New Delhi:

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday lashed out at the ruling West Bengal dispensation saying Trinamool has become a by-word for exploitation and the party has institutionalised corruption.

Stating that there is rampant corruption in MGNREGA and PM Awas Yojana in the Trinamool Congress-ruled state and its cadre has been thriving at the cost of the common man, Nirmala Sitharaman wondered whether Trinamool has now become grassroots Virodhi.

“It is ironical that Trinamool Congress, a party which prides itself on being rooted in the grassroots (Trinamool), now symbolises harassment and denial of rights to the people living at the grassroots,” she said in the Lok Sabha amid constant interruption by TMC members.

Replying to the debate on Union Budget 2025-26, she said, TMC has charged us with financial blockade allegations.

“Like every other states, PM Awas Yojana is being implemented since 2016-17. The government has released Rs 25,798 crore towards central share. However, complaints of irregularities in PM Awas Yojana (Gramin) including selection of ineligible households were received,” she said.

There have been similar complaints about MNREGA and the Ministry of Rural Development is engaging with West Bengal for satisfactory reply, she said. As many as 25 lakh fake job cards in MNREGA, funds meant for people at the grassroots have been looted by TMC cadres, she said.

“Trinamool Congress has institutionalised corruption, gutted institutions and Trinamool has become a by-word for exploitation,” she said.

Citing other examples of corruption, she said, Rs 100 crore Mid-Day Meal fraud has taken place.

Talking about the poor health of West Bengal’s economy, she said capital formation has crashed from 6.7 per cent in 2010 to 2.9 per cent in recent years – a direct result of your hostility to investment.

As a result, she said, the state has no jobs, no factories, no vision. Once India’s industrial powerhouse (24 per cent share of industrial production in 1947), she said, Bengal is now far behind in manufacturing at 3.5 per cent share in 2021.

Bengal’s per capita income growth lags national averages for 20 years and ranked 23rd in 2021-22, she said.

Speaking about various projects undertaken by the Union government for West Bengal, Nirmala Sitharaman said AIIMS Kalyani inaugurated in West Bengal in February 2024, a record allocation of Rs 13,955 crore for rail infrastructure and Indian Railways’ first Gati Shakti Cargo Terminal commissioned in Asansol Division.

Besides, she said, the Union government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi constructed 38 km metro line since 2014 at a cost of Rs 23,050 crore and over 2,309 km of National Highway constructed in West Bengal since 2014.

In August 2024, she said, the CCEA approved the development of New Civil Enclave at Bagdogra Airport, Siliguri, West Bengal at an estimated cost of Rs 1,549 crore.

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

New Delhi:

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday dispelled concerns over a rise in Goods and Services Tax (GST), saying that there is not even one item on which the rate has been increased after the implementation of GST regime.

Intervening during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, Nirmala Sitharaman stated that GST rates have been brought down and the average GST rate has come down to 11.3 per cent from 15.8 per cent (at the time of GST implementation).

“That is the level of rate of reduction in the GST Council. Therefore I appeal to all the members here, kindly spare some time, meet your respective finance ministers in the states as to what kind of work is going,” she said.

She also explained that in the GST Council, finance ministers from state governments sit together and take a call.

“To the credit of every finance minister in the GST Council, I must say that they have gone into detail item by item to see where rate reduction can happen. Every finance minister from every state is doing his best so that GST can become simpler,” she said.

She pointed out that if the GST Council has taken a bit longer than what all of us would decide, it is because work is going on there.

The finance ministers of the respective states are fully empowered to speak to the people in their state as to what is to be taken up by the Council, she stressed.

She also pointed out that the GST Council is a constitutional body.

She also said, “I would to take this opportunity to dispel this thought after GST implementation, rates have gone up. Not at all.” She asked that is there an obstruction by the union government members, MOS and myself, to (where we have said) say no no, don’t reduce the rate, we want to burden the consumer.

“Is there be an instance? One such instance,” she said.

She also explained in the written reply on the oral question tabled in the House that as per Article 279A (4) of the Constitution of India, the GST Council shall make recommendations to the Union and the States, on rates, including floor rates with bands of goods and service tax.

Thus, the GST rates are notified by the Government based on the recommendations of the GST Council which comprises of representatives of the Union and State/UT Governments, she stated.

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

New Delhi:

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the Indian economy will continue to be the world’s fastest-growing economy backed by the increase in the government’s capital expenditure in the Budget for 2025-26 and rising consumption levels, especially in the rural areas.

In her reply to the Union Budget debate in the Lok Sabha, the Finance Minister said that the effective capital expenditure works out to 4.3 per cent of the GDP in the Budget for 2025-26 while the fiscal deficit is 4.4 per cent.

“This indicates that the government is using the entire borrowed resources for financing effective capital expenditure, creating capital assets,” she pointed out.

