week. The CME announced hikes in margins on its precious metal futures on Jan. 30 and said the changes were set to take effect after market close on Monday.

 India only safeguarded its domestic industries against flooding which happens from a “predator”, the Finance Minister said. File
| Photo Credit: Debasish Bhaduri

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday (September 18, 2025) asked India Inc. to take advantage of the policies and reforms undertaken by the government and no longer hesitate to invest more and expand capacities.

Ms. Sitharaman also asked the industry to partner with the government for skilling the youth and also to engage with the government throughout the year, and not just before the Budget.

Speaking at the Indian Foundation for Quality Management (IFQM) symposium, Ms. Sitharaman said the path to Viksit Bharat will be guided by a seasoned approach to quality management, identifying the levels and sectors within manufacturing and services where interventions are most needed.

To a question by Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran on her key asks from the industry, Ms. Sitharaman listed out three points — invest more, partner with the government in skilling youth, and have a year-round engagement with the government and not just before the Budget.

She said the government has been steadily moving and with necessary seriousness, as per the expectation of the industry and cited several government initiatives for promoting ease of doing business, tax-related benefits, framing policies to make businesses better off and opening up for more FDI.

“… Today, I have a basket of things on which the government has delivered,” Ms. Sitharaman said, adding Prime Minister Narendra Modi has never relented on reforms, nor has he ignored the wishlist of the industry.

Women empowerment has always been a priority for PM Modi, says Sitharaman

“… I hope there is no more hesitation for the industry to invest further to expand capacities produce more in India, and spell out what else is required by the government to do,” Ms. Sitharaman said.

On the point of skilling youth, Ms. Sitharaman said she would want the private sector to partner with the government in preparing youth to be fit for quick and direct employment.

With regard to industry engagement, she said the interaction with the government should be ongoing. “It should not be just before the Budget… We are all here to hear you and respond,” the Minister said.

Regulations should foster technology innovations, not wipe them out, says Nirmala Sitharaman

Responding to the Finance Minister’s call to the industry to make investments, Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran acknowledged that the opportunity and the platform that the government has given are enormous, both in the domestic market and in the export market.

“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 noted.

Stating that “the world is calling for resilience and supply chain, alternative sources,” Mr. Chandrasekaran said, “India is the best place with the leadership that the Prime Minister provides for all of us.” To maintain economic momentum during the COVID period, the Modi government has increased capital expenditure by investing in infrastructure.

The government has set a total capital expenditure target of ₹11.21 trillion for 2025-26 (Apr-Mar). In the first four months of this fiscal, capital expenditure is up 33% year-over-year at ₹3.47 trillion.

The government has been encouraging private sector industries to invest in capacity expansion, but private investment continues to lag behind government capex. According to a survey released in April by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) private investment is expected to be 26% lower in FY26 at ₹4.89 lakh crore.

According to the Ministry, private companies had spent ₹4.22 trillion on capital expenditure in FY’24, ₹5.72 trillion in FY’23, and ₹3.95 trillion in FY’22.

Ms. Sitharaman further said that India’s most significant contributor to the GDP is from the MSME sector, and the government has ensured that the Small Industries Development Bank of India is physically present in MSME clusters.

“Even in this day and age when we are talking about digital banking, we insisted that SIDBI would be present in each of these clusters,” Ms. Sitharaman added.

Published – September 18, 2025 01:26 pm IST

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during an interview with PTI, in New Delhi, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025
| Photo Credit: PTI

Paraphrasing Abraham Lincoln, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday (February 2, 2025) described the Union Budget as “by the people, for the people, of the people”, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was fully behind the idea of cutting taxes but it took time to convince the bureaucrats.

“We have heard the voice of middle class” who had been complaining about their aspirations not being met despite being honest taxpayers, she told PTI in an interview.

Watch: Union Budget 2025 | Key Highlights

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her eighth record Budget in the Lok Sabha that comes in the backdrop of growth slowing down to four-year-low of 6.4%. This is the second Budget of the BJP-led NDA Government in its third term in office.

Ms. Sitharaman started her speech by saying that this Budget will initiate reforms in six domains — taxation, urban development, mining, financial sector, power and regulatory reforms.

