"No One Knows In 2 Years...": Nirmala Sitharaman On Uncertainty vs Policies

India is confident its economy will do well, and the country will grow faster, but the biggest challenge remains "uncertainty" in many areas, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told NDTV in her first post-interim Budget interview with private media.

She said the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government inherited an economy that was in a very bad shape when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014.

"In 2014, we took over the economy which was in a bad state. There was economic paralysis, and corruption. We needed a white paper then. But the Prime Minister put the people first. Had we brought out the white paper then, no one would have invested looking at the fragile state of the economy," Ms Sitharaman said.

"We took India from fragile five to a top economy, which is why we are bringing out the white paper now. This is the right time," she added.

The ever present challenge, however, has more to do with factors that are not under anyone's control.

"Uncertainty. Whether trade, or global strategic interests, in every matter no one knows what will happen in two years from now. Uncertainty in everything, in war, in trade, in ties between nations is the biggest challenge," said the Finance Minister who presented her sixth consecutive Budget on Thursday.

She said the people are happy with the Modi government, and this is visible on the ground. "Wherever the PM goes, people come up to him on their own and say 'we have got money in our account directly, house, water'. Our confidence is because the schemes have reached their beneficiaries," said Ms Sitharaman.

She achieved a rare milestone becoming only the second Finance Minister in the country to have presented the Budget for six consecutive years, after Morarji Desai.

Ms Sitharaman has been at the helm of the Finance Ministry since July 2019 and is the first full-time woman Finance Minister of the country. She has already presented five full Budgets and this was her first interim Budget.

"The interim Budget was all about setting a vision for India. We chose not to do a consultation ahead of the interim Budget. We reserved the consultation for the Budget in July," the Finance Minister told NDTV.

She said the government didn't give into temptation to announce big policies or schemes in the interim Budget, since the election is near.

"Maintaining fiscal discipline by cutting subsidies is not the right way... Fiscal discipline and subsidy are not substitutes to one another. We didn't cut subsidy to maintain fiscal discipline. Why would we burden farmers?" she added.

The Finance Minister said the Centre steered clear of populism. "We have not gone into populism. We focussed on actual work done. We walk on the path of empowerment, while others walk on the path of entitlement," she said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants every new Central scheme to be linked to creating jobs, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told NDTV in the first post-interim Budget interview to private media.

She said the BJP is confident about winning a third term in the national election as every key scheme has reached their intended beneficiary.

"In the past 10 years, consistently we have started schemes for the public. We have ensured every scheme reach the last beneficiary. The success of our hard work is that people have recognised what we have done," Ms Sitharaman told NDTV. "The PM is always focused on job creation linked to every new scheme."

She said the people are happy with the Modi government, and this is visible on the ground. "Wherever the PM goes, people come up to him on their own and say 'we have got money in our account directly, house, water'. Our confidence is because the schemes have reached their beneficiaries," said Ms Sitharaman, who presented her sixth consecutive Budget.

She achieved a rare milestone becoming only the second Finance Minister in the country to have presented the Budget for six consecutive years, after Morarji Desai.

Ms Sitharaman has been at the helm of the Finance Ministry since July 2019 and is the first full-time woman Finance Minister of the country. She has already presented five full Budgets and this was her first interim Budget.

"The interim Budget was all about setting a vision for India. We chose not to do a consultation ahead of the interim Budget. We reserved the consultation for the Budget in July," the Finance Minister told NDTV.

She said the government didn't give into temptation to announce big policies or schemes in the interim Budget, since the election is near.

"Maintaining fiscal discipline by cutting subsidies is not the right way... Fiscal discipline and subsidy are not substitutes to one another. We didn't cut subsidy to maintain fiscal discipline. Why would we burden farmers?" she added.

The Finance Minister said the Centre steered clear of populism.

"We have not gone into populism. We focussed on actual work done. We walk on the path of empowerment, while others walk on the path of entitlement," she said.

The #FMtoNDTV interview is the highlight of NDTV's Budget 2024 coverage, with support from news aggregators such as Daily Hunt, Jio News, and Inshorts to make it one of our most-watched shows across our network. You can watch the full show here: