New Delhi: India received FDI of USD 5005.5 billion under Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Government which is 65 per cent more than the amount received in the 10 years of UPA Government, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. She also said that the reason behind such an inflow of FDI was that the investors trusted the economic management of the current government.
She also said that India continues to remain among the top five countries in terms of receiving FDI in the world. The Finance Minister cited a UNCTAD report in this regard. The Finance Minister said that the FDI inflow in 2020-21 was USD 81.72 billion while the figure stood at USD 74.9 billion in the preceding financial year. Sitharaman said that despite the financial challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Union Government did not increase taxes to fund the economic recovery and did not resort to taxes for resource mobilisation. Citing an OECD report she said 32 countries hiked tax rates to fund economic recovery.
She also said that just like the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war is affecting all countries. She said that Rs 8.35 lakh crore has been devolved to states from central taxes in the current fiscal which is higher than the revised estimate of Rs 7.45 lakh crore for 2021-22. Questioning the World Inequality Report which termed India as a "poor and very unequal country", the Finance Minister claimed that the report was flawed and based on questionable methodology.
Replying to a debate on the Budget for 2022-23 in Rajya Sabha, she said opposition members had stated that the war in Ukraine had been raging for a long time and fuel prices are being raised now. "Absolutely untrue," she said adding that "the disruption and a resultant increase in the price of global oil and also disruption to supply are all happening since a couple of weeks ago and we are responding to it."
The Finance Minister in a separate written reply stated that India's sharp recovery in 2020-21 will sustain the growth momentum in the economy. "India’s sharp economic recovery in 2021-22 and budget measures have prompted International Rating Agencies to forecast a real GDP growth above 8 per cent in 2022-23. This will sustain the growth momentum in the economy," she stated.
She also said that the Government’s Road map for imparting momentum to the economy comprises focusses on growth at the macro level and complementing it with all-inclusive welfare at the micro-level, promoting digital economy and fintech, technology-enabled development, energy transition and climate action and relying on a virtuous cycle of investment and growth.
The Finance Minister said that the Government’s Road Map was put into effect in 2014 adding that major reforms including Goods and Services Tax (GST), Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC)and a significant reduction in Corporate Tax rate, were implemented. She said that the reforms contributed to the real GDP growing at an annual average rate of 6.8 per cent during 2014-20. The Finance Minister said that at the end of this period, Government announced National Infrastructure Pipeline of projects to take economic growth to the next higher level. "The Union Budget 2022-23 is the latest roadmap of the Government for taking India’s economy to a higher growth trajectory. The PM Gatishakti Scheme in the budget is a huge investment in physical infrastructure drawing from the National Infrastructure Pipeline," stated Sitharaman.
(With agency inputs)
