"Subsidies Need Not Be Cut For Fiscal Discipline": Nirmala Sitharaman Exclusive

The Narendra Modi government does not believe in empowering people throught their schemes and subsidies and not entitling them, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told NDTV, in her first post-budget interview to a private channel.

"Don't believe in handholding people in a way which hampers their own decision making," Ms Sitharaman said during a conversation with NDTV Editor-In-Chief Sanjay Pugalia.

The 64-year-old also siad that fiscal discipline and subsidies are not substitutes to one another.

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"Fiscal discipline and subsidies are not substitutes to one another.  Even during the pandemic, we kept giving subsidies," Ms Sitharaman told NDTV.   

"We didn't impose the increased cost on the farmers. After that, the farmers had confidence in us that they kept giving us in same price even after price rise," she adds.

The Finance Minister resisted the temptation of spending trillions of rupees on schemes for the poor in its last budget before an election and instead stuck to the path of fiscal consolidation to attract investors.

The lack of social spending largesse is indicative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's confidence in returning to power for a rare third term.

Explaining why she opted against populist measures in her (sixth straight) budget, Ms Sitharaman said "everyone (in the government) was confident people know welfare schemes have reached them".

"We are confident because, in the last 10 years, we not only announced pro-people schemes but worked hard to execute them and make sure that every last eligible person benefitted from these policies. These beneficiaries know that we did what we promised," Ms Sitharaman said.