A file photo of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
| Photo Credit: PTI

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra slammed the BJP-led Centre over its proposal to borrow more than ₹14 lakh crore, asking why the government is “drowning the people in debt” the “burden of unemployment, inflation and economic crisis” is increasing.

In her budget speech last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to borrow ₹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 on March 30, Ms. Gandhi said, “The Finance Ministry stated that the government is going to borrow more than ₹14 lakh crore in the current financial year. Why?” In the 67 years since independence till 2014, the country’s total debt was ₹55 lakh crore, the Congress general secretary said while pointing out that in the last decade, the Narendra Modi government increased it to ₹205 lakh crore. The Modi government has borrowed about ₹150 lakh crore in the last 10 years, she claimed.

“Today, every citizen of the country has an average debt of about ₹1.5 lakh. For which aspect of nation-building was this money used?” she asked on the microblogging platform. Were jobs created on a large scale or did jobs disappear, she asked. “Has the income of farmers doubled? Are schools and hospitals given a facelift? Has the public sector been strengthened or weakened? Have big factories and industries been set up?” she asked.

Also read: Modi government promised to double farm income by 2022 but it has only come down: Congress

If this has not happened, if the core sectors of the economy are seen to be in a state of disrepair, if the labour force has declined, if small and medium businesses have been destroyed, then where has this money gone, the Congress leader asked. “On whom was it spent? How much money was written off in this? How much money was spent on loan waivers for big billionaires?” she asked further.

“Now, when the Centre is preparing to borrow, the question arises that why is the BJP government drowning the people in debt when instead of providing relief to them, the burden of unemployment, inflation and economic crisis kept on increasing in the last 10 years,” she said.

Telangana’s Health, Medical, and Family Welfare Department’s budget outlay for the fiscal year 2024-25 saw a cutback compared to the previous year. The current budget stands at ₹ 11,500 crore, marking a decrease of ₹661 crore from the 2023-24 budget of ₹12,161 crore.

While presenting the Budget, Finance Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu acknowledged the success of the Rajiv Arogyasree scheme, where the Congress government has doubled the threshold for medical treatment from ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakhs, aiming to alleviate the financial burden on families facing higher medical costs.

Addressing infrastructure concerns, the minister assured that the government would prioritise the completion of super-specialty hospitals, medical and nursing colleges which are currently in various stages of construction. “The Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) is slated for expansion, with the government committing to providing necessary assistance to enhance the institute’s services. Additionally, plans include the construction of a new building for the Osmania General Hospital (OGH),” he said.

– Siddharth Kumar Singh

MPs in the Rajya Sabha during the Interim Budget Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Friday.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Opposition leaders from the INDIA bloc in the Lok Sabha on February 9 said the White Paper brought out by the Narendra Modi government on the state of the economy under the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was a “political manifesto” that was aimed at “tarnishing” the Manmohan Singh government.

Most of the members questioned the government why it had not mentioned the November 2016 demonetisation in the White Paper, unemployment, inflation and faulty implementation of GST. Several of them recounted the BJP’s pre-poll promises like creating two crore jobs every year, putting ₹15 lakh into the accounts of every citizen after brining back black money, bringing down the prices of fuel and cooking gas and making the rupee stronger against the dollar.

Two Opposition members — RSP’s N.K. Premachandran and Trinamool Congress’s Saugato Roy — had moved a substitute resolution to highlight the failures of the Modi government and appealed to the House to disapprove the government’s White Paper even though the Opposition doesn’t have the numbers in the Lok Sabha.

Parliament Budget Session – February 9 updates

Responding to the allegations of endless scams under the UPA, Congress and DMK members asked the Modi government to spell out the concrete steps it took to put the guilty behind bars in the past 10 years.

“It is a matter of 10 years. Have you taken any action against any political leader?” asked Congress leader Manish Tewari who led the charge from the Opposition benches.