Production: Yuvasree S

Budget 2025: The Union Budget is a crucial document that lays the roadmap for the economy and its various sectors for the upcoming fiscal year. As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Budget 2025 on Saturday at 11 am, experts anticipate that the government will focus on AI-driven initiatives. They suggest that Budget 2025 could provide a critical opportunity for the government to build on its progress in AI. With past budgets laying the groundwork through initiatives such as the IndiaAI Mission, enhanced infrastructure support, and ethical AI frameworks, the focus should shift to implementation and expansion, they said.  

Here’s a closer look at what could be tentatively expected in this year’s announcements: 

Hari Balaji, Partner in Technology Consulting at EY India, explained the progress and future directions of the IndiaAI Mission. According to him, the IndiaAI Mission, with a significant allocation of Rs 10.4k crore, aims to enhance AI computing capacity, research, and innovation. 

He mentioned a few “key initiatives” under the IndiaAI mission which include IndiaAI Compute Capacity, IndiaAI Innovation Centres, and the IndiaAI Datasets Platform. Recent developments include plans to deploy 10,000 GPUs over the next 18-24 months and the scheduled launch of the datasets platform by January 2025, he noted. 

Mr Balaji listed a few Budget expectations that include, a potential expansion of the Rs 10.4k crore allocation to encompass a broader spectrum of existing and new initiatives, as well as to align with the volume and intensity of state-sponsored investment into AI in developed economies. He is also looking forward to more details on the GPU deployment timeline and specific plans for operationalizing the datasets platform. 

“Expanding the mission to further specifically support localised AI innovations, such as the development of vernacular LLMs or projects that enhance/build on DPI and/or focus on priority sectors,” he said. A beta phase or pilot launch of the datasets platform might be announced to encourage early adoption and feedback from the AI ecosystem, he continued. 

Mr Balaji also anticipates better AI Infrastructure for strengthening digital foundations. “The government has recognised data centres as critical infrastructure and allocated Rs 4.5k crore toward AI computing infrastructure. These steps have set the stage for a robust digital ecosystem, vital for AI innovation,” he said. 

Mr Balaji expects a “revision upward of the Rs 4.5k crore number to incentivise Indigenous chip design and manufacturing, reflecting the need for technological sovereignty in a challenging global supply chain environment.”

“Additional support for high-performance computing infrastructure, either through direct investment or private-sector incentives, might be considered to enhance the ecosystem’s capabilities,” he explained. 

He expects the government to announce initiatives to make AI infrastructure more accessible to startups and research institutions could be hinted at, potentially through subsidies or collaborative frameworks. 

Speaking about responsible AI, Mr Balaji said, “The government has demonstrated its commitment to ethical AI through advisories on fairness and bias in algorithms and plans for a National Committee on Responsible and Trustworthy AI.” 

He expects that announcements regarding the establishment of the National Committee on Responsible and Trustworthy AI might provide clearer governance mechanisms, though timelines could remain tentative. He said that measures like mandatory watermarking of AI-generated content could be proposed as part of efforts to combat misinformation and promote accountability. 

“The introduction of an AI regulatory sandbox, enabling controlled experimentation and fostering innovation, might also feature in the government’s agenda,” he stated. 

For workforce development, Mr Balaji said partnerships with industry leaders have been initiated to train 5 lakh individuals, and AI Productivity Labs have been introduced to address workforce readiness. However, scaling these efforts to match the sector’s growth remains a challenge. 

He anticipates that this year’s budget will focus on the expansion of skilling programs tailored to regional economic needs, and industries such as manufacturing and services, through strengthened collaborations with private players.

New Delhi:

The Economic Survey, a pre-budget document detailing the state of the economy over the last fiscal year, will be presented in Parliament at 12 p.m. on Friday by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The presentation comes a day before the much-anticipated arrival of the Union Budget 2025-26.

The survey will be tabled in Lok Sabha at 12 pm and in Rajya Sabha at 2 pm.

The Economic Survey is prepared under the supervision of the Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran and includes insights into the economy prepared by the economic division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance.

