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Informist, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026

 

--Sitharaman: No denial or stopping of funds to any state or any scheme

--Sitharaman: Conscious efforts helped India maintain low inflation

NEW DELHI – Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Thursday said the government had put in "tremendous efforts" to ensure the ideal conditions of high GDP growth and low inflation, which the Reserve Bank of India has called the "Goldilocks moment" of the Indian economy.

 

"It is not by fluke or some rare coincidence that we arrived here," the finance minister said while replying to the discussion on the Union Budget for the financial year 2026-27 (Apr-Mar) in the Rajya Sabha. "Tremendous efforts, granular details and planning, and timely action by the government have been undertaken to achieve this.

 

"It is a rare moment that gives us the confidence for planning for the next two decades," she said, adding that the National Statistical Office has given the first advance estimate of real GDP growth at 7.4% for FY26, with nominal GDP growth of around 8%.

 

The finance minister said the Budget for FY27 had been designed to lock in these gains and convert these macroeconomic factors into long-term productive capacity. "For maintaining low inflation, we have a calibrated mix of fiscal policy, trade policy, and also supply-side interventions that we made over and over again, resulting in inflation being low," she said. She also cited dynamic duty management, maintaining a buffer stock, and providing logistics, particularly though the railways, as measures to ensure timely supply of edible items, which keeps food inflation low.

 

Replying to specific points raised by opposition members, she said there is no denial or stopping of funds at her end to any state or any scheme, but accountability of spending is ensured. "Should we release more funds just for booking it when already unspent funds are lying with state governments?" she said. "We don't do it." The minister also took a swipe at some opposition-ruled states that do not implement central schemes.

 

Replying to criticism of announcing schemes, Sitharaman said sometimes schemes are indeed announced with just a token allocation, but that is a standard practice. She also disagreed with the Opposition's charge that the middle class is being suppressed. "Between 2013-14 and 2024-25, the number of taxpayers, that is, people filing returns or TDS deducted, has nearly doubled to 121.3 million," she said. "In 2013-14 it was 52.6 million. The tax net is widening despite increased relaxation. There is also upward mobility of the workforce."  End

 

Reported by Asim Khan

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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