“If you wanted to bring a White Paper, you should have brought it in 2014. The intention behind this White Paper is only political. This is a political manifesto, not a White Paper,” he said.

Landmark legislation

Mr. Tewari said that under former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the UPA brought landmark legislation like right to food under the National Food Security act, right to employment under the MGNREGA, right to compulsory and free education and creation of unique identity under Aadhaar. “What has been your achievements in the past 10 years,” he asked.

Congress leader in the House, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, said, “At the fag end of this session, this kind of White Paper only with an objective to tarnish the 10 years of UPA government does not cut much ice.”

Stating that “Rome was not built in a day,” Mr. Chowdhury asked why the BJP constantly abused the Nehru-Gandhi family and mentioned how Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi are constantly targeted by the ruling dispensation.

His deputy, Gaurav Gogoi, accused the government of using the Enforcement Directorate to “welcome the corrupt into the BJP”. “The action rate of the raids from 2005 to 2014 was 93%, which has now been reduced to 29%. Only 23 convictions under the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) have been secured…. Why is the conviction rate so low? Because these raids are motivated,” Mr. Gogoi alleged.

‘Baseless allegations’

Mr. Premachandran said the NDA government had devastated the economy and the White Paper didn’t talk about unemployment and high inflation. “What is the bona fide intention of this White Paper… If you are so hopeful and confident, then what is the intent of this paper,” the RSP leader said, adding that the BJP government is coming up with baseless allegations.

Trinamool leader Mr. Saugato Roy said the government and the Finance Minister should apologise for the demonetisation and putting the country into severe hardships.

Talking about the recent troubles with payment app Paytm, Sharad Pawar-led NCP leader Supriya Sule said Google Pay and Phone Pe are ticking time bombs. “Google Pay, Phone Pe are two sitting time bombs. BHIM app is hardly used while Google Pay and Phone Pe apps are used [widely]. What is the government doing on digital or cashless economy?” she said.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in the Lok Sabha during the Budget session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Friday, Feb. 9, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Fugitive economic offenders like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Sanjay Bhandari will be extradited to India, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on February 9, even as she charged the former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi of being a ‘Super Prime Minister’ in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) years, blaming “rudderless” leadership for the “one big-ticket scam a year” decade between 2004-2014.

Speaking on the White Paper on the Economy in the Lok Sabha, the Minister said it was a serious document tabled with responsibility as it impacted the lives of people and shall serve as a record for posterity. “…Entire India’s youth should know what effort it took for a Prime Minister with a vision to restore India to its glory,” Ms. Sitharaman said, comparing the Commonwealth Games “flop show” to the “grand” success of G-20 events.

In her opening remarks, she went beyond the UPA decade to remind the House about the LIC of India being forced to invest in an ailing West Bengal firm run by Haridas Mundhra in the 1950s, which culminated in the then Finance Minister T.T. Krishnamachari’s resignation as “a sacrificial lamb”. She also talked about former State Bank of India chairman R.K. Talwar being forced out of office in 1976 when he refused to grant a particular loan to someone close to the government of the day.

She later explained these cases were critical to understand that corruption is a part of the Congress’ DNA. Stressing that national security was compromised in the UPA years, the environment had become a bottleneck for project clearances, hurting development, and the leadership of the day “failed” the country.

Terming the National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by Ms. Gandhi as an “extra-constitutional body worse than a Kitchen Cabinet”, the Minister asked why 710 government files were sent to the NAC office. On Congress MPs’ claims that Aadhaar, MGNREGA, and direct benefit transfers were UPA’s projects, Ms. Sitharaman noted that Ministries had objected to the Aadhaar project at the time.

“Andolanjeevi [a person who makes a living through protests] and BhrashtacharJeevi [a person who survives on corruption] gave birth to the ‘Jayanti Tax’. Licence Permit Raj was brought back through the Environment Tax,” she said, pointing to a rise in average time taken for green clearances from 86 days in 2011 to 316 days in 2014. This has now come down to 70 days, she added, with this government balancing development and environment needs.