The document not only details the current state of the economy but also provides an outlook for the upcoming fiscal year. It can also be an indicator of the tone and texture of the Union Budget.

The presentation of the Economic Survey will kickstart the Budget Session of Parliament, which concludes on April 4. Parliament will have an inter-session break from February 14 and will resume on March 10.

The theme of the Economic Survey also holds significance. In 2024, the theme was economic resilience. The theme sets the tone for the policies which are proposed in the Union Budget as well.

Before the budget is presented, conventionally a Cabinet meeting headed by the Prime Minister is also held, where Ministers are briefed about the Budget and Cabinet approval is taken.

Ahead of the Union Budget presentation, President Droupadi Murmu will also address a joint seating of Parliament on Friday.

The Union Budget will be presented on February 1.

President Murmu will address the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha at 11 a.m. on Friday.

After the President’s address, Finance Minister Sitharaman will table the Economic Survey in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha separately.

Finance Minister Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on Saturday for the eighth consecutive time.

The Budget Session will be held from January 31 to April 4 in two phases. The first part of the Session will end on February 13 and the second phase will begin on March 10.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The ceremony is a customary ritual in which traditional dessert ‘halwa’ is prepared and served to officials and staff members of the finance ministry who are involved in the preparation of the budget. File
| Photo Credit: ANI

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday (January 24, 2025) participated in a traditional ‘halwa’ ceremony, marking the final stage for the preparation of Union Budget 2025-26 to be unveiled on February 1 in the Lok Sabha.

The ceremony is a customary ritual in which traditional dessert ‘halwa’ is prepared and served to officials and staff members of the Finance Ministry who are involved in the preparation of the budget.

It is organised in the basement of North Block, which houses the ministry in the national capital and is attended by the Finance Minister and other high-ranking officials.

According to sources, the Finance Minister participated in the ceremony and also took a round of the Budget Press and reviewed the preparations besides extending her best wishes to the officials concerned.

Ms. Sitharaman is going to present Budget 2025-26, the eighth straight budget in a row, on the backdrop of GDP growth moderating to 6.4% in the financial year as against 8.2% recorded in the previous fiscal.

Like the previous four full Union Budgets and one Interim, the full Union Budget 2025-26 will also be delivered in paperless form.

All the Union Budget documents, including the Annual Financial Statement (commonly known as Budget), Demand for Grants (DG), Finance Bill etc. as prescribed by the Constitution, will be available on the ‘Union Budget Mobile App’ for hassle-free access to Budget.

Besides Ms. Sitharaman, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary and other senior officials, including Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth and other senior officials were present at the ceremony.

Halwa ceremony

It is a kind of a ‘send-off’ for Finance Ministry officials and staff involved in the preparation of the Union government’s annual financial statement. They enter what is called a ‘lock-in’ period, during which they stay in the basement of North Block, cut off from the world outside with a view to maintaining the secrecy around the final budget document.

They will emerge only after the Finance Minister completes her Budget speech in the Lok Sabha. It is considered a gesture of appreciation for those who have worked on the Budget. The basement of North Block houses a printing press that was traditionally used to print budget documents for 40 years from 1980 to 2020.

Thereafter, the budget went digital with bare minimum documents printed and the bulk distribution happening via mobile app or on the website. Going digital also meant that the lock-in period has become shorter to just five days from the previous one which lasted up to two weeks.

Printing Press

All Budget-related documents are printed at North Block itself using a dedicated government press. Earlier, the documents were printed at Rashtrapati Bhavan, but this was shifted to a press on Minto Road in the national capital in 1950 after documents were leaked, and in 1980 to North Block.

The printing of several hundred copies of the voluminous budget documents was such an elaborate exercise that printing staff had to be quarantined inside the printing press in the basement of North Block for up to two weeks.

Tradition

While the Narendra Modi government has done away with several traditional aspects of the Budget since coming to power in 2014, such as merging the Rail Budget with the main Budget from 2017, bringing forward the date of presentation to February 1 instead of the last date of that month, and moving to a digital format in 2021— the ‘halwa’ ceremony as a tradition has survived.