She cited figures from the Budget to show that the capex allocation in the budget has increased to Rs 1.21 lakh crore, dismissing the opposition’s claim that the outlay has been reduced.

The Finance Minister also said that inflation management is the highest priority of this government and overall retail inflation is within the notified tolerance band of 2 per cent to 6 per cent. She added that food inflation which was impacted by adverse weather conditions has all been attended to, and the government is continuing to do it.

Taking a dig at the Congress, she remarked, “Double-digit inflation rates under the earlier UPA regime is a thing of the past now.”

FM Sitharaman pointed out that food inflation reached a staggering 11 per cent during the second term of the UPA-led government, causing serious hardship for the public.

Focus on supply chain improvement and agricultural progress helped the NDA government bring food inflation down to 5.3 per cent from 2014 to 2024, she said.

FM Sitharaman highlighted that the government is undertaking steps like monitoring groundwater levels so that there is no problem with the irrigation of either Rabi and Kharif crops, thus, keeping food inflation in check.

In this context, she also highlighted that the government had infused more capital to strengthen the FCI which procures agricultural goods from farmers at the MSP.

The Finance Minister also refuted claims that the government’s debt burden was increasing. She highlighted that the debt: GDP ratio has come down during the tenure of the Modi government and the target was to further lower it to 50 per cent by 2030-31. She also pointed out that only 3.4 per cent of the government debt was related to the external sector and the remaining 96.6 per cent was from domestic sources which reduced the downside risk.

FM Sitharaman also said that the unemployment rate has declined from 6 per cent in 2017-18 to 3.2 per cent in 2023-24.

She said that India is not alone when it comes to weakening currency. The dollar has been strengthening against currencies of several Asian countries, including Indonesia, Japan and South Korea, and currencies of European countries have also fallen against the dollar.

She further also targeted the earlier UPA government, saying that UPA-era oil, fertilizer and FCI bonds are being repaid now this year and next year. The interest on this itself is Rs 3524 crore in FY26, and the principal due is Rs 40,464 crore.

She also stated the Centre had not reduced the allocation to states. In fact, the states have not been able to spend as much as Rs 2,000 crore allocated under the health mission, she pointed out.

The Finance Minister said that unspent balances of 1 lakh crore rupees as of December 31, 2024, are still lying either in the SNA or escrow accounts of the states for various schemes and states are asking for more money when unspent balances are lying.

FM Sitharama also said that Rs 1395.45 crore is lying in SNA, treasury, and escrow accounts in states while Rs 4636.55 crore is lying in states’ accounts for food security and for urban rejuvenation mission and Rs 12377 crore lying in states for the AMRUT scheme.

In the case of MGNREGA as much as Rs 4351 crore was still lying with states, she added.

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

New Delhi:

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday launched the NPS Vatsalya scheme, which will allow parents to save for their children’s future by investing in a pension account.

Parents can subscribe to NPS Vatsalya online or visiting a bank or post office. The minimum contribution to open Vatsalya account is Rs 1,000. Subscribers will have to contribute Rs 1,000 annually thereafter.

The guidelines for withdrawal from NPS accounts are being finalised.

Launching the scheme, Sitharaman said NPS has generated very competitive returns and offers the option to people to save while ensuring future income.

NPS Vatsalya is an extension of the already existing NPS to children. In the last 10 years, NPS has 1.86 crore subscribers with an Asset Under Management (AUM) of Rs 13 lakh crore.

Children below the age of 18 years can open NPS Vatsalya account, which will automatically get converted to regular NPS account on completion of 18 years of age. Pension will come from the account only upon attainment of 60 years of age.

NPS has generated 14 per cent, 9.1 per cent, and 8.8 per cent returns for investments in equity, corporate debt and G-Secs, respectively, Sitharaman said.

NPS Vatsalya was announced in the FY25 Budget presented in July.

Many lenders, including ICICI Bank and Axis Bank, have joined hands with the PFRDA to launch National Pension Scheme (NPS) – Vatsalya.

ICICI Bank inaugurated the scheme’s commencement in Mumbai at its service centre by registering a few children’s accounts under NPS Vatsalya.

Financial Services Secretary Nagaraju Maddirala said the government will be receptive of subscriber feedback and improve pension scheme accordingly.

“Ever since we have announced the proposed launch of PM Vatsalya scheme, we have been getting feedback and suggestions to improve the scheme. As we go along and implement the Vatsalya scheme, we will try to improve so that concerns expressed in the last one week are taken care,” Maddirala said.

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

Chandigarh:

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman accused the Congress on Sunday of “spreading lies and creating a false narrative” against the BJP-led Centre, and asked the party workers to counter this “falsehood” with facts and data.

Nirmala Sitharaman said this while addressing a meeting of the Chandigarh BJP state executive. Later, she also held a meeting with traders to understand their issues and know their demands.