Stating that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was told to “keep quiet to facilitate money laundering” during the UPA years and kept like a “caged bird”, she noted that just 102 prosecutions took place then, compared to 1,200 since 2014. Zero persons were convicted in their tenure, while the number is 58 in our watch, she said, attributing it to the ED being given the “independence to stop money laundering”.

“We have got extradition orders passed in four cases [of fugitive economic offenders] and are extraditing them,” she said, noting that 12 people have been labelled fugitive economic offenders under their watch, while the number of such extraditions was zero during the UPA years.

On why the paper was tabled now, the Minister cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks in 2015-16 about refraining from presenting such a white paper at that time in national interest, emphasising that not a single investor would have come to the country and citizens would have lost faith in the system.

“Now, with 10 years of sincere effort to clear up the economy, governance, and making sure that we are not going to stagnate because of the legacy that was left behind… We have 10 years which can therefore be periodically compared with those 10 years… Responsibly, we took the challenge of sorting things out, and now we have put it out there,” she said on the timing of the white paper.

Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India, Dr. V Anantha Nageswara.
| Photo Credit: SRINATH M

With the economy regaining momentum, it is time for fiscal policy to step back, Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran told The Hindu, explaining the interim Budget for 2024-25. Identifying some of the next generation reforms needed in the coming years, he said recent changes, including the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), and direct taxes also need a periodic review. Edited excerpts:

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in Rajya Sabha during the Budget session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

With an allocation of ₹22,137.95 crores in the interim budget 2024, the Micro, Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) sector will see establishment of more clusters and new technology centres.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her budget speech, “It is an important policy priority for our Government to ensure timely and adequate finances, relevant technologies and appropriate training for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to grow and also compete globally.”

While the allocation for the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme, which was launched in 2020 during the COVID pandemic, has reduced to ₹ 10,162.92 crores from ₹14,000 crores last financial year, establishment of new technology centres has allocation of ₹450 crores, Micro and Small Cluster Development Programme has ₹400 crores and the PM Vishwakarma scheme has got ₹4,824 crores. Allocation for the coir sector is also up marginally to ₹103.10 crores.

According to the Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME), the Budget “lays a strategic direction to address a few critical needs” of the MSME sector. The current financial architecture needs a revamp to serve green field manufacturing projects and fast growing MSMEs. In technology, the focus on resource efficient technologies and green technologies is another direction the government is alluding to.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents the Interim Union Budget 2024 at the Lok Sabha of the Parliament House in New Delhi.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 2 presented the interim budget for 2024, ahead of the upcoming general elections.

With no dramatic pre-poll sops the Ms. Sitharaman stuck to fiscal deficit targets; announced new urban housing scheme, more rural homes, rooftop solar solutions; and turned the focus to eastern States.

Here are a series of videos by The Hindu detailing the same.

See all 11 stories

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

The economic success of India is grounded in the pursuit of reforms over the last years, Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva said on February 1 exuding confidence that it would achieve its goal of being a developed nation by 2047 by staying the course.

“India has been a bright spot in the world economy, and it continues to be so. We are upgrading projections for Indian growth to 6.5% in 2024. This comes on the back of fairly strong performance in 2023. The success of India is grounded in the pursuit of reforms over the last years,” Ms. Georgieva told a group of reporters here.

Editorial | Poll posture: On the 2024 Interim Budget

Ms. Georgieva said that one very significant advantages of India is the bold actions on the digital front with the digital public infrastructure, digital ID and making digital a strong comparative strength of India allowing small entrepreneurs to tap into markets in the way they were not able to do before.

“We also see in India recognition that female participation in the labour markets is insufficient. I think Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi is right to bet on Indian women and open up more space for their participation in the economy,” she said.

“Last but not least, India recognizes that innovation is what is going to drive a future competitiveness, very effective and efficient investment in R&D as we saw with the moon landing. This creates a very fertile ground for future growth,” the IMF head said.

Also Read | India to emerge as third largest global economy by 2027: Finance Minister

“Where India needs to be watchful like all other countries, it has to be watchful how the strength of public finances and the use of public money support this medium long term objective of strong growth,” she said.

To a question on Prime Minister Modi’s call to make India a developed nation by 2047, when the country celebrates the 100 years of its independence, she said this is very much achievable.

“I see no reason why this will be unachievable. Stay the course,” Ms. Georgieva said hours after the Union Finance Minister in her interim budget said that the Modi’s government is working to make India a ‘Viksit (Developed) Bharat’ by 2047, and that this development would be “all round, all inclusive, and all pervasive”.

Also Read | Finance Ministry says economy likely to grow closer to 7% in 2024-25

The IMF managing director said staying the course also means eliminating obstacles for private entrepreneurship.

“I see in India as actually everywhere space for more to be done,” she said.

“This has been a very visible strength for India: confidence. And confidence not just in the leadership, (but also) confidence of the people. When I was last in India, I talked to people from all walks of life and there is that sense of confidence in the economy; confidence in the country,” Ms. Georgieva said.

Harsh Goenka, Chairman, RPG Group

The Finance Minister’s speech during the Vote on Account exudes confidence that our economy is on track to achieve the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of becoming a ‘developed nation’ (Viksit Bharat) by 2047. The budget last year had significantly increased infrastructure spending alongside multiple welfare schemes. The results of the reforms and investments are now clearly visible with significant strides in various sectors that bolster the nation’s trajectory towards inclusive growth and sustainable development.

Continued focus on infrastructure, with substantial investments in railways, airports, and highways underscores the government’s commitment to strengthen these sectors which are the backbone for economic growth, job creation, and enhanced quality of life. The budget also continues several social welfare measures, crucial for India’s long-term growth, ensuring that development is inclusive and benefits the most vulnerable sections of society. The healthcare initiatives are particularly noteworthy, reflecting the lessons learned during the pandemic and doubling down on the commitment to building a robust public health system. The decision to extend healthcare coverage under Ayushman Bharat to all ASHA and Anganwadi workers will motivate those working at the grassroots and strengthen the primary healthcare ecosystem. The decision to encourage cervical cancer vaccination for young girls will reduce the risks of developing cervical cancer for the 511.4 million women aged 15 and older.

The foresight shown towards technology is commendable. The 1 lakh crore support for technology investments aligns with the nation’s rapidly growing digital economy, unlocking new growth avenues and fostering innovation to cement India’s position as a global leader in the digital space. Strengthening of deep-tech technology for the defence sector will ensure our defence forces are always equipped with the most advanced technologies to meet any future threat.

The agricultural sector, the backbone of the Indian economy, has been getting due attention with 11.8 cr. farmers having received direct financial assistance from PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi so far. The initiatives to enhance agricultural productivity, improve post-harvest marketing and storage infrastructure and better market access will not only boost the sector but also empower millions of farmers. This will go a long way in elevating the rural economy and ensuring food security for India.

The budget makes a strong case for environmental sustainability, aligning with our Net Zero commitment. Viability gap funding for investments in renewable energy, green initiatives, and sustainable urban planning demonstrate our proactive stance on climate change. The proposed rooftop solar investment of 1 crore households will promote grassroot level energy self-sufficiency and also create multiple economic opportunities.

The budget showed continued commitment to simplifying tax structure and removing irritants eg. withdrawal of old outstanding direct tax demands which will bring relief to around one crore small taxpayers. The government’s approach to fiscal management also deserves an applause. Measures to consistently bring down fiscal deficit, aiming at a below 4.5% number by FY26 will ensure economic stability.

Overall, balancing growth with social welfare, modernisation with sustainability, and fiscal prudence with ambitious development goals, the Interim Budget 2024 has ensured that India’s economic juggernaut continues to roll on as we build a prosperous, resilient, and future-ready nation.