Referring to the recently-concluded Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said the Congress has now failed to touch the 250-seat mark in the last 10 general elections.

“Even then, they have an artificial confidence,” she said while pointing towards the Congress’s performance in the last 10 Lok Sabha polls.

“The INDI alliance, comprising 13 political parties, could manage to win just 232 seats, while the BJP on its own won 240 seats,” Nirmala Sitharaman said.

She also pointed out that the Congress could not win a single seat in 14 states in this year’s Lok Sabha election.

The finance minister accused the Congress of “spreading lies” and trying to twist certain statements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Union minister Nitin Gadkari in order to create a “false narrative”.

Slamming the Congress for its “lies”, she alleged that the opposition party tried to “spread falsehood” on many issues, including the compensation given to people in Ayodhya for their land acquired for building the Ram temple, the Agnipath scheme for short-term military recruitment and electronic voting machines (EVMs).

Nirmala Sitharaman said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath himself had stated that his government had given a total compensation amount of Rs 1,733 crore for the land acquired for the Ram temple.

She also accused the Congress of giving false statements against the Agnipath scheme.

“We should seriously understand the strategy of the Congress. Attempts are being made to attack the BJP by making wrong statements, spreading lies and creating a false narrative,” the finance minister said.

She said every “false statement” the opposition party spreads, even on social media, should be countered instantly with facts and data.

Further taking on the Congress, Nirmala Sitharaman said the opposition party and its sympathisers went to courts against several decisions taken by the Centre in the last 10 years, including those related to the Ram temple, abrogating the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir, demonetisation, the Central Vista project, the appointment of the chief election commissioner, the National Education Policy and the Mumbai metro project.

On the conduct of Congress leaders in Parliament, she said they raise questions in the House but when ministers give replies to those questions, they stage a walkout.

“That is not the role of a constructive opposition,” she said.

The Union minister said Modi got the mandate to form the government for a third straight time in the Lok Sabha polls.

Similarly, the Congress got less than 100 seats for playing the role of a responsible opposition, she added.

“The Congress must understand that like people give votes to form the government, they gave them votes to remain in the opposition,” she said.

But the Congress is yet to understand this, she asserted.

Nirmala Sitharaman said the government has announced that June 25, the day when the Emergency was declared in 1975, would be observed as “Samvidhan Hatya Diwas”.

“It will remind people of what happened on June 25, 1975 and why did it happen,” she said, adding that every opposition leader was put in jail during that period.

The Union minister asserted that the country is moving forward. “We have very good growth in every sector,” she said.

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

The full Budget for the year 2024-25 will be presented on July 23, with the Parliament session beginning a day earlier, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju announced on Saturday.

The Parliamentary Affairs minister said the Budget session will begin on July 22 and is scheduled to end on August 12.

Hon’ble President of India, on the recommendation of Government of India, has approved the proposal for summoning of both the Houses of Parliament for the Budget Session, 2024 from 22nd July, 2024 to 12 August, 2024 (Subject to exigencies of Parliamentary Business). Union Budget,…

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) July 6, 2024

“Hon’ble President of India, on the recommendation of Government of India, has approved the proposal for summoning of both the Houses of Parliament for the Budget Session, 2024 from 22nd July, 2024 to 12 August, 2024 (Subject to exigencies of Parliamentary Business). Union Budget, 2024-25 will be presented in Lok Sabha on 23 July, 2024,” the minister posted on X. 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had presented the interim Budget in February in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. She will be presenting her seventh consecutive Budget, becoming the first finance minister in India’s history to do so, surpassing the previous record set by Morarji Desai.

This will be the first Budget presented during Narendra Modi’s third term as Prime Minister and also the first under him in which the BJP does not have a majority on its own. 

Expectations from the Budget have been high and were fuelled further when President Droupadi Murmu said in her joint address that it will see “many historic steps” and accelerate the pace of reforms. 

“This Budget will be an effective document of the government’s far-reaching policies and futuristic vision. Along with major economic and social decisions, many historic steps will also be seen in this Budget… “The pace of reforms will be further accelerated in tune with the aspirations of people of India for rapid development,” she had said on June 27.

For the middle and salaried classes, one of the biggest expectations is that there will be a change in the income tax structure which will leave more disposable income in their hands.

Stormy Session?

The special session of the Parliament, the first in the 18th Lok Sabha, witnessed stormy scenes with the strengthened opposition looking to make its presence felt under the new Leader of the Opposition in the House, Rahul Gandhi. In the general elections, the results for which were declared on June 4, the INDIA alliance won 232 seats and restricted the BJP to 240. The NDA, though, has a comfortable majority with 293 MPs.

The NEET paper leak exam issue, Manipur, Emergency, Agnipath scheme and the alleged abuse of the Constitution by the ruling dispensation dominated the special session and are likely to make their presence felt in the Budget session as well.